Coachdadfan

Porchia had two of the best hits of the tournament. Both line drive shots. Had she hit the one against Bledsoe over the centerfielders head it should have been a easy inside the park home run. That is the deepest part of Van Zant. Bledsoe did a great job with runners on base. I do not call a Hixson batter advancing a base runner the whole game. They did a poor job bunting and advancing runners into scoring position. Thats one of the basic fundamentals of the game.

She pitched the the end of the ER-Hixson match and I thought she wasn't as sharp as she was the night before. Baker picked up where she left off and and pitched one of the best high school games I saw this year (60+-). It is difficult to play a game over 2 days and be consistantly good both days. There wasn't any drop off in her pitching. Were you talking about Porchia's hit against ER. It would have been an inside the park home run against most teams on Hargraves. Brock was on the ball so fast she was easily thrown out at third on a gap shot to right center. That was the game winner for ER. She would have been on 3rd with 0 or 1 outs and should have scored. That game would have been over in 7 innings. But what do I know, I have been coaching 20+ years.

They also left Laura Brock of East Ridge off the team. Tenth highest average in the city (check the paper 5-12). Best lead off batter in the city ( on base average in her high school career so far around .650). The best defensive player in the area and being recuited by SEC softball teams. But she isn't good enough for the 6aa all district team. Not putting her and the Bledsoe pitcher on the all district team makes these awards totally worthless. If you can't give awards to the people who deserve them you should not give them at all. I know for a fact that the head caoches have a tremendous amount of leverage on who from their team gets awards and who did not. In most cases the head coach picks the players. The Bledsoe coach had only 2 choices because of their district record and where they finished. The higher in the standings you finish the more choices you get. East Ridge had 4 choices. The East Ridge head coach screwed one of the best players in the tri-state area. While I'm preaching I will point out that the carwash episode is the 2nd time in 3 years I have seen a softball team underestimate their opponents and lose to teams they should have defeated easily. Bledsoe and East Ridge are good teams but their rosters cannot be compared to Hixson. Also playing on a large field was a disadvantage to Hixson. Balls that were homeruns on a small field were outs on a big field. Brock will catch it if its in the air and not a line drive. Look at the the last out in the Championship game. May have been the best shot of the tournament but just a long out. Did anyone notice how fast the big crowd of Boyd Buchanan players, parents, fans and coaches headed for their cars as soon as the last out of the Bledsoe-Hixson game. They are thanking the softball gods they don't have to face Hixson in the first game of the region. Good luck to all.

Bledsoe, East Ridge,Sweetwater and Boyd Buchanan fans and players need to support the Hixson Softball team carwash this Saturday to raise money for their trip to the state softball tournament. Also 3 of them need to not win so they can go after they raise all of this money.

East Ridge defeated Ooltewah and lost to Notre Dame

Very interesting. GPS ranked number one in the city but only number 2 in their district. Tough district.

Do you know of any players that attended UT individual camp? If so how did they do?

I believe that most college atheletes are a lot happier playing than sitting on Tn. or Ga.'s bench for for years. Look at the number of freshmen and sophomores who have big signing parties and transfer a year or two later. How many sure fire 1st string softball players capable of starting at Tn., Ga., or Alabama are there in Chattanooga High Schools at the moment. I say one. There could be one more if those three and others like them put a premium on getting faster. I believe speed will be dominant in the future in college ball. Look at how many good pitchers there are in Chattanooga and compare the number to how many blazing fast players that we have in Chattanooga. I would say the odds are 5 to 1. If you say size and speed then 10 to 1. The pool of these girls that play softball if very small. Name the kids over 5'8" in Chattanooga that have explosive speed. Most are playing basketball or running track.

Hope she gets it. GREAT family.

When college scholarships are awarded people may be surprised at who gets what. I know for a fact that top SEC teams are looking at kids who did not make !st team Best of Preps. At least one on honorable mention. Sometimes high school awards and publicty are not given to the best players for various reasons. I have seen seniors promoted by there coaches because of constant pressue from parents even though there were younger players a lot better. A lot of coaches think that younger players have to wait their turn. I think there are 5-10 SEC caliber players in high school in our area. Most are rising juniors. Very few are seniors. Some may play to stay at home (UTC ?) because of travel. The cream will rise to the top>

As a 20 year veteran softball coach I can look at the list of top ten pitchers and I know who has the top ten defenses. The top pitcher usually has the top defense or one of the very best defenses behind her. Put any one of the top pitchers on a bad team and she will struggle and she will not make the top ten list. DEFENSE and SPEED are the keys to winning softball games.

The game has been postponed until Saturday at noon. Should be a good one.

How can you leave Brock of East Ridge off the All-district team. She has one of the highest on base averages in the city and is a superb defensive player in an important position. Her defense in center and Haskews at short are magnificent.