Hillbilly87

Would be a good year for a change in coaches for the Tennessee side. Since half of your kids will come from Ooltewah and GPS, how 'bout letting Norma and Susan C. coach the Tennessee girls. Would be a nice change from Clifford and Lamar. The Georgia kids won last year because of one of the most talented senior classes in many, many years. Not because Stump came back to coach.

Final was 15-0 in five innings. Someone poked the sleeping lion yesterday. Not the smartest move. Congrats Bruisers. BACK to BACK and #5 for Coach Susan Crownover.

Well Mr. Ump, have you umped at all four of these school's games? If you look at their record, St. Benedict has beaten several of the schools that will be at state this week including the great and wonderful AAA schools. Two of their three seniors are attending Auburn and Boston College on softball scholarships which is a tad bit more impressive than ETSU, Memphis, and Howard GPS 7 St. Benedict 4 Not sure who signed with BC from St B, but I'm guessing it was #1 the Centerfielder, Logue. Very good player, had four good at bats and went 2 for 4 with a run. The other Sr. going to Auburn is not dressing out with the team, so I guess GPS got a break. The "less impressive" GPS seniors: Memphis (#3 and #2) - 6 for 8, 2 runs, 5 RBI's, 2B, HR ETSU (#9) - 2 for 4, 1 run, 2 2B's Howard (#16) - 1 for 3 Both teams hit the ball well, so the potential rematch will have some energy. Of course, the Knights may have something to say about that. Good luck tonight Eagles. Pope John Paul brought a good game against Briarcrest, so it should be a good game.

Well Mr. Ump, have you umped at all four of these school's games? If you look at their record, St. Benedict has beaten several of the schools that will be at state this week including the great and wonderful AAA schools. Two of their three seniors are attending Auburn and Boston College on softball scholarships which is a tad bit more impressive than ETSU, Memphis, and Howard Pretty confident for a team that has lost to the Bruisers 13-7, 7-1, and 10-1 in the last three years. In softball, I'll take volume of athletes over fewer every day unless your one or two is a pitcher who throws in the mid 60's. You can dominate basketball with one (see Knox Webb and Glory J), but in softball it takes nine to win in the 'Boro. Should be a good game. Hope to see ya there.

I invite everyone to take a look while in Murfreesboro at a very talented GPS Bruisers team. Their starting line-up includes 8 kids who have either signed D1 scholarships or are being recruited by D1 schools. The only starter not planning on playing in college is their pitcher who is fully capable but not interested. Their offensive line-up starts and ends with tons of speed, while the middle is pure power. As a team they are closing in on 30 home runs by seven different players(led by sophomore catcher with 10 or 11). On defense, the speed is most evident in the outfield where they play shallow to take away the short stuff, but can still run down balls in the gap. They have five seniors, including five year starters at first base and in centerfield (both Univ. of Memphis signees), a Howard Univ. signee at 2b, a four year starter at 3b/C (going to ETSU), and the unflappable #00 in the circle. Her number is more than just coincidence. And for the first time in the last four years they are all healthy going into the state tournament. Since mid-season when they returned all of their seniors to the starting line-up (one dislocated shoulder, one broken foot) they have won 18 straight. Bringing it all together is a great coaching staff that understands how to motivate and keep focused high school age young women. They truly play as a team with little concern for individual performances. Of course, none of this means anything if they don't take care of business this week. They have at least as much talent as last year's team that won it all and had other wins against Soddy Daisy and Mt Juliet. They still need to prove they can get it done in the 'Boro. Good luck Bruisers.

The teams and brackets are almost all set. 32 teams from across the state make their way to Murfreesboro for the State Tournament. This is a great time to see teams and players that you do not regularly get to see. I would like to catch some of the outstanding teams and players from outside of my area while there. From your team or area, who should we all make sure to try and watch during the week? Who are the key players? the speedsters? the homers waiting to happen? the pitchers & catchers? the outstanding defenders? I'm not asking for predictions or scouting reports, just some good ol' fashion bragging about your girls. Talk your teams up, come on let's hear it!!! GO BRUISERS

Welcome back to the 'Boro, St. Benedict. Looks like the potential exist for the Bruisers and Eagles to meet for the fourth year in a row. I'm curious who will be joining us out of the Briarcrest/Baylor match-up. Baylor has raised their level of play lately. How does Briarcrest look? See ya in Middle Tennessee.

Sub State: GPS 9 BGA 0 - Game 1 GPS 13 BGA 4 - Game 2 GPS qualifies for a trip to the 'Boro. What is the rest of this week's schedule for DII Large?

Baylor (#2 East) plays Father Ryan (#2 Middle) tomorrow 1PM at GPS. Winner is the #3 seed in the Middle/East, Loser is the #4 seed. GPS plays PJP II at 3PM at GPS tomorrow as well. Winner is the #1 seed in the Middle/East, Loser is the #2 seed. Not sure who the #5 seed for Middle/East is (should be the #3 team from Middle). So, St. Benedict and Briarcrest will host either Baylor or Father Ryan. While GPS and PJP II will host the #3 teams from the Middle and from the West. All are best two out of three series played over two days next week. The St Benedict and Briarcrest matchups with Baylor and Father Ryan should be excellent three game series with the winners getting well deserved trips to the 'Boro. Baylor has a strong overall line-up and Father Ryan has the pitching depth. Can anyone help with whom the #3 teams are from Middle and West? Also, what kind of teams do the West teams have this year? Safe travels to all as DII kicks off the new playoff format. There will be some heavy mileage for several of the teams before they even get to Murfreesboro. Also, please post results of the games here as they progress.

When will everyone realize that the real tournament trophy is handed out in May, not in March and April. I believe Coffee County is in AAA, so that means that they will run into Mt. Juliet at some point, given they both keep winning. I'm sure Goodpasture would like to win every tournament they play, but they also don't mind playing better competition. That's why they are there in May collecting the AA State Championship trophy(the only one that matters). As for the "Soddy Lake" syndrome: GPS hasn't had the same trouble at Soddy winning three times in three years (including the two state championship years). The "syndrome" probably has more to do with being able to compete with the talent at Soddy and playing your own game, instead of getting caught up in the "Clifford" hype. Watching a Soddy game is always entertaining with Clifford, and I believe some kids tend to lose their focus. Susan Crownover(at GPS) seems to do a good job of always respecting the other team but not fearing or over-inflating them(and, as mentioned earlier, it helps that she brings some pretty good athletes to the field). See y'all in the 'Boro.

From what I can remember from the Gold Bracket: Bob Jones over Ezell Harding, not sure of score Bob Jones over Soddy Daisy, 1-0, quarter final GPS over Baylor, 1-0, quarter final GPS over Bob Jones, 3-1, semi-final Ooltewah over Gibbs, 2-0?, Quarter final Father Ryan 4-0 quarter final winner, not sure the opponent Father Ryan over Ooltewah, 4-2, Semi-final GPS over Father Ryan, 12-0, 4 innings, Championship

bump what's the schedule? anyone.............

GPS is in from the East, Baylor plays Knox Webb for the second spot in the East. Winner plays GPS on Thursday for seeding.

Thanks Saints, any other opinions in Middle Tennessee? How 'bout the West? Maybe some of the SBA fans can shed some light.

How have the Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee Division II Regions finished in the regular season. Who are the favorites to get the three state tournament berths from each region? We see so few results from the other regions, so I hope the other DII posters will give us an update. East Tennessee currently has 1)GPS, 2)Baylor, and 3)Knox Webb. There are still three regular season games left this week, so things could change.