Bearden Baseball Team

[Douwar1]

I have been following baseball in this area for over 30yrs, and I can't believe what Coach Tate and his staff have done to Bearden's baseball team in just 1 yr!! If you have had the chance to see this team in action it is amazing how many errors they make day in and day out. I have watched both Varsity and JV games and it is program wide. The sad thing is I don't think it is the kids fault because I have watched at least 5 practices and the kids don't take grounders or work on any defense skills what so ever. I have also heard the players are not happy at all. Has anyone else seen them play and heard anything?

[MLREB]

I have watched them play. Not enough quality pitching. Bats are hot and cold. Defense was fine the games I witnessed. They do not have a stud on the team from my view point but I did note a couple of quality players with a good upside. Middle of the pack talent in a good region based on my evaluation.

[5ozBalls]

I have been following baseball in this area for over 30yrs, and I can't believe what Coach Tate and his staff have done to Bearden's baseball team in just 1 yr!! If you have had the chance to see this team in action it is amazing how many errors they make day in and day out. I have watched both Varsity and JV games and it is program wide. The sad thing is I don't think it is the kids fault because I have watched at least 5 practices and the kids don't take grounders or work on any defense skills what so ever. I have also heard the players are not happy at all. Has anyone else seen them play and heard anything?

I wouldn't be too quick to put all the blame on Tate and his staff. Don't you think Buckner knew when the time was right for moving on? They lost a ton of seniors last year.

[Baseballlover44]

This can all be blamed on "manager" Tate. We can look back at last year before the season and see people asking the same questions about Buckner. Can he rebuild after losing so much talent? With 12 seniors gone from last year he turned to his rising seniors and asked them to be the leaders. Something that Jack Tate has not done. In fact in the first game I believe one or none of the seniors started? Why you might ask? And from what I have heard from sources is that he had the players vote on who should start. Wow is this rec league? That is pitiful. And another difference between Buckner and Tate that we can blame this pitiful season right now is the fact that Tate is not a coach he does not teach fundamentals. He relied on Buckner to teach and repeat the rewards in 3 JV Championships. However, the only thing he did to get that was make a lineup everyday that was fair to everyone. Not something that should happen on a Varsity team. Bearden made a mistake and now the consequences are evident. Even after one year its time to do something to maybe salvage the program. Some say there is no talent on this team? Wrong you have a pitcher who threw a no hitter against Farragut last year not even getting a chance to pitch. Or you have all your players hurt because of arm trouble because of the lack of off season programs to maintain the arm strength. This is bad for the young men and program. Some of these kids want a future in baseball and with this coaching and program currently it is not going to happen.

[Knoxbball3]

I have watched them play. Not enough quality pitching. Bats are hot and cold. Defense was fine the games I witnessed. They do not have a stud on the team from my view point but I did note a couple of quality players with a good upside. Middle of the pack talent in a good region based on my evaluation.

 

 

I tend to agree with Reb. I saw them early against Webb, and the defense was awful. But then against Catholic, they looked solid defensively. Before I would blame too much on the staff, I would think we should recognize that 16-18 year old boys are inconsistent. Lets enjoy it for what it is

[Douwar1]

Great post Baseballover40 the off season program was awful. From what I see coach Tate and coach Carter are coaching a track team and not a baseball team, they run for errors and baserunning errors but I have not seen them working on those issues in practice. The last thing that I will say is the say quote coach Tate said in the paper "i have coach 28yrs 27 of them as an assistant" there is a reason he was an assistant that long!!!

[Roy Hobbs]

douwar, sounds like someone is upset because their son is not starting! You just need to support the team and understand that Bearden lost an awful lot. They were due a letdown. I guarantee you that Coach Tate wouldn't be on here bashing someone. Pretty easy to hide behind the scenes and put down the team.

[Douwar1]

Sorry to disappoint Roy, But I don't have a kid playing on the team. for that fact i don't have kids at all. I just love baseball and hate to see a good program going down due to coaching. Go to a game and listen and you will see that all I am doing is saying what everyone is saying!! I want to see all the kids and coaches do well I just like you have a view of what is wrong.

[BIGFISH]

They need to be taught the right way to play the game not the wrong way.

[coachlovett]

First in foremost I want to state that I NEVER check this website or any other for that matter because I think they are a breeding ground for spineless people who do not have enough courage to speak there mind to people face to face. However, the posts on here were brought to my attention by a certain someone and this lead me to register on here and post these comments. I would first like to say the Bearden community is very lucky to have a man like Coach Tate as a teacher and coach. The parents of this community should feel extremely lucky to have a man of his values and beliefs around their children on a daily basis. He has put this program and the kids in it ahead of everything else since day 1. There is not another man in the school/community who cares more about each kid on the team than does Coach Tate. The same people who were behind him when the job was available for the most part have vanished at the first sign of adversity or their kid not getting enough playing time. Fortunately for the community when you people are long gone Coach Tate will still be there and the Bearden baseball team will have the right man as head coach. Great things are going to happen with this program and Coach Tate is the main reason.

[Knoxbball3]

Not that I have a dog in this fight...but a couple observations.

 

First, I think Coach Lovett, who interacts with Coach Tate more than any of us, makes great points, and I think his post should be taken seriously.

 

Second, As a poster on here, how would you define a successful year? I guess historically, its been to finish 2nd to Farrgut, and be competitive in the region. Last year was probably a bonus by going to the state. so if they finish 3rd or 4th this year, and are competitive, is that success? or is that failure?

 

Like I said, I don't have a dog in this fight, but would be interested in everyone's perspective.

[FHSstr8cash]

I am going to have to agree with the first poster. Coach Tate and the other "coaches" are running what was an up-and-coming baseball powerhouse into the ground. This is pitiful and sad to see, even for a Farragut grad like myself. It's not like they don't have the talent.. they return several contributors from last year's state tournament team: Stallings, Greene, Pasillas, Hamilton, Hullett, etc. This is just a simple case of the coaches not developing talent and placing it where it should be. I have had a chance to watch them on several occassions and they are just flat out terrible. The coaches continue to put pitchers on the mound who get shelled every outing, they obviously do not practice fielding/baserunning whatsoever (they've made 3+ errors every game i've been to), and their hitting is average 1-4 and just horrendus after that. IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!! Shake up the line up for once please, put some people out there who want to compete and be there, instead of kids who are happy with losing every game. I am personally embarrassed to call Bearden our rivals right now.. they couldn't rival a coach pitch team with the way they've played this year.. So "coaches", please do something to turn this around, this is an embarrassment for West Knoxville/District 4-AAA/AAA baseball as a whole.