[Panther Thunder]

Actually Wabbit, I think those late 90's Pikeville teams were Dave Thomas'. I dont think Lawson became coach until sometime after the turn of the century.(Sounds funny doesn't it?). Regardless, the late 90's is when Pikeville became the program they are now. I dont they were considered a very strong program until then. I am sure Commanche or Panther Thunder can give an exact account of when the coaching transition occured and when the emmergence of Pikeville baseball first occured. Very importantly I dont think that Pikeville, in the years starting since around '03 can lay claim to their success lying anywhere but due to an independent summer program that developed a lot of the talent. Lawson is receiving way more credit than he should, while Proide has been kind of snickered at for the most part. It'll be interesting to see where the program goes in the future when the independent summer development for these guys ends. I think in the future you'll see what I'm talking about.

Concerning, the era I mentioned, for the most part I think there was not a nickels worth of difference in all three programs, just more or less who got hot and got the breaks when tournament time rolled around. Those teams in the late ninties and early 2000's were the years of some very good Johnson Central and Paintsville teams as well. In fact they were some of the better teams and collection of talents in those respective schools history. Again talent wise, a mirror image in all 3 schools for the better part of the 2000's. I think the balance in regional championship and when and how they were sparadically won by all three schools demonstrates that.

But bottom line the comments concerning Lawrence Co.'s nutty fans I agree 100%. But then again I think you'll agree with me that for the most part most of those poster's couldn't even tell you who even played for Lawrence Co. as recent as possibly 2005. They are not old enough to even remember anything concerning that team.

Dave Thomas coached his last baseball game May 30th, 1997 in a 3-0 loss to Betsy Layne in the regional tournament.

Meaning Lawson took over in 1998.

Thomas (3) 1991, 1992, 1993
Lawson (4) 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005
Priode (1) 2010

I agree 110% about the summer program. It is vital to Pikeville's success. We saw from 07-08 until early 09 that it is important. The players in that span were Feb-Jun guys. And it is about to be the same way. And it is a problem that may not be fixable for a number of years. Hopefully someone will continue the work that the Bombers have done. And I think it needs to be stressed to the younger players that are in 6th grade now, they needs to start playing in the summer and fall. Because it is hard, in baseball, to get behind and then catch up in high school. It starts early. I think Pikeville would be smart to get an organized system in place such as Danville has with Morse and the Mustangs. That way, you know what age groups you have, and coaches can change often without a disruption in the system. Somebody like Mike Spears would be a good General Manager type to keep everything in line, but not have to put in all the hours and miles that it requires.

If Pikeville wants to maintain its success, something to this effect with have to be done. Summer and Fall are too important to be ignored.