[rawlingsfan]

I think the region will come down to the same three it did last season; Estill Co., Perry Central, and Hazard. Letcher and Powell may be added as well. NO team will walk through this region. It is tough and competitive every season. Should be another great and fun year to watch.

You have to throw Lee Co. and Breathitt Co. into the mix. Lee Co. lost 16-14 to PCC in the regional semi-finals, and Breathitt Co. lost 7-6 in the opening round to Hazard.

I totally agree about the region being competitive, three games in the regional tournament were decided by one run in '08, including the championship and one game was decided by two-runs.

In fact since 1998 (the last 11 regional tournaments) 39 of 77 games were decided by three runs or fewer (51%). Nearly 1/4 of the games - 19 of the 77 were decided by one run (24.68%).

Over the past 11 year broken down by round it looks like this in games decided by 3 runs or fewer:
Opening round- 19/44 (43%)
Semi-Finals- 10/22 (46%)
Finals- 7/11 (64%)