[cougarpride08]

I think it is Letcher's to loose. They return great players but at the same time they lost two great players. It will be interesting to see who will fill the role in the rotation. Obviously the Williams kid from Knott who transfer will be added to rotation, but I do not know who will replace Baker.

[Strikeout King]

I think Kincer and Hall not playing basketball is smart on their part and will help LCC a lot more. Usually when kids play basketball and baseball they are jumping straight from one sport to another sport just like that with no break and their wore out from basketball.

LCC is gonna be very hard to beat.

[cougarpride08]

Zane Blair was another one who didn't play basketball.

[Strikeout King]

Didn't know he wasn't played I was informed that it was only Max Hall and Dylan Kincer. Blair not playing basketball will also be a tremendous help for the LCC Baseball program. Those three won't be wore down from basketball

[rawlingsfan]

I think it is Letcher's to loose. They return great players but at the same time they lost two great players. It will be interesting to see who will fill the role in the rotation. Obviously the Williams kid from Knott who transfer will be added to rotation, but I do not know who will replace Baker.

Hazard is the favorite, 3 quality pitchers in Conley, Wells, & Smith. Estill Co.and Powell Co. will be scary good also. PCC, KCC, and Leslie Co. could knock one of the top 4 off come tournament time. Cordia may be the darkhorse if they bring in the Dominicans.

14th is always competitive. LCC was fortunate to beat PCC 2-0, and Estill 1-0 in extra innings in the tournament last year. Powell upset Hazard- 3 day format Hatmaker wasnt available for championship. He beat LCC in '12 regional 4-1.

[Bluecat]

What does Perry have this season?

[rawlingsfan]

What does Perry have this season?

Read post #9 in this thread. Forgot to mention Evan Hurt, he's back.

[Johnny_Ringo]

I heard today that Coach Dixon would be starting 3 kids that were still in Little League. Any truth to this?

[cougarpride08]

Hazard is the favorite, 3 quality pitchers in Conley, Wells, & Smith. Estill Co.and Powell Co. will be scary good also. PCC, KCC, and Leslie Co. could knock one of the top 4 off come tournament time. Cordia may be the darkhorse if they bring in the Dominicans.

14th is always competitive. LCC was fortunate to beat PCC 2-0, and Estill 1-0 in extra innings in the tournament last year. Powell upset Hazard- 3 day format Hatmaker wasnt available for championship. He beat LCC in '12 regional 4-1.

I think as a team, if you win region, and go to state and only loose two players, I think you are still the favorite unless someone beats you in tournament time.

[OrangenowBlue]

Hazard is the favorite, 3 quality pitchers in Conley, Wells, & Smith. Estill Co.and Powell Co. will be scary good also. PCC, KCC, and Leslie Co. could knock one of the top 4 off come tournament time. Cordia may be the darkhorse if they bring in the Dominicans.

14th is always competitive. LCC was fortunate to beat PCC 2-0, and Estill 1-0 in extra innings in the tournament last year. Powell upset Hazard- 3 day format Hatmaker wasnt available for championship. He beat LCC in '12 regional 4-1.

It is mere speculation that Hazard is the favorite. It seems every year for the past three for four years they are listed as the favorites but when the state tournament starts at Whitaker Park in Lexington, they have been sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. Lets look at some of the facts.
1. Letcher Central is the defending 14th region champions
2. Letcher Central returns 7 starters with the addition of a quality transfer
3. Letcher Central has won the region two out of the last three years.
4. If year end and year out the baseball experts feel like other teams should be the favorite and that the belief that other teams have better players and pitchers, then Coach Dean must be the BEST coach in the 14th region as he is winning with so called inferior talent against these teams with this superior talent.

[rawlingsfan]

Last year Hazard was a voted a top 20 team in state almost every week. They beat #1 Woodford Co., Danville, Bryan Station, and advanced to the all a state final four. How could they not have been considered the favorite going into postseason play? Powell, Estill, LCC, Breathitt, and KCC all had a pitcher or two that could have beaten Hazard on a very good day. Hatmaker did just that in the first rd. Coach Varney and his staff had a good plan going in, and the team executed.

Baseball is single elimination after the dist championsip. That's why l disagree with saying it's one particular teams to lose. Hazard has 3 quality pitchers, and you have to win 3 concecutive games to win region. Hatmaker, Tuttle, Hall, or Cornett could help their team win on any particular day.

I personally think that Dixon has done the best coaching job in the tournament the last two years. PCC was in position to win with not as much talent both years in the 1st rd.

[Bluecat]

Read post #9 in this thread. Forgot to mention Evan Hurt, he's back.

Perry looks to have a young team but Dixon is a good coach. He will have this team ready come tournament time.

[Strikeout King]

Estill did beat Hazard last year in a tourney over at Bryan Station. It's hard to argue with what Letcher Central has done and I think until they are beaten in the regional tournament they are the pre-season favorite with Hazard at 2 and Powell, Estill at 3 & 4.

[Catcher 78]

Didn't know he wasn't played I was informed that it was only Max Hall and Dylan Kincer. Blair not playing basketball will also be a tremendous help for the LCC Baseball program. Those three won't be wore down from basketball

Dylan Kincer does not play baseball. I have heard the reason Max Hall did not play basketball was to spend the winter working to gain weight and muscle to improve his pitching. According to his face book he played with a travel team this summer based out of Lexington and I am hearing that he has several offers he is considering to pitch in college. As far as Williams and Blair not playing basketball don't know if baseball played in their decision or not but from what I'm hearing neither of the two have shown up for any of the off season conditioning or workouts for baseball.

[Strikeout King]

I talked with coach Hammonds before the basketball season started and that's what he told me about Kincer and Max.

[Catcher 78]

Hazard is the favorite, 3 quality pitchers in Conley, Wells, & Smith. Estill Co.and Powell Co. will be scary good also. PCC, KCC, and Leslie Co. could knock one of the top 4 off come tournament time. Cordia may be the darkhorse if they bring in the Dominicans.

14th is always competitive. LCC was fortunate to beat PCC 2-0, and Estill 1-0 in extra innings in the tournament last year. Powell upset Hazard- 3 day format Hatmaker wasnt available for championship. He beat LCC in '12 regional 4-1.

How can you say LCC is not the favorite? They return seven starters from a team that went undefeated in regional play last year and did not give up a single run in the regional tournament. They also return their top pitcher in Hall who beat Hazard, Powell, and Estill last year.

[1st pitch strike]

Gotta love it, the rivalries are already heating up! Come on baseball season. Here are my teams listed in order, 1. Defending Champs LCC, 2.Estill 3.Powell 4.Hazard, others can be moved around as usual. Now LCC lost 2 players, Estill lost 3 players, not sure about Powell but Hazard lost their top 4 or 5 hitters plus 2 pitched so I may be giving them more credit than I should. I enjoy watching all the kids in this region play and have enjoyed meeting their parents so " Let's play ball":rockon:

[rawlingsfan]

How can you say LCC is not the favorite? They return seven starters from a team that went undefeated in regional play last year and did not give up a single run in the regional tournament. They also return their top pitcher in Hall who beat Hazard, Powell, and Estill last year.

I just think that going into the season Hazard has the best chance to win 3 consecutive tournament games. Felt the same last year when they had Whitaker, Conley, Wells and Johnson to pitch. The tournament is always good because there's several well coached teams in the field. Wouldn't be considered an upset if any of the top 4 teams won region in 2014 IMO. Same could have been said in 2012 & 2013.

[The Weatherman]

Cordia has 5 new players enrolled in school right now. They are all us citizens from NYC they are however Dominican background. They possibly have a 6th one on the way his parents are in a custody dispute now his name is Jesus dejesus. He is a right handed pitcher fastball tops out at about 86-87 mph. They have a Nunez kid that is a monster hitter. They also have a kid enrolled that is a lefty pitcher. He fast ball topped out last week at 83 mph he is consistantly at 80 or better on his fastball. He is only a sophomore. All these kids are eligible they have only played club ball Cordia shoul be a contender with as weak as baseball has become in the 14th region.

It's been a while since the breaking news of Cordia's baseball recruits. Does anyone know if they are still there? How many exist? and how much will they affect their chances to compete? February 15th has come so there should be some knowledge of their status.

:novb:

[Mikehoncho]

Powell returns Stephen skidmore, Caleb Mccoy, Austin Mullins, Kyle Knox, Hunter Martin, Mark Ventura, Brett Goodwin, and Trevor Bloom. Not to mention the Juniors That started as sophomores last year. Chance Snowden, and Jacob Hall. They Lose Hatmaker, But still will be a tough team to beat this year...

[1st pitch strike]

Has Hatmaker totally quit baseball or did he return to GRC

[Mikehoncho]

Got word that Hatmaker has officially quit.

[harvey updike]

Cordia has overhauled their roster. 7 new starters should be interesting,

[OrangenowBlue]

Cordia has overhauled their roster. 7 new starters should be interesting,

Nothing surprising in the land of recruitment.

[1st pitch strike]

Really sad to here Billy Hatmaker has quit baseball, such a talented young man. Billy if you are reading these posts, "Please return to the 14th region and play baseball you could have a bright future ahead"

[cougarpride08]

With all this snow how has practice been?

[1st pitch strike]

Don't know about other programs but batting cages and gyms are the only things available to use around this part of the 14th region

[Strikeout King]

As I was leaving the high school this afternoon to go to the game I seen softball Coach Beard going up to the softball field.

[MissB]

It's been a while since the breaking news of Cordia's baseball recruits. Does anyone know if they are still there? How many exist? and how much will they affect their chances to compete? February 15th has come so there should be some knowledge of their status.

:novb:

Yes Buford, and one thing that everyone must realize is that the RBI baseball in New York are much bigger than the school teams which is dominated by mostly if not all Dominicans. This is a serious sport to them! So watch out! Go Cordia! Mi familia es tu familia!

[OrangenowBlue]

Has Cordial gave up on trying to win with local kids. They need to start recruiting someone to take the statewide tests to keep them from being a bottom feeder when it comes to test scores.