[OMG]

Not really understanding what you mean by "not a strong pitcher". Are you referring to velocity? or something else. You'll see his velocity up this year, if that is what you are meaning. Mike has been Johnson Central's #3 pitcher behind Fyffe and Blanton since his freshman year. Like I said earlier, he did beat Boyd, but even throughout his freshman year he was called on to throw against the better teams that JC faced and did remarkably well for just being a freshman. He was brutaly thrown to the wolves. Now it's his turn. Mike had some arm problems last season, and was not as effective through out a lot of the season as he could have been. He came out and pitched very well in the semi state after not throwing for some time, and you saw how that one turned out with a fresh arm. Mike is a very intelligent kid and is going to become a very good pitcher. He has taken his body and conditioning very serious.

As far as Nick, yeah I dont disagree about him being a very good option. He has a ton of potential, and did extremely well last season. He has just not had to face the level of competition yet that Mike has the last couple of years(Lawrence excepted), but I am very confident he will do well against that type of competition in the future when he does. Who knows he may end up being the go to guy, you cant rule it out, especially after what he has done here in the off season.. Jeremy has pitched very little at the varsity level. He was just starting to see some substantial time on the mound when he got hurt last season, and his time was cut short but you could tell that he was going to develope into a good one. He just does not have a lot of experience yet.

As for Parker, you have a valid point. As was mentioned in another post, the jury is still out on whatever level of maturity he may sustain at the present time, but there is no mistaking the raw ability that exists.

There is a bumper crop of very young talent there right now. I can see them taking their lumps throughout the season with the brutal schedule they have coming up, but really feel that come post season time they will be able to use those experiences as distinct advantages when it matters the most. They may very well in fact still be a year away from being where I think they will be, but nobody better take them too lightly. I guess that time will tell all about that though.

I will say one thing for Conley he is very matured on the mound and i do think that will carry him this year when he has to face some really good competition, the only thing i wonder is if they may use him too much with their schedule being the way it is...he may end up with the same injury type season as last year, i hope not i wish him the best, (unless he pitches against paintsville) or course