Clay Panthers 2009

[BeAWarrior]

Do we have an idea on a lineup for the Panthers next season?

[chssoccer41]

clay will be low on sophmores, with only the possibilty of 3 maybe 2( as of right now valintine is still desiding ) but crumm and burchett are playing. crumm is a good catcher and has the ability to be a relief pitcher. but mostly has played 3rd base, the last year he played, was the first year he was catcher, and he brought behind the plate what garrett lacked, arm strength, and leadership. burchett is a good all around player, and has some pitching in his past, brandon puckett, ratcliff, pollard, should all be ready by baseball season. but this year will be, what looks to be a good season. as jon valintine is still desiding, he would make a great center fielder for the panthers, as he brings speed, and a good arm to their outfield.

[chssoccer41]

i forgot to add john mckenzie, he should be at the second base spot depending on who is going for that spot, but despite his size, he is a good player

[rosemounter]

pitching is questionable. i know burchett pitched some last year. puckett pitched very little. other than that pitching is a toss up.

firstbase is a question. shawn ratcliff has practiced at it but always stayed in the outfield. morgan garett could be a good one to fill kirkpatrick's shoes.

second base should go to johnny mckensie. despite his size he turned two double plays last year against south webster. he can fill robinson's shoes.

shortstop will probably be brandon puckett. improved a lot last year but he still drops his elbow and throws to first wild. get that elbow up and should be alright.

3rd base is a toss up as well. could be burchett or the valentine kid if he is gonna play.

catcher will probably go to garret due to his experience but its difficult to be a catcher and his size. i would probably have the crumm boy play there due to his size if he can block the ball and throw it around.

the whole outfield is interchangable and has been for a while. pollard is a pretty solid outfielder along with burchett. ratcliff is alright but needs to keep the ball in front of him and do long toss. the valentine boy could also be a good outfielder.

but the best defense in the world cant win a game by itself in baseball. not many hitters on the team this year that are power hitters. clay is usually a line drive and small ball team. i can remember in the notre dame game a couple years ago in the sectionals finals robinson starting the game off with 2 bunts back to back.

overall the team should be able to compete like all robinson team have done over the past years. the coaching is there but the boys have to listen. offense is what needs worked on so take cuts in the cage but dont get bad habbits. everyone needs to be able to lay a bunt down because you never know when a good bunt can turn the game around

[BeAWarrior]

Very well said Rosemount.


Your hard to fill positions are going to be probabaly 4 of the most important with the exception of SS.(Pitching, Catching, First, and Third.)

You have to be able to pitch to win a ball game, or atleats throw strikes.
You definitly have to have a cacther who can block a ball and throw the ball, in high school you espicially need a ctahcer that teams are afriad to run on.
You have to have somebody that can catch a ball, and dig a ball out of the dirt at first base (Not to mention do things like pick off plays...such as the Kirkpatrick/Parker play)
You definitly have to have a tough 3rd baseman thats not going to be afraid of the ball...espicially with the pitching staff that Clay will have this year, there are going to be some ropes hit down the 3rd base line. You cant have somebody on 3rd thats afraid of the ball, have to have an arm to.

Those hard to fill positions are the positions where the Panthers were blesses last season.

Robinson did a very good job at 2nd last year, but Johnny Mckenzie is a pretty good player. Robinsons speed and bat are going to be missed, but Mckenzie can play some defense now....


Blanton and Parker did a good job on the mound
Parker did a very good job behind the plate, leading, blocking, and I dont think many bases were given up
Kirkpatrick did a wonderful job at first base, all around, scooping, pick of moves..everyhting, a very nice asset when he was at 1st.
and 3rd base was played by a combo of Blanton and Garret, it just depended on who was pitching, both did a great job. Both blocked the ball well, Blanton had a much better arm, but Garret did a good job also.

Now. All those players are gone, Its going to be very hard for Robinson to fill those positions, and trust me when I say that whoever fills those positions probabaly wont live up to what those players did last year, those kids were a joy to wtach and really deserved much more credit than recieved in my opinion. This is coming from Alum. that used to hate that 08 class also.

The only player that can handle those positons is my opinion from what I watched last year is Garret at 3rd. Now that being said, Garret will have to work behind the plate. Garret worked behind Parker last year and Im sure he picked up some things, so that leaves all those positions still out of whack.


The outfield will be okay. Pollard should be able to man down center pretty well, and Robinson can make a few left and right fielders. Mckenzie will be fine at 2nd, Puckett will be the shortstop, Its goin to be those hard to fill positons that are going to hurt the Panthers next season (Pitching, Catching, 1st, and 3rd)

NOW.....the biggie.

Of all the returning starters...I would be willing to go out on a limb and say that they compiled a total of 10 hits last season, maybe. The seniors last year contributed most of the hits and the OBA also. You could always count on atleast 2 of the 4 to get on, in most cases usually 3 if not all 4. After they were done in the batting order things just kinda went to the birds untill they came back up. This team will have to work very hard on hitting, not just hitting but being smart batters. Learn to swing at strikes...learn to take balls...learn to bunt...learn to swing the bat period.

Im not syaing it cant be done....This is a Mark Robinson team, they will fair well, and he will have them playing good ball evetaully, but it could be a very rough start untill these players get use to things with out go to players this year.

[rosemounter]

very well said. learning to only swing at strikes is very hard to do. the zone switches from ump to ump and even inning to inning. hit off tees. learn to hit line drives. not a power team but many games can be won with a good defense and smart at bats.

that being said, how could you the 08 class? that is just a terrible thing. they never hurt anybody or done anything bad. maybe i was even one of them. we have feelings too.lol

[BeAWarrior]

You dont say...what number did you wear last season?

[rosemounter]

i wore a good one

[BeAWarrior]

You dont say...How about that

So

Anyword on the baseball team this season? Players not playing basketball should be hitting the weights right about now?

[rosemounter]

McCleese always started right after thanksgiveing but robinson usaully waits until after the first of the year.

[chssoccer41]

But, can Clay compete for the S O C this year????????? I think they will be an underdog but be very competitive this year.

[rosemounter]

clay always comes out and competes. they should be able to compete for the soc but brining it home is a different story. last year they started off winning their first five games but didnt win it. they have to get past symmes valley which is always tough, green which is tough, and their rival notre dame. but if they play smart they can compete for it

[chssoccer41]

but if they can be competitive, they can win it

[rosemounter]

thats a big if. you have to do it.

[BeAWarrior]

Well...Lets take a look.

Symmes Valley..they're going to be tough, plain nails. Hatfield is back, you have to hit the ball.

Eastern has been improving the past few years they will be a contender

Notre Dame always comes out and competes, regardless of the team they field...they will always be a tough team to play

Green, wont be as tough as usual...they lost Ratcliff who provided them their main bat and pitching...

Dont know much about East, Western or New Boston

It would be nice to see New Boston field a team this year, its always a shame when a school has to drop a program. Western lost Kier, which should leave them vertually powerless, and East had been improving, but who knows...

Clay should have a pretty good shot of playing for the title, they need some help to get past Symmes Valley, I highly doubt that Clay will be able to hit very well this season, let along hitting a 90 mph fastball. If they can get some help, they have a shot...but I look for somewhere around a 2-3 place finish.

Not bad for the Panthers, not bad at all

[rosemounter]

not bad at all. but i would say they had a way better chance last year. but symmes valley only playes 2 games a week so they can throw thier ace. they have been doing it for a while too. if they didnt have hatfield throwing every game it would even out the competition.

[BeAWarrior]

Hey, to each his own...whatever it takes to win...

I know it happenes, it happens on several occasions...But that being said, im sure its more than Symmes Valley too. That sad point is that it will never change untill AD's decide to grow a backbone.

[rosemounter]

its sad that it happens. people doing that just to win. what happend to the game being for the kids and competeing. its just not the same when u have a blowouts all the time just because u throw ur ace all the time. but the truth being said i liked hitting him and everyone should look at it as a learning experience to be better for the next time around.

[Mr_player]

I'll be rootin for clay no matter what this year...

[cbaseball33]

Clay baseball this year should be pretty solid all around. They got two good pitchers, Riddlebarger, and Burchett. They both had some varsity experience las year and year before so they should b ready to go. we got plenty experience out in the field, everybody can play somewhere. There batting is decent not the best but they should finish up there in the SOC somewhere behind Symmes Valley.

Pitcher-Riddlebarger/Burchett
Catcher-Garret/Crumm
1st base-Ratcliff/Crumm
2nd base-Mckenzie
3rd base-Burchett
Shortstop-Puckett
Left Field-According on whos pitching
Center Field-Pollard
Right Field-Dodrill/Ratcliff
That should be the main players to start this year for Clay i dont know nothing about the freshman coming up.