Old-fashion baseball on display at Whitley County Saturday

I witnessed some old-fashioned baseball on Saturday.

The game was Whitley County hosting Rockcastle County on a cold windy day.

I stayed for a few innings as I was getting pictures. I’m not the diehard that I used to be when the weather could do anything and I was staying until the game was decided.

In an era where Major League Baseball is all about everyone trying to hit home runs, both teams were playing rally ball.

With the wind blowing out hard to left or right field at different points, it would have been easy for players to try to hit one up into the breeze and see if it gets carried out.

But it was singles and doubles, drawing walks and moving runners over.

Still hard to get used to that clank off of the bat instead of the familiar crack from a wooden bat but I’m getting there.

The defense is still a little shaky with a few wild throws, but I’m sure that will get better as the season goes on.

I watched Whitley County Coach Jeremy Shope walk out to the mound after one bad play by his defense and read his infield the riot act.

While the fans couldn’t hear exactly what was said, Shope didn’t hide the fact that he wasn’t happy with his team’s play at that point and told them so in what some may know as a, “Come to Jesus meeting.”

My favorite moment from Saturday happened after Whitley County catcher Logan Bennett walked back to his position after fielding a tapper out toward third base.

With the new catching gear, catchers wear their baseball hat underneath the mask.

Bennett’s hat had fallen to the ground when he tore off his mask while going after the ball.

The Rockcastle County hitter coming to the plate picked up the hat and handed it back to Bennett as he returned to his position.

It is definitely not something you see often anymore in Major League Baseball but it is great to see that kind of old-fashioned sportsmanship coming out of our area high school players.

I expect to see catchers looking into the dugout for pitch calls at the Little League or high school level, but it drives me batty when I see major league catchers doing it.

Learn the scouting report and call your own game!

A few other things:

• Get your fill of high school baseball and softball this week because, with spring break beginning Friday, most of our local teams will be heading out of state for tournaments.

It is good experience for them and a trip to Myrtle Beach, Pigeon Forge or Florida this time of year is a plus for these kids.

• Though they aren’t yet up on the Kentucky High School Athletic Association website, local football teams have begun releasing their schedules for 2022. They will look much like 2021 with the sites reversed.

Corbin will welcome class “A” Champion Pikeville to Campbell Field for the Cumberland Valley Pigskin Classic.

Pikeville is a class “A” in name only with 61 players on the roster last year and the defending state champion. I didn’t see them play, but listened on the radio as Stan Lovett called the playoff game between the Panthers and Williamsburg on Nov. 19.

The most striking thing was the size of Pikeville’s line which would mirror a lot of colleges. Like any other school, it depends on who graduates and/or moves as to what Corbin will see from the Panthers. But Pikeville is much like Johnson Central in that the program just seems to reload and keep humming along year after year.

It will be a good test for the Redhounds

• I made the argument a while back that it is time for Corbin and Williamsburg to face off on the football field as they are the two best programs among the seven football teams in the tri-county area.

One of the arguments against the game was 4A Corbin has no business playing a 1A school. Playing Pikeville throws that argument out the window.

Football fans should see Hounds versus Jackets on the gridiron!

• Whitley County has also released its schedule which, like Corbin’s, is the same as 2021.

That means trips to Corbin and Bell County and a visit from Danville in addition to district games against Pulaski and Southwestern along with North Laurel and South Laurel.

In a word, brutal!

Coach Zeke Eier had a numbers problem in 2021 with a roster of 41 players on a 5A squad.

The good news for Eier is that there were just four seniors so, barring transfers or guys that elect not to play, the majority will be back on the field with a year of experience in Eier’s system.