It remains to be seen whether the revised format for the state baseball tournament will benefit Kentucky’s smaller schools, but the coach of one of the state’s largest schools envisions a scenario where the change will only help his team.
The Rawlings/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament will begin Thursday at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, Ky., with first-round play continuing Friday and quarterfinals set for Saturday. The semifinals (June 17) and final (June 18) are set for next weekend.
That’s a change from the one-week format the KHSAA has used since scrapping the semistate round and going to a 16-team state tournament in 2010.
This year’s change was a response to a proposal from Lawrence County coach Travis Feltner, who wanted Kentucky to go to a four-class system for baseball. The KHSAA nixed that idea, instead going to the two-week format.
Proponents of the change note that instead of needing three or four starting pitchers over a six-day event, teams now can rely on two ace pitchers and use both this weekend and next weekend if they advance to the semifinals.
In an interview with the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, Feltner compared the change to putting “a Band-Aid over a gunshot wound,”
And what of a team such as St. X, which features a pair of aces in seniors Adam Elliott and Daniel Fischer? Both are headed to the University of Louisville, and Tigers coach Andy Porta would like nothing more than to use those two – and only those two – on the mound during the entire state tournament.
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“I know a lot of smaller schools were upset with the KHSAA and asked them to change the state tournament,” Porta said. “Honestly, this is to our advantage, too. In a perfect scenario, we use (Elliott and Fischer) and nobody else touches the mound.”
In the previous format, teams generally had to use three starting pitchers to get through the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals and then could choose to bring back their first-round starter for the championship game.
Oldham County’s Scott Gerlach, the coach at one of the state’s larger schools, said he preferred the previous format.
“I definitely think in the old format you really do find who the most complete team is,” Gerlach said. “Used to, you had to have three or four good (pitchers) to win the whole thing. Like (Porta) said, now you possibly only need two.”
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John Meehan is the coach of the smallest school, Hazard (enrollment: 303), that qualified for the state tournament. Meehan said he understands why some would advocate for a class system but added that the new two-week format should benefit small schools.
He said his staff goes three-deep with Griffen Wells (8-3, 1.69 ERA), Ryan Smith (5-3, 2.07) and Devin Morris (5-3, 0.96). They helped Hazard reach the final of the All “A” Classic state tournament for small schools before falling to Beechwood.
“I always feel like you have a chance when you only need one or two pitchers,” he said. “If you need three or four, it’s not really going to happen. I’m excited. If you can get through the first week and then bring back your No. 1 and No. 2, I feel like that gives a small school a chance.”
Bullitt East coach Jeff Bowles joked that the new format would have benefited his Sixth Region title team in 2009, when the Chargers featured two aces in Matt Bowles and Brandon Alphin.
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“I like it,” Bowles said. “I think it helps everybody. You’re not going to be at this point and not have two top-notch pitchers anyway. When you have two Division I pitchers like St. X does, you have to love your chances. But I like our chances, too.
“It’s no longer like the basketball state tournament. This is a real baseball format. I think that sometimes the people making these decisions forget that our ball is a little different than that basketball.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
RAWLINGS/KHSAA STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
* When: Thursday-June 18.
* Where: Whitaker Bank Ballpark, Lexington, Ky.
* Tickets: $14 in home-plate area, $10 general admission for each two-game session.
* Parking: $3.
SCHEDULE
* Thursday – Highlands (23-17) vs. Johnson Central (32-9), 11 a.m.; Elizabethtown (28-12) vs. McCracken County (35-5), 1:30 p.m.; St. Xavier (25-12) vs. Greenup County (39-1), 6 p.m.; Bowling Green (31-9) vs. West Jessamine (31-8), 8:30 p.m.
* Friday – North Laurel (29-10) vs. Hazard (29-11), 11 a.m.; Bullitt East (26-10) vs. Oldham County (30-7), 1:30 p.m.; Caldwell County (31-5) vs. Scott County (27-10), 6 p.m.; Ohio County (23-14) vs. Campbell County (26-10), 8:30 p.m.
* Saturday – Bowling Green-West Jessamine winner vs. St. Xavier-Greenup County winner, 11 a.m.; Highlands-Johnson Central winner vs. Elizabethtown-McCracken County winner, 1:30 p.m.; Caldwell County-Scott County winner vs. Bullitt East-Oldham County winner, 6 p.m.; Ohio County-Campbell County winner vs. North Laurel-Hazard winner, 8:30 p.m.
* Friday, June 17 – Semifinals at 6 and 8:30 p.m.
* Saturday, June 18 – Final at 7 p.m.
