Gobble Gobble Gobble

[Stelley]

Finally been confirmed that Jimmy Gobble has stepped down as the boss of the Trojans. Been underperforming with elite level talent, still been hearing that he’s not going to be the only one in Washington county that’s in the same boat

[Elder statesman]

Pretty sure Abingdon will be looking for a replacement as well.  

[bleedblue89]

Awesome news for John Battle! 

[Stelley]

56 minutes ago, Elder statesman said:

Pretty sure Abingdon will be looking for a replacement as well.  

That’s what I’ve been hearing

[SouthernWarrior]

Will Battle be able to get the job done now? They’ve had the talent for years now just keep falling a little short.

[Stelley]

9 minutes ago, SouthernWarrior said:

Will Battle be able to get the job done now? They’ve had the talent for years now just keep falling a little short.

Also depends on who stays. Most are there because of him and most of their youth program is there because of him

[Elder statesman]

Not sure Battle has enough talent coming up for a full competitive roster.  Same with Abingdon.  Gonna be a down year or two before the next round of youth talent age up. 

M7 likely to see a significant baseball drop in coming seasons.

[Stelley]

40 minutes ago, Elder statesman said:

Not sure Battle has enough talent coming up for a full competitive roster.  Same with Abingdon.  Gonna be a down year or two before the next round of youth talent age up. 

M7 likely to see a significant baseball drop in coming seasons.

SWD will also be taking a major drop and has been on the decline the past 3 seasons. Lebanon should be back to a competitive ball team the year after next

[SouthernWarrior]

1 hour ago, Stelley said:

SWD will also be taking a major drop and has been on the decline the past 3 seasons. Lebanon should be back to a competitive ball team the year after next

I know you all played a lack luster Union JV team, and struggled with them. I have heard that Lebonan had a very strong group of young ball players coming up though. 

[Stelley]

4 minutes ago, SouthernWarrior said:

I know you all played a lack luster Union JV team, and struggled with them. I have heard that Lebonan had a very strong group of young ball players coming up though. 

This years jv team might be the worst baseball team I’ve seen at any level, think they lost to castlewoods jv by about 20 so that should be all you need to hear. Middle school team was very solid though

[SouthernWarrior]

Just now, Stelley said:

This years jv team might be the worst baseball team I’ve seen at any level, think they lost to castlewoods jv by about 20. Middle school team was very solid though

That’s the thing Doc Adams built such a good program. Lebonan baseball is IMO the most dominant baseball program in swva in this decade. Yes Abingdon is amazing, but 3 state championships in 6 years is a showing of absolute dominance.

[Stelley]

15 minutes ago, SouthernWarrior said:

That’s the thing Doc Adams built such a good program. Lebonan baseball is IMO the most dominant baseball program in swva in this decade. Yes Abingdon is amazing, but 3 state championships in 6 years is a showing of absolute dominance.

I’ve mentioned this before but baseball is totally different from other sports. Kids these days aren’t good because of their coaches, they’re good because they’ve spent every summer since they can remember traveling all over the country playing baseball, Battle has had a solid team because gobble has had youth teams where he develops them. Now yes it is easier to get more kids together at a younger age when the high school team has constant success, but the good coaches around here are usually just good managers, deciding who should play where and what arms to throw against what teams, not developing players and benefiting from “Daddy Ball”

[SouthernWarrior]

40 minutes ago, Stelley said:

I’ve mentioned this before but baseball is totally different from other sports. Kids these days aren’t good because of their coaches, they’re good because they’ve spent every summer since they can remember traveling all over the country playing baseball, Battle has had a solid team because gobble has had youth teams where he develops them. Now yes it is easier to get more kids together at a younger age when the high school team has constant success, but the good coaches around here are usually just good managers, deciding who should play where and what arms to throw against what teams, not developing players and benefiting from “Daddy Ball”

I agree entirely. If you look at any good high school baseball program around, they all have players who have played travel from the time they were little until high school.

[Widespread_Panic]

12 hours ago, Stelley said:

Kids these days aren’t good because of their coaches, they’re good because they’ve spent every summer since they can remember traveling all over the country playing baseball

I would argue this is why baseball and a majority of the other high school sports have been on the decline for a long time. What group of kids are getting left out of the travel teams and not being taught fundamentals that local Little League programs used to provide? It's your lower income kids. Those same kids used to be some of the better athletes at schools but now they don't have the money to participate. I think if you matched a J.J. Kelly, Virginia High, or Powell Valley team from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000's against one of our better teams from today they would win a majority of the time. The time and money commitment required by travel ball hasn't improved the sport. 

[1inStripes]

On the other hand, the decline in population has been caused by worsening economics.  The lack of $$$$ flowing into the Little League programs, coupled with archaic rules, have led to the downfall of Little League as a whole, but especially in our area.  

Travel ball doesnt mean you have to go all over the eastern seaboard to play. Going to the Tricities 2 days isnt any more cost ineffective as running all over Lee, Wise, Scott and Dickenson County to play 5 nights a week in Little League today as leagues dont have 8 teams in a division like they did in the 80s and 90s.