Foolsgold wrote:OH has had good success in the little league programs for years but for some reason that never seems to translate to high school. One must ask them why?
It may be because the little leaguers are not playing in high school. Did Sloan play last year? What about a couple of the other athletes they had from 8 and 9 grade? Football and Basketball seem to rule the roost at Oak Hill right now and baseball is a distant 6th, behind track, hockey, and wrestling!!
Unfortunately, you are right, and it will probably continue on this way until “the family†decided differently and allows interest in other sports.
Foolsgold wrote:OH has had good success in the little league programs for years but for some reason that never seems to translate to high school. One must ask them why?
It may be because the little leaguers are not playing in high school. Did Sloan play last year? What about a couple of the other athletes they had from 8 and 9 grade? Football and Basketball seem to rule the roost at Oak Hill right now and baseball is a distant 6th, behind track, hockey, and wrestling!!
Hey regulator Oak Hill doesnt even have hockey or wrestling so you cant put basesball in 6th
Foolsgold wrote:OH has had good success in the little league programs for years but for some reason that never seems to translate to high school. One must ask them why?
It may be because the little leaguers are not playing in high school. Did Sloan play last year? What about a couple of the other athletes they had from 8 and 9 grade? Football and Basketball seem to rule the roost at Oak Hill right now and baseball is a distant 6th, behind track, hockey, and wrestling!!
Hey regulator Oak Hill doesnt even have hockey or wrestling so you cant put basesball in 6th
Boy, you are a quickone!! LOL!!!!
Goes to show you how high it is when two sports they don't even have is of more priority!!!
Baseballl is not going to be a top priority at any school in our area unless it makes revenue. It won't so to make it a priority the players have to make it a priority.
It wasn't a priority when I played either but we worked hard to make the field nice, we worked hard to get nice uniforms, we worked hard to be respected on the field and we worked hard to win.
All I have heard the last few years is we can't practice because of the weather, well guess what. We practiced outside when it rained, we practiced outside when it snowed. You just got to deal with it. Until the new practice facility is built we will just have to deal with what we got. Why can't they practice on the football field?
I think that Coach Kelley will put the time and effort needed into this team. He will go back to the basics and build a team based on hard work, team work and fundamentals.
The baseball team is allowed to practice on the football field so long as they don't hit. Unfortunately they can't practice in the gyms unless they use squish balls. Practicing in the rain is a nice thought but the baseballs get waterlogged. When you are a baseball program without monet you can't buy a dozen balls here and there, so its not a great idea. You can be outside and condition but unless you are doing baseball related activities you can't improve.
so you use squish balls, you use anything that you can. In the preseason we hardly ever picked up a real baseball and bat. We used wiffle balls, wiffle golf balls, squish balls, metal rods, ping-pong paddles as gloves, practiced on black-top practiced in mud.
There are options, they just haven't been tapped into.
MightyOaksFan, baseball is a priority at many schools. Most of the SOC 2 schools do make baseball a priority now. No, they will never make the money that football & basketball does, but its still a priority.
What I meant by that statement is that it is the job of the coaches, players and parents to make it a priority. It will not be and is not a top priority of schools because of no cash flow. So I will agree change my statement into it is a priority of the players coaches and parents of other schools around to make baseball a priority just like other supports but a lot of times without the support of the school. I don't think that this is because the school doesn't want to support baseball. It is because there is no money being brought in. Everything we did, was done by ourselves, Coach Kuhn and parent volunteers.
I think what happens with baseball(in Oak Hill) is players don't feel like they have to work on it as much as they do football and basketball. All year round they are playing or preparing for football and basketball but rarely do you see players practicing or preparing for baseball. I will guarantee that over half of last years team has not picked up a ball or a bat since their last game. It has just become the norm for baseball here so I am not blaming anyone. ( I don't think that I have the answers)
If I thought I could change it, I would have taken the job. With basketball being such a long season and wanting to spend time with my family I chose not to pursue it this year. Coach Kelley is the right man for the job. He gets along well with the players and had a good coach in high school that I know taught the fundamentals like Coach Kuhn did for us.
MithyOaksFan, you mention all the options available when in the past the baseball team was prohibited from using either gym in the school wheatear they used rubber ball or not. The bottom line is those facilities are meant to be used by all students but as everyone knows in OH baseball is something “the family†could care less about. I know as you have said before to raise the issue with those in charge. Take it to the athletic director, no he is the varsity basketball coach and will tell you to take a flying leap, take it to the superintendent, no he is the girls varsity basketball coach, he will smile and tell you to take a flying leap. Then just take it to the board, wait half of the board members are related to the superintendent / basketball coach.
What’s left go directly to Vito Corlion (The God Father) for a sit down? Maybe he will make you an offer you can’t refuse.
Practicing in the gym just doesn't cut it. You can work on fundamentals inside and use thundersticks and wiffle balls but at the end of the day it doesn't cut it. Baseball is a mental game as well. You have to go over game situations like pickels, bunt coverages, pickoffs, etc. That has to be done on a field where the demensions are that of what you are playing on, not a gym. As far as it goes with the parents raising money I know of a parent that set up three or four golf tournaments to raise money for the program. Whatever happened to that money. In addition the players in Oak Hill do care about baseball. There were a few seniors and juniors last year that worked out for baseball as soon as football was over, long tossing, lifting, conditioning. They even sorted through uniforms, gathering equipment, and put up the batting cage net because no one else would and they wanted to get started. The program just needs someone who knows what they are doing and will fight for respect. I hope this Coach Kelley has the answers like Mighty Oaks Fan would suggest.
MightyOaksFan, you say practice outside. The question I have for you is this, why should they be forced to practice only outside? They have a right to use the facilities they as well as everyone else in the area pay for with their taxes. That is everyone except the recruits who don’t pay the taxes, but that a different argument. Practicing inside is not ideal but it has its advantages and does help tremendously in preparing for an upcoming season.
Because that is where they play. It is baseball. You don't think that they are going to have to play in the rain and the wind sometime during the season? Last time I checked football practices outside as well. I don't hear them complaining.
MightyOaksFan, you avoided the question, why they are denied use of the facilities? The last time I checked the football team lifts weights indoors but yet they play outside that doesn’t fit your “that’s where they play†analogy.
Football can play outside in the rain because it doesn't affect the conditions that bad. If you play on turf your set. In baseball the rain doesn'y work because the ball gets water logged (meaning it is ruined as the rain penetrates the core and soaks it). Also you can't slide in the rain as the clay is just unsuitable to play on. Anyone who has played knows this. You can play in the cold and you can play when it is windy. The oaks need to do something as teams around them are already practicing. This will put them ages behind with a young team and a depleated pitching staff.
