High school notebook: Harrison Co. fans traveled south in force for title
Signing off on one last notebook before summer vacation, and counting down 56 days until the high school football season kicks off ...
■ Harrison County has a population of about 18,000, and it seemed most of those folks relocated to Applebee's Park last week to cheer their Thorobreds to a fourth title in the Forcht Bank/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament. Harrison County won its three previous championships in Louisville, Owensboro and Paducah, so this one, coming only 30 miles from Cynthiana, made it special. "It was so rewarding to be so close to home and to see so many of our fans in the stands," Coach Mac Whitaker said. "It was unbelievable. I don't know of any other place in Kentucky that supports baseball like our fans do." On the team's return home Saturday night, Paris police escorted the 'Breds through Bourbon County. When they arrived in Cynthiana, fire trucks and police cars led them around town and to their hilltop ballpark where more than 1,000 fans gathered for a midnight celebration. "It was amazing," Whitaker said.
■ Hildreth Whitaker, mother of Harrison County's coach, is one of the Thorobreds' most devoted fans. Last Friday, she turned 98. On Saturday, her daughter Margaret drove her to Lexington hours before the title game so she could get a glimpse of Applebee's Park. Hildreth then returned home and listened to the game on the radio, picturing the stadium in her mind and celebrating with her sons. Jimmy Whitaker has been in the dugout with his brother Mac throughout his coaching career at Harrison County.
■ It was strange seeing Harrison County win a state title without Ronnie Herrington. He was Mac Whitaker's right-hand man for 27 years before he died of cancer in the fall of 2006. "He was on my mind a lot last week," Whitaker said. "There were several times I was thinking, 'What would Ronnie do in this situation?' "
Numbers game
Breaking down last week's 15 games in six days:
■ 33 hours, 47 minutes of playing time
■ 3,318 pitches
■ 193 strikeouts
■ 63 walks
■ 23 batters hit by pitches
■ 228 hits
■ 43 doubles
■ 7 triples
■ 3 home runs
■ 127 runs
■ 31 unearned runs
A few individual stats:
■ Butler senior left-hander Kyle McGrath was the best pitcher in the tournament. The Eastern Kentucky signee had 26 strikeouts, walked two and gave up eight hits and two earned runs in 15 innings. He threw 218 pitches, 151 of them strikes.
■ Male senior catcher Ryan Messex had seven hits, six of them doubles. In an 8-5 semifinal loss to Harrison County, he went 4-for-4.
■ Harrison County's Jared Martin was hit by a pitch in each of the Thorobreds' four tournament games.
■ Pikeville sophomore Gavin Miller went 9-for-12 (.750) in three games, including a streak of eight consecutive hits before he lined out to right with the tying run at third to end the Panthers' 3-2 semifinal loss to Butler.
■ Harrison County rode a 24-game winning streak to the state title and a spot in the final ESPN Rise Fab 50. The Thorobreds(36-4) finished No. 41 in the nation.
■ The day after Harrison County's championship victory, first baseman/pitcher Christian Chasteen, second baseman Matt Dye and third baseman Drew Thompson signed with Pikeville College.
■ Male Coach Todd Driskell was philosophical after his team's 8-5 semifinal loss to Harrison County. The Bulldogs appeared to have pulled to within 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth before an umpire ruled interference on a ground ball, nullifying two runs that scored on the play and giving Harrison a double play. "That's what makes it a great game," Driskell said. "Sometimes you have to suffer through it. But kids are resilient. They'll bounce back. This will help us build our perseverance skills, our maturity skills and our character skills, and hope for next year."
■ Butler's loss in the finals means no Louisville school except for Pleasure Ridge Park has won a state baseball title since St. Xavier in 1981.
■ Harrison County's Mac Whitaker and Pleasure Ridge Park's Bill Miller are the state's winningest coaches over the last three decades. Their records are remarkably similar. Whitaker is 913-260 with four state titles and two runners-up. Miller is 917-237 with four state titles and three runners-up.
■ When Harrison County made a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning of the finals to put the tying run on base for Butler, some Thorobreds fans had a flashback to the 1984 championship game. Harrison County led East Carter 9-6 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Raiders rallied, thanks in part to a throwing error. East Carter won it 10-9 on Kevin Bair's two-out, two-run homer.
■ Dunbar grad Thomas Royse, who had a great college career at Louisville, was drafted in the third round by the White Sox. According to Baseball America, Royse got a $263,500 signing bonus. The right-handed pitcher has been assigned to Chicago's rookie team in Great Falls, Mont.
■ J.T. Riddle of Western Hills is the seventh player from the 11th Region to win Mr. Baseball honors, joining Lafayette's Chaz Roe (2005) and Austin Kearns (1998); Henry Clay's Collin Cowgill (2004) and Scott Hodges (1997); Lexington Catholic's Ben Revere (2007); and Paul Laurence Dunbar's Josh Ellis (2003). The 7th Region has the second most Mr. Baseball winners with four.
■ Tim Cahill, who has coached 40 individual state swim champions in more than 30 years at Model, was named National High School Coach of the Year Wednesday by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. He also coaches the Arlington Country Club and Colonel Aquatics teams. Cahill was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer on April 1.
■ Kendall Noble, who has helped Breathitt County to four straight Sweet Sixteens, has transferred to Perry County Central because of her mother's job. The 5-foot-10 guard, who will be a junior next season and is an early candidate for Miss Basketball in 2012, could make the Commodores a title contender next season. As a sophomore, she averaged 20.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 steals and 4.3 assists. She has career totals of 1,754 points, 952 rebounds, 428 assists, 474 steals and 205 blocked shots. Kristen Bowen, a 5-5 senior-to-be, has also moved from Breathitt County to Perry Central.
■ Jackie McCloud of Clark County, Kaye Smith of South Laurel, Craig Driskell of Jeffersontown and Penny Reece of Greenwood will coach Kentucky's fast-pitch All-Stars against Tennessee on Thursday at 1 p.m. (CDT) at Western Kentucky University. The series is tied 2-2.
■ Will Thomas Collins was supposed to be the successor at running back to Domonique Hayden at Lexington Christian Academy this fall. He also figured to be a mainstay at linebacker. No more. LCA Coach Paul Rains said Collins' family has moved to Breathitt County, and Collins will play for the Bobcats.
■ Bowling Green and Greenwood were the pride of the 4th Region and the only schools in the state that won at least 10 games in football and at least 20 in boys' and girls' basketball, baseball and softball. St. Xavier had the best year overall, winning state titles in cross country, golf, football, soccer, swimming and tennis.
■ Lafayette's and Lexington Catholic's football facilities are getting makeovers this summer. Lafayette is getting a new stadium with artificial turf. It's not expected to be finished in time for the Aug. 20 season opener against Tates Creek, so that game will be played at Roy Walton Stadium. Lafayette Coach Rob Sayre said the Generals' new digs should be ready for their Sept. 3 game against Mercer County. Lexington Catholic is getting new artificial turf to replace the surface that was installed in 1999. Coach Bill Letton said the new turf will be ready for the Knights' Aug. 28 game against Covington Catholic in the Bluegrass Bowl. Permanent bleachers will be installed on the visitors' side, and the press box on the home side will be doubled in size. The Knights' baseball facility is also getting new turf and dugouts and, for the first time, lights.
This story was originally published June 25, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "High school notebook: Harrison Co. fans traveled south in force for title."