Does anyone know the name of a pitcher from Paducah, KY? He played for their legion team and was clocked at 90-91.

I think his name is Clint Tilford from Heath High School. They also have a top ten 08 according to baseball america named Daniel Webb.

thanks SI-
I saw him throw in a legion tournament in champaign over the summer and was pretty impressed. What year is he going to be and how did his season go last year?

All I know is that he was hitting 93 at an area code tryout. He is an 06 and has a possibility of being a pretty high draft.

I just heard he had commited to UK.

SI,

That is interesting. I guess Chaz Roe committed there last year before becoming the Braves #1 draft pick. Interesting to see if this kid actually attends Kentucky. Curious what lafmom's take may be as well.

CD - Actually Chaz was a Rockies pick and I think maybe their second overall - #32 in the draft. He was expected to go to the Braves, but ended up out west. Seems to be working out for him though at this point.

I had just heard about the Tilford kid. I know he's a good pitcher, but because he's in another part of the KY world (Paducah is in the very western tip), I'm not as familiar with him as some others. UK has already had several KY kids (all pitchers) commit. There's one from Louisville and a couple of others from Western KY. From what I understand Tilford isn't a high draft pick, but that could change I'm sure. Much can ride on that senior year. As I guess with most large state schools, there are alot of kids that want to "stay home" despite other opportunties. UK lost tons of kids this past year and brought in a very large class for '05. It will be interesting to see what happens this year with their recruiting and their season.

BTW - Heath HS, where Tilford plays is one of my favorite HS in KY. They're always a good and classy bunch with good coaching.

I spoke with a few scouts about Clint and feel he could go as high as a kid we had last year who went in the fourth round. Again the draft is a while a way and he might be solidly committed to going to college but who knows.

That's interesting SI. I know that Scouts have varying opinions just like the rest of us, so I hope the kid is a high pick. My son's team had a high draft pick last year. When a coach I know was standing with the scouts at one of our games, he said one scout said, "he'll be first round", another scout said "he doesn't impress me, has things that need work, I don't think he'll be anywhere close to first round". 32nd overall pick! Some see one thing and others see other things. I'm sure Cohen would hate to loose him.

Chaz Roe is assume. We faced him in 04 and actually beat him. I liked him alot. He was a more refined version of our guy. Similar size and velocity just better stuff at that point in their careers.

SI - Chaz is a great kid and is very deserving of the blessings he's receiving. He made the all-stars in the Pioneer League with a great season. I know loosing him was a biggie for Cohen too. I love following KY baseball and I'll keep following the Tilford kid. My best to him!

You must have played Chaz in the summer of '04 when he went and played for Elite. A good team coached by our former JV coach. My son wouldn't leave HS team (a tremendously loyal kid), but would have enjoyed playing for that coach and with Chaz. Chaz didn't have many losses - so congrats on that!

We had'nt heard of his reputation until after the game. We found out how good he was. It was a 2-1 game and he was with the Elite. We might have Clint and a very good underclassmen from Heath playing this summer with us this summer. Loyalty is hard to come by these days. You must have taught him well.

SI - the irony with my son and choosing not to play for elite in '03 and '04 was that Coach Withrow, who like I said had been my son's JV coach, played a big part in developing Michael's sense of loyalty. When Michael said no, Withrow's reply was "Who taught you to be so loyal to your team" knowing fully that he, himself, had helped to develop that. I think that teams like yours obviously get kids more exposure, but I fully respected my son's opinions. None of our boys left in the summer of '03 mostly because Michael refused to. He told me "Mom, to leave my team would be like telling my teammates they're not good enough for me to play with". Again, I think the big time travel teams bring more exposure - but I was always proud of my son for being such a leader and doing what he thought was right. I'm a proud momma!

We played Heath my son's junior year in the state tournament and beat them, but I've always felt they were actually the best team we faced all year that year. We ended up loosing to Christian County, but I always felt like Heath was better than them or anyone else in the tournament. They just made a couple of big mistakes that we capitalized on. We played them in '05 in Florida and they beat us. I never saw any of their kids throw anything, mouth anything, or any inappropriate behavior, etc. A very good group.

Lafmom, no disrespect but UK did not lose that much from last year's squad. I have understood they have most all pitchers back and have brought in some good one's. I know for a fact that they have 7 starting position players back from last year's team. It will be interesting how good they may be. (starters back: 1st base, 2nd base,shortstop,3rd base,rightfielder,centerfielder,and leftfielder.)

Lafmom, oooops I put my foot in my mouth! That was a post from last year. Sorry I should know that you have all the answers

Laf - what was the policy at your son's HS; are they allowed to play for travel teams in the summer or expected to play for the HS summer team? I know that if my son goes to one local HS, they are expected to play for the HS summer team. Yet if he goes to another HS, they play for travel teams.

My son is allowed to play on another team if he chooses. His HS coach actually told him he should. My son chose to play with his HS team. He may play for a travel team this coming Summer. But he isn't sure.

Beezer, Lexington teams do a variety of things. My son's coach would prefer as I think most HS coaches do, that his kids play together in the summer. Most have done so for the last few years, but not all. This is an individual call and I can certainly understand the reasons to play for each of those. There are a couple of private schools here who do not put together a team of their kids, so those kids are forced to find their own travel teams to participate on. Again, there are things to gain from each experience IMO.

Sportsbuff - UK will have several very good starters to return - including three Lexington kids. My concern for the program are some other very good players that have chosen to leave. I hope that the trend doesn't continue and things settle down. I'm a UK fan and want the baseball program to succeed as much as anyone.