Turnovers … by Alan B. Gibson

Posted May 11, 2023 at 9:09 am

Derby 149 – what a mess that was for me

I know, you should always stick with your first inclination when making a decision, and a moment before I placed my Derby bet this past weekend, word came out that my favorite horse in the field had just become fifth horse in the original lineup of possibles to scratch.

Forte, the morning favorite on Derby Day, left the field with what was discovered to be a bruised foot and my first thought then and there was to just sit this Derby out without placing any bets.

Yep, always go with your first guess. I didn’t and Derby 149 was a big goose egg as far as winnings go, although it was an entertaining race to watch Saturday.

With word that Forte was out of the race, I subbed Angel of Empire in his place to win. He ran third and my other three picks, Tap It Trice, Raise Cain and Kingsbarns finished seventh, eighth and 14th, respectively.

Needless to say, supper Saturday night came out of the Gibson family refrigerator, and not from any cloth napkin restaurants.

Bat Dawgs, Lady Bat Dawgs among the leaders

With the 2023 baseball and softball seasons winding down as we approach mid-May and of course graduation, we were pleased last week to have it pointed out that our Bat Dawgs and Lady Bat Dawgs were among the leaders listed in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s stats.

For the Dawgs, as a team they are listed as the 26th best in the category of Team Strikeout Leaders, out of 198 schools that have baseball in their spring sports lineup and have reported stats this season.

Individually, Bat Dawg Caleb Thrasher is close to the top of the list for pitchers and strikeouts, falling as the eighth best in the state with 10 games on the mound with 78 strikeouts.

Another Bat Dawg pitcher, Blaine Melton, falls into the 25th spot with 67 strikeouts in nine games.

The Bat Dawgs entered this week’s action on the diamond with a 10-13 overall record and a more impressive 7-2 mark against 4th Region opponents and a 6-1 record against 16th District foes.

On the other diamond at Clinton County High School, the Lady Bat Dawgs are much more prominent in the KHSAA stat leaders list.

Three Lady Bat Dawgs show up in the Hits Leaders column, beginning with Chloe Longwell at 27th with 47 hits in 31 games, followed by Aubrie Messer at 35th with 46 hits and Ella Marlow at 46th with 44 hits.

Looking on down the hits stats list at bat listing, Messer is 19th in doubles with 14, while Lauren Winningham is 50th with 12.

In the RBI listing, Messer ranks eighth with 47 and in the Runs listing, Longwell ranks 12th with 47. As a team, the Lady Bat Dawgs are 27th in the state as Team Batting Averages with a 0.382 average (Beth Haven leads the state with an average of 0.452).

The Lady Dawgs hold down the 11th top spot in Team Runs Leaders with 283 (tied with Rowan County, and are seventh in Kentucky in Team Hits with 319, fourth in Kentucky in Team Doubles with 69, 29th in Team Triples with 15, 12th in Team RBIs with 232, and 45th in Team Strikeouts with 173.

The Bat Dawgs and Lady Bat Dawgs will finish out regular season play this week before moving into the post-season run.