Scott Brown's SportsBytes on WKDZ

A visit to the Tradewater Pirates

After giving scoring updates on the daily sportsbyte every day for the past few weeks, I decided it was time to check out the Tradewater Pirates and pay a visit to historical Riverside Park.

I was not disappointed.

Thursday was the annual Independence Day celebration for Dawson Springs at Riverside Park.  Baseball.  Games.  Food. Fireworks.  A good time was had by all.

The baseball park was rebuilt in 1999, with a giant covered wooden grandstand behind home plate.  There is also a wooden concession stand behind the grandstand that features some of the best ballpark food I've had.  And unlike the Ham Festival, I didn't have to take out a small loan to feed me and the kids.

The historic ballpark is located on a wooded bend of the Tradewater River just as you go into Dawson Springs from the south.

The park was the spring training home for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914-17 when Dawson Springs was at the height of popularity because of it's springs.

Several weeks ago, I interviewed Rick Hendrickson, the voice of the Tradewater Pirates.  He gave some more history of the ballpark, talking about how Pirate Hall of Famer Honus Wagner would fish in the adjacent Tradewater River in between practice games.

Now it's home to the Tradewater Pirates, a team in the Kentucky Illinois Tennessee (KIT) League, made up of college players from across the country.

The first place Pirates beat a team from Owensboro 8-3 in front of a large and vocal home crowd Thursday.  Afterward, the crowd was treated to a fireworks show as good as any in western Kentucky.

If you get a chance, visit Riverside Park in Dawson Springs and watch the Pirates play.

The Tradewater River

The wooden grandstand behind home plate at Riverside Park

A view from the grandstand

Miss Dawson Springs Keri Lynn Dunbar was busy selling raffle tickets to the fans.

And of course, the highlight of the night was the fireworks show after the Tradewater victory.

Tyler Gilliland named Second Team All-State

Christian County pitcher/outfielder Tyler Gilliland has been named Second Team All-State by the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association, while his teammates got shut out in the selection process.

Gilliland, who has signed to play baseball at Western Kentucky University, missed part of the season with a shoulder injury but still managed to be the winning pitcher for the Colonels in both the Eighth District and Second Region Tournament championship games.

Gilliland's future teammate at Western, Issac Vaughn of Henderson County, was also named Second Team All-State.

Mark Roberts of Henderson County was named Honorable Mention All-State, yet was voted KHSBCA Second Region Player of the Year.  Henderson County coach Nathan Isenberg was voted region coach of the year, and Nathan Parks of Madisonville was voted assistant coach of the year.

PRP infielder Zack Cox, who has signed with Arkansas, was named the 2008 Mr. Baseball.  Cox, a 20th round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit .457 with seven homers and 46 RBIs.  On the mound, he was 10-0 with a 0.97 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 67 innings.

His coach, Bill Miller, was named Kentucky Coach of the Year after winning his fourth state title.  Miller now has a 29-year record of 861-220 as head coach.

CLICK HERE for the Kentucky All-State Baseball Teams

PRP 7 Christian County 1

Christian County's baseball came to an end with a 7-1 loss to Pleasure Ridge Park in the quarterfinals of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament in Lexington.

PRP scored single runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before sealing the win with three runs in the seventh inning.

Josh Hilling drove in Colton Ellis for Christian County's lone run in the fourth inning.

Alex Hornbeck had two hits and drove in two runs for PRP (36-4), who will play Apollo tomorrow in one semifinal.  Lawrence County plays Lexington Catholic in the other semifinal.

Ellis and Daron Morris each had two hits for Christian County, whose season ends with a record of 27-12.

CLICK HERE FOR A GAME BOXSCORE

Christian County vs. Pleasure Ridge Park

Christian County (27-11) plays Pleasure Ridge Park (35-4) tonight in the final game of the first round of the KHSAA Baseball Tournament.

CLICK HERE to see Christian County's season stats

CLICK HERE for a PRP Roster

CLICK HERE for PRP's season stats

CLICK HERE to see the bracket for the state baseball tournament

CLICK HERE for the link to streaming audio of the state tournament from the KHSAA.

Christian County 6 Barren County 5

Christian County is off to the State Baseball Tournament after a 6-5 win over Barren County in the semi-state round at Henderson County.  The Colonels won the best-of-three series 2-0.

Christian County rallied from a 5-0 deficit, with Jordan Williams knocking in the go-ahead runs with a fourth inning single.  Colton Ellis had three hits for the Colonels, who have won eight of their last 10 semi-state games.

Dylan Carroll overcame some early trouble and pitched a complete game, running his record to 10-2 on the season.

Christian County (27-13) advances to next week's state baseball tournament at Applebee's Park in Lexington.  They will play Pleasure Ridge Park (35-4) next Thursday at 8:30pm in the first round.   PRP ripped Anderson County 15-0 to win their semi-state series.

Christian County 13 Barren County 7

Christian County exploded for six runs in the third inning to beat Barren County 13-7 in the first game of the semi-state round of the State Baseball Tournament in Henderson County.

Daron Morris drove in five runs with a two-run single in the second inning and a 3-run home run in the third.

Jordan Williams also had a pair of two-run singles for the Colonels, who won their seventh game in their last nine semi-state contests. 

Christian County was three outs away from winning the game in five innings, but Barren County scored four runs in the top of the fifth to prolong the game and added two more runs in the seventh inning.

Tyler Gilliland picked up the pitching win on the mound for the Colonels.

Christian County improves to 26-11 with their sixth straight win, while Barren County fell to 27-11.

The teams return to action Thursday night at 7pm in Henderson for game two of the best-of-three series.  If the Colonels win, they move on to Lexington for the state tournament.  If Barren County wins, it forces a deciding game on Friday.

Christian County vs. Barren County

Christian County begins play in the semi-state round of the state baseball tournament as the Colonels will play Fourth Region champ Barren County today at 7pm at Henderson County High School.

Christian County is 25-11 on the season and enters today's contest with a five-game winning streak.  They have also won six of their last eight games at the semi-state round.

Barren County beat Greenwood 9-7 Saturday to win the school's first-ever region baseball title.  The Trojans are 27-10 and like Christian County, have won five games in a row.

The semi-state round is a best of three series with all three games at Henderson County.

To read more about Barren County, CLICK HERE for a story from the Glasgow Daily Times.

Is minor league baseball one step closer to coming to Bowling Green?

The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerece is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new minor league baseball stadium.

The 4,000-seat stadium will be built between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and Kentucky Street.  A nearly 800-space parking garage is also slated to be built.

The groundbreaking comes on the heels of news that the owner Columbus Catfish, a Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, is working on a deal to relocate the team to Bowling Green, according to OurSportsCentral.com.  Columbus currently plays in the South Atlantic League, which also has the Lexington Legends as a member.

It would be good news for baseball fans in western Kentucky if it comes to fruition.

Trigg County Wildcat Baseball Banquet

The Trigg County Wildcat Baseball team was recognized at their annual awards banquet Sunday at the school.

Will Stagner and Donald Bush (pictured right) were named the Co-MVPs for the season.

Click HERE for a Monty Stagner photo gallery with the entire list of varsity and JV award winners.

Trigg County finished with a 13-17 record, claiming the top seed in the district before losing to Lyon County in the first round of the district.

The Wildcats have posted double-digits in wins in four consecutive seasons for the first time in at least 50 years.

The 30 wins in consecutive seasons is the most since 1986 (19) and 1985 (14).

Second Region Tournament Pairings

Here are the matchups for the Second Region Baseball and Softball Tournaments that are scheduled to begin at Henderson County High School Monday, weather permitting.

CLICK HERE for the Second Region Baseball Tournament Bracket

CLICK HERE for the Second Region Softball Tournament Bracket