I agree that coach Jones is one of the better coaches I think he ranks in the top 1/3 of the coaches in the area. But I believe this is the begining of coach Jones 3RD year hardly enough time to call him the best at the beach. He came in with some of the best talent on one team since '97 Great Bridge team with Mike Cuddyear and John Curtice and like that team they under achieved. I don't think they have challenged for the Beach district title again let alone the region. So kellam was at the top one year, in the middle of the district the next year that hardly includes them as perennial contenders. Let's give coach Jones a little more time and I'm sure he will probably prove you right but for now I would say he is a top five.
doc,
i agree with most of your post, but, i gotta chime in here with my 2 cents worth ?
first, the facts of coach jones three years:
1st year: rallies a young team (all soph's & jrs. mostly) from a 3-8 start to finish with a 10 game winning streak and heart-breaking loss in the beach district final to fc. finished with a 13-9 record.
2nd year: on paper, has arguably one of the most talented group of players the beach has ever seen. jones leads this team to 26-2 record, (only losses coming to 3A state runner-up glenn high school out of north carolina and , and j.r.tucker in the state semi-finals.) question here doc ? did the chicago cubs underachieve last season ? much like chicago cubs fans, REAL kellam fans have endured years of frustration and sometimes too much losing ! kellam was within six outs of playing madison for the state title in 2002. ps. i'm pretty sure that twenty years from now if you ask coach jones what was his toughest year of coaching ? his reply just might be 2002. to have that much talent on paper is one thing, to keep it all together and get them to play to their potential is another. fella, i don't call that year an underachievement.
3rd year: definitely a rebuilding year with a young pitching staff and only three or four veteran position players. they finished 13-7 with a top of the seventh loss to a talented kempsville team in the first round of the beach playoffs.
once again, i want to say that i agree that noone after three years should be annointed chief winn-um-all, but kellam fans are pretty happy that he has turned the baseball program around into one that we are all extremely proud of !
i agree with most of your post, but, i gotta chime in here with my 2 cents worth ?
first, the facts of coach jones three years:
1st year: rallies a young team (all soph's & jrs. mostly) from a 3-8 start to finish with a 10 game winning streak and heart-breaking loss in the beach district final to fc. finished with a 13-9 record.
2nd year: on paper, has arguably one of the most talented group of players the beach has ever seen. jones leads this team to 26-2 record, (only losses coming to 3A state runner-up glenn high school out of north carolina and , and j.r.tucker in the state semi-finals.) question here doc ? did the chicago cubs underachieve last season ? much like chicago cubs fans, REAL kellam fans have endured years of frustration and sometimes too much losing ! kellam was within six outs of playing madison for the state title in 2002. ps. i'm pretty sure that twenty years from now if you ask coach jones what was his toughest year of coaching ? his reply just might be 2002. to have that much talent on paper is one thing, to keep it all together and get them to play to their potential is another. fella, i don't call that year an underachievement.
3rd year: definitely a rebuilding year with a young pitching staff and only three or four veteran position players. they finished 13-7 with a top of the seventh loss to a talented kempsville team in the first round of the beach playoffs.
once again, i want to say that i agree that noone after three years should be annointed chief winn-um-all, but kellam fans are pretty happy that he has turned the baseball program around into one that we are all extremely proud of !
Nicely put Driller. Can you give us any info on how Kellams team should be this year. After reading some of Doc's other post he doesn't sound like he is a Kellam fan!
i would just like to add coach spedden in there amongst the best coaches in the beach district...
in 2001, as coach jones was loaded with talent in 2002, coach spedden was loaded with the talents as such as billy bray(william & mary), mike ballard(UVA), richie litwin(VMI), christopher kois, omari alexander, al profeet, etc...coach spedden took this group to the state finals, only to be gipped in the state tournament having been made to play both the semis and finals in the same day. with this group, coach spedden got the best out of his team offensively with his patented slash/bunt/hit & run strategy as pitching and defense were this team's strong points
in 2003, coach spedden was not so furtunate to be blessed with the same talent...the dolphins finished 7th in the district and was not given much of a chance in the beach district tournament. coach spedden found a way to convince his team that they had the talent to go to region...with the likes of renaldo hollins, mickey apple, craig miles, aj litwin, and ricky caperton as the team's leaders, this team was not given much of a chance...coach spedden got this team to their 2nd regional appearance in 3 years...
while i dont think that coach spedden may be the BEST coach in the beach, i think coach spedden has made a case for being one of the better coaches in the district.
coach conroy, zell, jones, and wilson are also among the best coaches...
in 2001, as coach jones was loaded with talent in 2002, coach spedden was loaded with the talents as such as billy bray(william & mary), mike ballard(UVA), richie litwin(VMI), christopher kois, omari alexander, al profeet, etc...coach spedden took this group to the state finals, only to be gipped in the state tournament having been made to play both the semis and finals in the same day. with this group, coach spedden got the best out of his team offensively with his patented slash/bunt/hit & run strategy as pitching and defense were this team's strong points
in 2003, coach spedden was not so furtunate to be blessed with the same talent...the dolphins finished 7th in the district and was not given much of a chance in the beach district tournament. coach spedden found a way to convince his team that they had the talent to go to region...with the likes of renaldo hollins, mickey apple, craig miles, aj litwin, and ricky caperton as the team's leaders, this team was not given much of a chance...coach spedden got this team to their 2nd regional appearance in 3 years...
while i dont think that coach spedden may be the BEST coach in the beach, i think coach spedden has made a case for being one of the better coaches in the district.
coach conroy, zell, jones, and wilson are also among the best coaches...
Driller,
Sorry for not being correct on how many years Jones has been at Kellam. You should be proud of what you have he's done a good job but not without much talent. Of those soph & jrs. he had in his fist year how many of those young men are now playing division I, five or six? Not bad, most coaches are lucky to have two on a team. Did the Cubs underachieve you would have to ask the Cubs but I think both the Cubs and the Yankees would say they both did. But fella, any team that has just about every position filled by a player that will be division I player or a pro, UNDERACHIEVED. Once again, everyone should be proud of coach Jones.
hsbaseball,
I'm I'm not down on Kellam I'm just giving my opionion about how Kellam will do this year. I can tell you one thing, look out for them next year.
Sorry for not being correct on how many years Jones has been at Kellam. You should be proud of what you have he's done a good job but not without much talent. Of those soph & jrs. he had in his fist year how many of those young men are now playing division I, five or six? Not bad, most coaches are lucky to have two on a team. Did the Cubs underachieve you would have to ask the Cubs but I think both the Cubs and the Yankees would say they both did. But fella, any team that has just about every position filled by a player that will be division I player or a pro, UNDERACHIEVED. Once again, everyone should be proud of coach Jones.
hsbaseball,
I'm I'm not down on Kellam I'm just giving my opionion about how Kellam will do this year. I can tell you one thing, look out for them next year.