FROM THE SIDELINES

It’s the first of back to back matchups of the last two 8th Region Champions as the Woodford County Yellowjackets and the Shelby County Rockets get together on the diamnond.

Tonight, it’s from A.B.
“Happy” Chandler Field ion Versailles on the Yellowjacketg Sports Network.

e for e e e good for e e for for e e for for check one two e this is Ted Wilson hey coach I’m talk this is Darren I just wanted to call and let you hear my voice and see how I we sounded on the phone through my headsets are you okay yeah I’m good good all right I’ll call you back at 7:30 all right man sounds good I just wanted to touch base with you but thanks coach and good luck what’s y’all’s record uh 17 and0 17 and0 I knew you were undefeated I didn’t know how many uh games you had played so yeah good deal now do you know what the C we’ll cover the cost of it we know where uh it’s going to be at transy I don’t know where the transy lacrosse field is so we’ll we’ll cover all that when we get uh on with you okay all right yeah absolutely yeah and good it’s on YouTube so I’ve got your picture and you just type in my name which is d a r r i n Douglas with one s look for the Yellow Jacket symbol or you actually look for a picture and it says from the sidelines with Darren Douglas there you go that’s it and you can listen in I got uh a baseball coach uh the softball coach from Woodford I got a baseball coach from Harrison County and you’re going to be in the middle all right sounds great all right coach I appreciate it all right no problem I’ll talk to you a little bit later buddy sounds good thank thanks coach all right bye okay that sounded he said sounds great on the phone boo I’m loving you Roman’s in here laying up underneath the table almost I think hey Darren how you doing Ma I’m doing good how about you I can’t complain for an old man well that’s all right not at all you know that’s right it’s wonderful to hear your voice and uh I’ve told stories about when I umpired a couple of your games his baseball over there yeah yeah and the one time that you and Vic Travis set me up oh my uh you said it didn’t matter how close the call was or how good the call was for you to come out and argue with me you remember that yeah I victed something there and you gave me what for and threw your hat down and everything and every the whole crowd thought they we’re going to tell this on on the air by the way and and the and the whole crowd was going nuts because they thought you were giving me down the road you were saying welcome to the welcome to high school baseball rookie yeah you remember it I do with Vic I was like oh my God and Vic back her laughing I said I’m gonna kill you Vic I ain’t gonna kill you played at Morhead I mean at at UK and I played at Morehead and we played against each other in college oh my God got and got to know each other back then too yeah well see here’s the thing a lot of people don’t know that you were heck of a softball player in your day too at one time I played a lot of softball and you played with my dad yes when he was known as Zeke Koy yes I sure do yes oh Lord oh my goodness can you believe mey coach I’m gonna tell you right now I am a year and a half away from being 60 is that unbelievable can you believe that I am that old that is unbelievable I know I know that makes me really old that’s how long you’ve known me yeah go you have literally known me since I was in diapers I’m telling you what this is this is a I’m getting up there I’m getting up there well you don’t look it you don’t look it and for Coach as long as you have you know it’s ready to go all right you ready I am I’m gonna do an opening and here we go okay all right all right well welcome in to tonight’s Woodford County Public Schools broadcast of from the sidelines we want to thank Danny Atkins and all the folks with Whitford County Public Schools being our title sponsor for the last couple of years on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network we appreciate all they do for not only the kids of Whitford County but what they do for me and my network uh got a great show for you it’s been a while since we’ve been on the air with from the sidelines uh but we have got a jam-pack to show tonight uh uh I’ve got a legend in coaching and I’ll tell you about him in just a minute I got a young upstart in coaching with a brand new sport to High School athletics uh in boys lacrosse and we’ll talk about that with him coming up in the next half an hour and then close out the show we have girls softball coach to talk uh girls softball so we’ve got a lot of stuff to get in tonight and uh it’s wonderful to have all my guests before they get here with me tonight on this show I want to thank everybody who has been uh following us on Facebook and and on our YouTube channel we appreciate that uh it has been a wonderful ride for the last four years years with uh DD Sports Productions and the yellow jacket Sports Network bringing you a lot of great stuff and this tonight is probably the most jam-packed show I’ve had uh in the three years of doing from the sidelines and it starts with a legend and I say a legend because he and I were just talking off the air it has been a long time since I’ve known this gentleman and joining us tonight is the alltime winningest baseball coach M Whitaker from Harrison County and coach call you coach I call you Ma and we’ve called each other several things when we were when I was umpiring you were still coaching you’re still coaching uh and I quit vampiring but but M whiter thank you for being here with me tonight and I really do appreciate uh on short notice I had somebody the last minute cancel out and I called you and you said sure thing anytime anytime for you Darren we go way back we do I appreciate everything you’ve done for high school sports and and uh just enjoy talking to you well I enjoy talking to you to we don’t get a chance to do this very often uh I will tell everybody this I spent a good portion of my young younger days uh back in Cynthiana uh over there and uh hung out with family over there and got to know coach Whitaker through that group of people over there uh uh and everybody in sthana will will know the name jastin but I enough said about that we won’t go any further than that and we won’t talk about the boys we’ll talk about Mom and Dad Earl and Rose probably probably more well known than the boys were well you’re exactly right they’re Legends in their day too they were he started out being the recreation director down here gosh and he’s matter of fact if I’m not mistaken did he get the complex over there where the all the little leag teams and stuff play he got that uh up and going that started yes yes it is boy but I tell you what you I I use the word Legend and a lot of people throw that around but in your case this is very applicable 45 years as the head boss over there of the th Brad baseball program you’ve won over 1200 games as a matter of fact 1,221 going into this season uh man I mean did you ever think you’d be around this long when you first started coaching never dreamed of it never dreamed of it at all and you know you’ve had some some wonderful players over there I you know I I’m starting to think of some names The Only Name that came to mind and and I know it’s because of his lengthy career in in the majors was Chris snowek but you’ve had a lot Nucci Varner was another one that just came to I mean you’ve had a ton of great players we’ve had we’ve had uh eight kids make it to the uh major leagues to the been been drafted or then not not play a pro game but uh in the major leagues but make it you know into the minor league system drafted or signed or whatever but we’ve been very fortunate here at Harrison County yeah and and you know we uh here in Woodford have have have had some some great games on the football field but we haven’t played much in the baseball realm is there explanation for that it it’s probably more than anything it’s a travel getting there and the time and you know it’s just a it’s right on the verge of being a little too far and that type thing and we haven’t met in tournaments usually we meet you know different places but we we haven’t played for quite a while well and I will say this too uh it’s a lot better road though now between here and Cynthiana now it is four much better but I I was going over there do something and I can’t remember I think I was headed maybe to Campbell County no I take the back we were headed to Harris County for a football game with the late Mt Calbert and all of a sudden just out of the blue here’s this roundabout in this open field that’s right that messed up quite a few people for a while they didn’t understand how to do that roundabout but you know that’s changed for you and you know it worked works it works it does I mean but we wound up going three quarters of the way around it which got us on the other side of santhan on the way to Carlile yes yes you know so and if you anybody knew Ma calber knew that if anything got out of the line of his planning it was like oh my goodness you know so uh but uh we had some wonderful trips tell me about your baseball team this year you’re right now I think the second best team in the in the 10th reg you might be the number one team I can’t remember exactly uh you know it’s always tough in our region Campbell County’s always good Clark County’s always good bourbon County’s got real good pitching uh it it’s competitive every year and but it’s basically those teams no matter what you do they’re you know every once in a while teams will have a good pitcher and can compete but uh Campbell County you know with the size school they are in Clark County with the size school they are you know they have the athletes and they got good coaching and they’re they’re competitive each year yeah and most of your teams are known you usually have some you know you know pretty good pitching and you usually have some really really good offense and you like to run the bases very aggressive has that changed over the years well the only change right now is four you know five years ago I I we we started you know freshman uh we we uh we got to the point where we we were low on talent and we we just said let’s go ahead and start our best players and they were freshman and this year they’re seniors so I have 10 seniors this year which is very unusual but but they they put in their time and they got to play when they were young and and uh they’re doing a great job for us right now all 10 of them are very productive uh players and good people yeah well and you seem to do that uh in your your coaching is is not only do you have great fundamental baseball players but you you produce great young men during the time at Harrison County but also after they leave you yes we we’ve got a good system going and our kids really you know even after they leave they they stay in touch and we want to try to get them in school uh the other night uh last Tuesday night we had our uh signing and we had six kids sign scholarships to go to college last Tuesday so so you know we try to make sure they have a chance to go somewhere and play if they want to the other four that didn’t sign they’ve already made plans to go to college or do this and that and and so we had a signing night that was real nice last week you know people say you know when you go to the to a youth movement and especially being a veteran coach like you are it’s sometimes hard to change how did you find it hard to change not at all I you you teach the same fundamental know the same type of system uh being aggressive and being prepared and learning to play defense if you can play defense you can play with anybody and develop pitchers and and basically that’s what we’ve been able to do for many many years here and and if you don’t beat yourself you got a chance well you’re telling me you got your District tournament tomorrow and it’s a district so it’s at Nicholas speaking of Carlile it’s at Nicholas County yes we we play uh 3:00 tomorrow and uh then we got a week off before we play in the regional the regional is going to start on a Sunday uh The Day Before Memorial Day and so we’ve got a week you know of inactivity so but we usually get a lot of practice time in and that’s when you can really you know get all your things down and go through the last second stuff you know it’s a good week of practice for us well when when do you uh give your pictures you know a a longer leash in other words early in the year a lot of coaches will uh you know have their their better pitchers or a lot of their pitchers throw two or three Innings take them out no matter how they’re throwing the baseball just to save their arms uh have you found yourself doing that more or do you just let your kids tell you hey coach I’m I’m feeling pretty good it’s just basically it’s uh how long they’ve been out working you know if if the kids have been out the full time you know by the time the season starts we’ll we’ll build them up to 75 to 80 pitches uh if just like this year we played in the regional basketball final on a Tuesday and we opened up our season the next day on a Wednesday so we had a lot of kids that hadn’t even done anything so you know we got off to a slow start because of that but you got to protect the arms they that you need to and it takes it takes a good three weeks to get your arms built up to even get going for a you know in season game so it took us a while after the basketball season but uh basically that’s what we do and I’ve always you know I’ve always had the belief in high school that you know in high school you I picture pictures once a week you know we we we don’t try to overdo it or bring it back like major leakers do on four or five days rest we usually like to go once a week and then have one in between start and that’s good enough at this age for the high school kids that’s been my belief all these years well it you know we we uh talk about how you know stuff has changed dropping down from the from the major league level to the minor league level to the Collegiate level now to the high school level and you know I have found too that there are some really good programs that are being built from the ground up at the high school level because of the Middle School level uh I think that you know uh everybody talks about travel ball well travel ball is great and everything but sometimes I think you play Too Many Games over a summer which can number one either wear a kid’s arm out or wear them out mentally uh I don’t know how your take is on on travel ball I guess is what I’m wanting to know uh you know I believe in trying to get better and if it takes playing travel ball you you got to get better now with the change with the change in high school many years ago to allowing us to have a fall workouts we get a lot done in Fall workouts so even after travel ball in summertime we really spent you know a couple months you know in late August July I mean uh September and even sometimes in October of letting kids work in the fall and that’s been a tremendous help in our development now travel ball the biggest thing about that is they go and play and they don’t have a lot at stake and you know it’s not really you know if I lose it’s just still going to come back the next day I’ve paid my money so forth you know you got to develop some tradition so that you can you you leave more on the line that you’re actually out there trying to work for something work for your community work for your school you know and not just paying your money and then going and coming home so you know I I but you can develop you and getting to see good pitching and doing all the things you get to do with travel ball you just got to combine them and make them both work for you you know uh we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about a gentleman that you had some great battles with his program out of Louisville there in Pleasure Ridge Park uh and I can remember one 2010 uh now I’ll tell you uh it was a couple years before Woodford gets their state championship but this game was held up by weather yes and then I’m in the stands with my friend Mike coward and then also with my mom my aunt her do her sister my Aunt Bobby and then on top of that Rose yes is there probably dou and then the fln family so I I can’t sit there enjoy the game because they’re all up there bicking and arguing whether the call was right or not right right so but here’s the thing about when I remember that game both teams pitched F started freshman pitchers yes now how many teams do you see start freshman pitchers in a state championship game that’s unbelievable that’s unbelievable and they both you have to be kind of crazy to do something like that well you you and I believe coach Miller were that way and we’re talking about the late Bill Miller he was a a great man uh uh I got to know him very sparingly before he his untimely passing but I mean it’s guys like him you uh we have Paul Patterson here who’s a younger coach but I think think with him you got Eddie Brooks you got Steve rof over at man Central these are guys that that I think make Kentucky High School baseball what it is is you guys that stick around for a while because I mean I think ru’s been over at Central for what almost 30 years yes he’s he’s developed quite a program over there really good coach and I got him when he was an assistant I got to meet him as a assistant at uh Scott County and he was he was you couldn’t you couldn’t talk enough baseball he was so interested in it so and there’s the other good coaches Jody Hamilton he’s in Catholic now you know there’s a lot of people that have put in the times over the year you know over the years and and uh you know you get a good relationship with all those guys that have been in it and you go to clinics and you talk and and you you play in on the on the field and you get to know them real well and that’s what we’ve done over the years is with a lot of people and Bill and I Bill Miller and I you know we’d go to the clinics and go out to eat and talk and you know we were competitors when we were playing but when we were off the field we were best buddies and you know he had a business I I bought a lot of stuff from Bill and we we became really good friends and I got to see him on that last night when he before he passed away I went to into his in his hospital room and we got to sit there and we just hugged each other and got to got to be by ourselves for a few minutes and it was a great time I’m I was happy I got to do that yeah and you know and that’s the thing people see coaches on the field the court whatever and they say man that guy just acts like a crazy person yeah but then off the field it’s totally different with a lot of coaches and then you think well they don’t like each other but then you hear stories like this with you and Coach Miller and uh you know that that takes me you know back to to to a a night when I was umpiring I told you off the air I was going to tell this story on him and he’s like I remember this story very well yes uh but I was set up yes and it was I was set up by Vic Travis the late Vic Travis uh who who was a heck of an Umpire got his high as Triple A and decided he wanted to come back and do high school baseball I don’t know why he did that but he did it and they stuck me with him as a rookie umpire very good onire one of the very best very good in Cynthiana now folks if you’ve never been to a baseball game is this is the crowd still is is is huge as they always have been yes it’s unbelievable it’s amazing I bet there was 2,000 fans at this baseball game for a regular season game it wasn’t even it was early in the year and as a rookie umpire they stuck me with Vic who was a veteran umpire of course I did not know this until later because I see Vic laughing so hard and he can’t even drive his car he’s still laughing so hard at me as we’re leaving he and Coach Whitaker got together and set me up said it doesn’t matter if it’s a call if it’s a good call a bad call he missed it or he got it right go out and argue with him and I don’t know how you all sit how that happened but do you know do you remember the what the conversation with you and Vic was it’s been a long time oh yes oh yes Vick and I go way back and and he he wanted to he wanted to he said let’s break him in right that’s what we did well I can’t remember who the exciting umpire uh for that for then was but I think he was in on it too might have been Bernie J could have been Bernie but well he was another good one here I am a 25-year-old rookie umpire in the high school my first time going to Cynthiana I’d heard about games there I walk onto the field with Vic he’s the pl umpire I got the bases and this crowd is huge folks I mean it’s a it’s a football crowd at the baseball game yes and it wasn’t even the state tournament and if you’ve ever been to Cynthiana and been to Harris scany High School’s baseball field they sit up behind the home run fence out there in left and left center field on the hillside just behind the high school they tin deep all around the field and they are allowed the entire time there is no quietness from Left Field foul Pole to the right field foul pole it’s it’s taken every game and and and here it comes I mean I call a a runner out at second base and it was easy call for me I thought I turn around and I hear this voice coming at me as he’s running from the third base coaching box and it’s coach Whitaker yes and he’s giving me the business or so the crowd thought and the crowd didn’t know that you’re telling me welcome to high school baseball rookie that’s right I’ll never forget that story as long as I live you know Vic was like that he wanted to do things like that and that’s why he was such a good umpire he could relate to coaches he was able to talk to him he wasn’t just always like a state cop he he was he was out there and he he’d communicate with and so that’s what he was doing there well it made it worse because I’ve known M Whitaker for my entire 58 years on this planet folks and it made it worse because everybody in that town knew my mom and dad yes on top of that too so it’s like and I’m sitting here I was believe it or not there would be a lot of of people that that watch this broadcast M that are listening and they’ll they’ll say Darren Douglas was speechless I was I had nothing to say I had nothing to say and then I find out later from Vic and then Coach Whitaker also admitted that he was in on it so it’s like yeah but it was fun but see that’s where I think High School sports still hold a a very dear position in my heart not only because I’m covering it for so long and I’ve been in this that Mike are you ready for this I’ve been in this business for 40 years isn’t that amazing it is and I you know and I love it it’s I say a business but this is not a business this is a fun time this is my fun job as my dad used to say I agree but the high school sports hold that dear to me because it’s still the more true form of amateur competition yes without a doubt the collegate game has now gotten away from that yes they were making money off of them before but now with the nil it’s gone crazy sure but high school if you want to see a kid come out and give you 100% eort for every day of every game and every practice go to a high school game well that’s my you know you get into this some coaches can get the excuse well we didn’t come ready to play or we didn’t put forth the effort today well that’s that’s a bunch of bull I’ve never seen a high school kid not go out there and give it everything they got and it’s up to the coach to get them ready to play so at that age they’re going to be ready to play you don’t have to make that excuse yeah well I tell you what real quick let me I got some SP I got to think and one of them you probably you know coaches and broadcasters they can meet in a restaurant and forget about what happened the night before on a field play yes but one of the fine sponsors I’ve got and it’s a wonderful spot to go eat it’s called Ricardo right down the on Frankfurt Street just up from the high school it’s a fine Southern dining with a Twist in an old former train depot you’ll love it Ricardo they got everything you want want from appetizers to Entre you can have a good time with that that’s Ricardo our title sponsor to mention Woodford County Public Schools they have the uh portrait of a learner with five different competencies I can’t remember them off the top of my head but uh it is been phenomenal for the one year they’ve had in this place Woodford family uh Woodford Family Positions is another one comprehensive care for every member of your family go see them on Crossfield Drive in versales also I want to thank Jack Ford we are supposed to be there tomorrow on a remote uh but the weather is going to move it to next Saturday and we won’t be able to do the remote next Saturday because we’re already booked to do something else but uh go see Jack Kean Ford five years in a row the number one for dealership according to Carfax in the country right here just up the road from the high school Inver sales wow yeah and and and M what’s what’s I’m so proud about with all these sponsors I have every single one of them are within the confines of Whitford County that’s pretty neat that’s for them to sponsor a radio and even for you you know the service you provide for that Community is unbelievable you know we we’ve got the same kind of situation here in Santana with our radio person Jim swinford y he goes everywhere we go we you know we go to Las Vegas California uh Pensacola every year they go too he goes and calls the games from there it’s very unique to have a high school uh baseball team that every game’s on the radio like ours and we’re very fortunate yeah Jen’s been doing it a long time too down there long uh you know he’s one of those old school broadcasters uh he’s like my my my late friend Mike he he Mike had a notebook that was full of wiford County records whether it be football basketball ball and Jim does the same thing over there in santiana you know and I I got when I got into this into this industry I got to meet Jim uh uh with mck one night for a wford county Harrison County football game and um over there on the hilltop aming and I can remember that it was cold over there that night that’s right but uh you know I got to meet him and I’ve met uh Dan Manley over there in Mount Sterling he’s been doing a long time he’s you know so those kinds of guys Gary ball I can’t forget Gary Gary and Bruce right they’re they’re they’re watching in listing right now down in Florida um and uh he uh always uh has been a great friend of mine and uh he was a friend of Ma’s actually he and Mac uh did games for the UK wuky radio the college station at the University of Kentucky mck was the play-by-play guy Gary was the color analyst yeah you can see why you and you don’t know what and you know but those kinds of guys and you got one over there in Jim and we’ll talk about Jim till the cows come come home and it still won’t do him Justice because he is he is phenomenal at what he does he really is he really is uh M I appreciate your time tonight I probably took you away from the family the grandkids and all that good stuff uh I’ve got my grand kids right here beside me oh you they like to spend the night on Friday nights oh boy got har Russell right here oh well good are y’all out fishing tonight or anything hi Hi how are you she’s been listening the whole time she loves to go to the baseball field she they live there just a great great time to have our grandkids there well tell people ask me how you know what’s the difference between a small town and a county that has one high school as compared to a county that may have two three four five six 25 high schools What’s the diff What is the lure for somebody that’s looking for a smaller Community to move to uh what’s the lure of a small all one County High School they all support one school one one system uh everybody everybody sponsors all the different teams baseball basketball football uh you get that feel that everybody’s a part of it that the the community the town the school you know our Hospital the whole Community just supports one one program and whatever’s in season they they are there to help and be behind the the entire are financially unbelievable yeah well I will tell you this coach uh you get out of the 10th region we’ll get Woodford out of the eth see I can’t I still can’t bring myself to say that very much it’s been four years and I cannot still imagine Woodford in the eth but we’ll get out of the eth you get out of the 10th and we’ll see at Kentucky proud Park how about that that would be great i’ be every Year’s a new thrill it would be a dream I’ll tell you 2012 when Woodford won their state championship uh I was on the television call with dick Gabriel yes mat Calbert of course was I had we had to find somebody for him on our uh internet broadcast of that game and then Doug Flynn was on the radio with Gary ball so the Richie family was covered yes without a doubt Doug does it tremendous job he does he does he does and and he’s joined me on a couple of broadcast for Woodford over the last couple years and uh I’m trying to been trying to get him on him but he’s been busy falling that UK Pro uh B let me ask you this when Louisville and Kentucky are good in football everybody knows it it helps increase the football uh Persona of high school football in the state of Kentucky when both baseball teams are good now a little struggling a little bit this year but they’re not struggling so bad that they’re not in the conversation to be in the postseason right when both those baseball teams are good how much does it help a high school coach close to one of not even just close but in the state Kentucky well they they’re the two programs that you if you can get a kid to go to one of those two schools you think you’ve done something you know we’ve been fortunate over years to do that and and they are such Prestige uh schools that just to go there just to be a part of that program makes your high school feel so much more you know important and uh in in our state for them to represent our entire state to have two schools like that not many not not many states can do that we’re very fortunate well coach I appreciate you spending some time with us on a Friday night on short notice no less and I I hope to see you at Kentucky proud Park uh me as a broadcaster and you on the field coach always great to talk to you and I’d appreciate you uh looking giving me a call and the opportunity to do this thank you so much mik I appreciate longtime friend longtime head coach of Harrison County mik Whitaker with us here tonight on from the sidelines coach thank you very much much again thank you good night appreciate good night buddy well uh I’m going to try to reach now into our next broadcast uh partner if you’ll just give me a second I’ll be back on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network this is from the sidelines with Darren Douglas e e back here on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network I want to thank some of our fine sponsors along the network as well Mr Appliance they guarantee 100% of their labor and their parts see call Mr Appliance today and get your Appliance that’s broken down need some fixing up or whatever just call them and ask for Chris farmer they’ll take care of you over there in Georgetown also by by as I mentioned Ricardos we got another great restaurant that we deal with for sales Brewing Company in the Lexington Road Plaza for sales Brewing Company can honestly say that all their products are made with products that are grown and raised right here in Whitford County also by uh one of my best friends along the lines as I said Tony Spears and Woodford car company they do online buying they can get you the perfect car that you want you select it go see Tony Spears and Woodford car company also falling Springs Rec Center right outside Community Stadium falling Springs Rec Center uh has about everything you can want pickle ball basketball they uh have classes that uh you can go to Drums alive is pretty good over there sneak uh they have the silver sneakers program getting ready to start all their child programs during the summer as we get you set for all the summer activities out there following Springs they have not one not two but three frisbee golf courses as well so a lot of things out there want to talk about a new sport that not a lot of people are aware about but I tell you what they are making some noise here in for sales uh and there’ll be in action tomorrow night we’ll talk about it with the head coach who joins us here tonight Ted Wilson of the boys lacrosse program uh coach uh congratulations on a fantastic season but thank you for joining us tonight thanks Darren appreciate the intro well uh people ask me how do you do that do you I said well I write it down nope I wing it I go by the field I go by the field uh I’m accused of that you nailed it well thank you sir your team has really uh captured the imagination of of not only I think lacrosse fans who follow the sport but also of this small close-knit community this year you’re 17 and0 heading in to a game tomorrow night which we’ll talk a little bit more in depth about in a minute yes sir starts with uh planting the seed you know just getting that Community growing um so it starts small and it’s gotten to just ballooned up to where we are now so well a lot of people go lacrosse they see it on TV they don’t know a lot about it well I don’t know a lot about it I will admit I have called One lacrosse game broadcasting wise in my life and that was at Georgetown College of a of a of a women’s game and I have not called anymore at all not that I haven’t wanted to or you know find the time to uh let the people know about it but if you describe the game of Lacrosse to somebody who is uh very unknowledgeable how would you start out by describing the game of Lacrosse uh the the phrase I believe I heard when I was younger is the fastest game on two feet okay um the the only cave out there would be two skates obviously but it is the fastest game on two feet so um you’ve got the aerobic side of it that is similar to soccer um the the structure layout of the teams set on the field is similar to basketball and hockey um and you’re mixing a little bit of football in there as well it’s physical sport so you got uh 10 players on on both teams on the field at one time um a goalie three defensive players three midfielders and three attackmen so um every every game starts with a face off after every goal there’s a face off it’s it’s high scoring high intensity and and it’s a quick game very physical well I was reading up a little bit on the high school side of things games go 48 minutes long they’re 12-minute quarters just like in high school football uh you have a couple of minutes between each quarter and then you have a 10-minute halftime so it’s I do know that I do what I here’s my limited knowledge of of Lacrosse I do know about goals and things like that but my limited knowledge is it was developed from the Native Americans using uh different types of sticks and weapons and things like that to hone their fighting skills now have I been told wrong or is that what I what what the truth is yeah that is correct uh it it’s got its birth in the the Native American tribes um they’re still represented and uh will be I believe in the Olympics um the hod hodon I believe is is what they are now it’s been the iroy nation in the past um but that’s where it has its root and you know the French came over that’s where you get lacrosse from you know the crosses that’s what they call the stick the cross um so it’s a little bit different you know they uh their field was a mile long oh wow and the the goal of it was to run from one side to the other um and there were several several more people on the field and uh they were they were whacking each other a little harder without pads um so it was uh to settle settle disputes really so well and see that’s see so we getting we’re getting it from somebody that’s more knowledgeable than me see so I somebody asked me to to describe this and I said well it would be one sport that I probably couldn’t play because I didn’t like to run a lot um but you talked about the attackman now I I’m going to we have a lot of people that listen to this coach and watch uh and they’re not very familiar with the rules and things you mentioned the attackman and you said there are three attackman on the high school field and they are the offensive players they’re the ones that get to most the to pretty much score all the goals um and uh then you got defensemen who which are if you watch a television broadcast from lacrosse they’re the ones with the longer sticks correct correct okay yes and they are in high school too I I watched it from afar the other night uh uh your game um against uh South warrant in the U quarterfinals of the of the tournament and U watched a little bit of it and then uh had to to go do some other things but uh so I’m trying to keep up with this now the midfielders are the guys that can go either offense or defense correct yes so you’re you’re trying to keep uh six of your players on the right side of the 50 so we you know that’s that’s where you see the offside rule it can get a little confusing like soccer but it’s not you know behind the last guy it’s those you don’t want those three that are on attack to cross the midline when everyone’s on the other side and uh similar to defense you don’t you don’t want to end up with seven guys on one side of the field that’s where you get a penalty right and so and and you got to be careful with that because that can happen at times because of the of the flow of the game and the way the the the guys get to move around freely on the field yes so that you end up with a we call it ManUp in Lacrosse a ManUp situation it’s essentially a power play in hockey so one guy goes serves in The Penalty Box goes and takes a knee on the sideline yeah so they don’t have a they just go over there and just hang out yeah yeah it’s a it’s it’s figurative they they just take a knee in a in a lined area so yeah uh now while we have you on the phone and we’ll talk a bit about your game tomorrow and and your uh your team itself uh I’ve noticed a difference between uh watching it when I catch college lacrosse on television I I’ve noticed the difference between the men’s game and the women’s game at the Collegiate level it seems like to me the women’s game’s a little bit more physical than the men’s game is is that because of the style of rules or am I just seeing things um so it you know that it depends on the game certainly um uh the teams and the history behind them uh you know you you know your officials definitely as well so sometimes you have to be careful on the men side of things you want to keep your checks clean and uh your hits legal right so right it’s a very very uh difficult thing when you’re manned down in the man’s G in the men’s game um generally teams are going to convert on that so you don’t want to give them too many man up opportunities um the girls aren’t allowed to hit as much quite as much but you will see them crowd space around each other they don’t get to take big wax with the stick like we do uh but their field is bigger you know and they have to uh they’ve got to crowd crowd the other girls around them to try to get the ball dislodged because they don’t have the ability to check like we do um with no pads so they they they definitely have a different rule set and that’s the difference you see you know really good ball movement Good Foot movement in the girls game um and we’ve had a very good girls team for for several years they won the state championship um a couple times years back uh when I got here so they’re they’re good as well and uh their game’s a lot different yeah but but they’re they’re very talented and it’s it’s fun to watch that as well so and U it’s usually at the high school level for everybody it’s played in the spring um and uh I’d heard possibly that they may think about moving it to the fall has that been in the conversation to your knowledge um I not that I had heard um it it stays in the spring since I’ve been around and I I don’t I don’t see it changing anytime soon I hadn’t heard that there is a you know big saying in Lacrosse fall ball so we we play a lot in the fall everything’s year round now you know that right but uh you know we we play a lot of Fall Ball we go to tournaments and uh do seven on seven stuff similar to football and we have a lot of footballers on the team you know um guys that play for Woodford varsity and uh we got a lot of cross-pollination going on with that they’re they’re uh physical and fast and you know that we play a lot of Fall Ball we we don’t get them as much at that time because they’re focused on football so right and that’s that’s we were just talking with M Whitaker of Harrison game with baseball and it’s it’s tough to get somebody to focus on two different sports you know in a in a false situation that you know where they’re playing another sport in the fall and they’re can’t concentrate on their Spring sport as much uh because of a small town but it’s also some advantages because you get more support it seems like from a community uh being at a small school or in a small town yeah we get uh I would say with the with the coaches too we know how the sports work with each other uh we have fun watching our guys on both sides just gets you excited for you know to see that development in between Seasons right uh because I’m all for you know I played three Sports in in high school uh and it it just develops different skills I I tell anybody you want to get better at the sport you love go play some other ones um so you know you see them move different and they they got to switch back into the lacrosse mindset when the season starts but uh man that you know they get really strong in football um all my guys from football are are big lifters and you know they’re strong they’re strong and fast so we’re we’re definitely happy to have that uh Synergy with football teams so yeah well let let’s talk a little bit about that that uh that team that you got I’ve mentioned 17 and0 uh which includes two big wins over lexingon Catholic uh once in the regular season in overtime 9 to8 you beat him in the state semifinals just back on Wednesday night uh in at Community Stadium you had two of the biggest crowds uh that I think uh the lacrosse program has had both boys or girls in school history uh for both those games they both were white outs what did your guys think when they looked up and saw that crowd uh it was it was pretty special um you know just take away the uh the fact that of the team that we were beating because there’s a lot of history there not in our favor first time we’ve be beaten them to do it twice in the season is very impressive uh we’re talking they knocked us out semis the past two years 14 to nothing so um big turnaround and to go I mean just to look up and see how many people have your back and to know you get that validation that what you’re doing is is correct it’s right it’s you know it it really breathed that life into the community um and people showed up you know we we our students section was amazing um the parents have been great all year I had people from my work coming uh you know family friends from all over the place were showing up and you know even even a big contingent of the other team’s crowd showing up which we hadn’t seen in the past um and uh they brought a student section it it was really really Lively environment uh it it just adds to the chills you get when you do something great at the end of the game and you know when you get a goal so the kids definitely felt it they definitely felt it well I know I was following through Bill Kane of the the Woodford Sun I was following along the other night uh he would text me and keep me updated what was going on and I said uh I said bilan scoring he said yeah we’re down three nothing and I thought oh boy here you know you this team’s played so good all year and now they fall behind early but your team battled uh from talking with people there and they battled to cut it to three to2 at halftime and then you came out the second half now whatever you said to him at halftime you might want to bottle it because whatever you said to them at halftime they came out and outscored Catholic over the next quarter and almost the whole second half five nothing to take a seven to3 lead and then they got to go a a goal late uh to make it seven to four the final score but uh you know what was your team’s mind set when they fell behind three to nothing uh what were you seeing from them on the field uh when they were down three goals early uh you know the some of the tendencies that you don’t want to see right you know you got guys uh guys picking on each other you know why’d you drop this why’d you drop that and um you know it was it was very early in the game you talking first quarter there’s a lot of scoring in Lacrosse I mean you’re there’s average scores can be 13 to 15 um so that they’re very easy to get back you know but if you let it snowball in your mind that that’s kind of where we were headed but this team is different this team is different you know from I had several former players there that said you know that first half we thought you guys were done for and I said this these this group of guys is different you know they they pulled together our Faceoff guy went and got one and you know he’s been big for us all year um and uh he went and got one energy guy and we went and got another one so we we go in with a very manageable uh goal differential at halftime and I was the last Perman into the locker room and you know you see some heads down and a little bit of uh emotional speeches from some of the guys but uh you know there was no big uh movie moment speech it was just uh hey let’s calm down and and play our game uh you know why we’re not in trouble we only got a one goal deficit here so we get back out here and and play our game and you know I get out of my own way I I I had to change up some things in the second half um to get us more success and it it just worked out also uh you know talk a little bit about your team uh individually like leaders of your team who who Who’s your faceof guy that you said been has been real solid all year for you and talk about a little bit about your team individually so yeah our Faceoff guy is Charlie twe Hughes um he’s a uh a junior right now third year starter he’s he takes 99% of our faceoffs which you know can range up to 20 a game um it is a physical physical part of the sport so he’s taken those draws after every goal and at the start of each quarter and game um he has been Monumental to our team that he gets US possession of the ball and possession lacrosse is just as important as any other sport so he he gets it started for us he’s the Powder Keg he’s an energy guy everyone turns to him um he’s going to be getting an award tomorrow from the league for it’s called the honor of the game award because he’s such a great kid too he’s he’s a gosh darn it guy you know he’s he’s not uh saying the wrong things he’s he’s just a nice kid and um he’s a big leader for us one of our captains another one is uh Graham Hodge plays football big kid um number 32 number one in our hearts right but he he is the he’s physical you know captain of our defense he he just dominates the best opponent we have right so he always draws the hardest matchup um and he’s been big forth all year he starts fast breaks um and uh you know our our goalie right behind him Parker ishmail making big saves All Season he had 15 saves against lexon Catholic with 78% save rate on Wednesday night which is uh incredible and um you know he had he didn’t get a he had got all region he didn’t get all state we found out so he had a little little uh Little Skin in the game on Wednesday he was he was really pushing and um you know we have a lot of great scorers as well our offense has been incendiary All Season we’ve got a we do have a standout freshman um Grayson Hodge Graham’s brother who is uh you know just an explosive kid he he’s you know plays football as well and he’s got a what I would call hot bed Tendencies uh which is a lacrosse hot bed is you know Maryland Virginia places like that where you see the kids grow up from the age of five playing the game um and we we’ve got a big senior Phil Craig he he’s um got a late start to the season but he’s got all the majority of our goals uh he’s been huge kind of just stalwart making good finishes and um we have so many great guys that have been contributing all year and you know they they’ve been more vocal than ever picking each other up and you know we we just have a lot of fun there was a uh a hair a buzz cut party the past two days we’ve had practice Yeah so I think the uh think the final number got up to about I don’t know 27 of them or so so so there’s there’s a few hold outs but we think they’re going to fall so oh boy well that that’s that’s one I haven’t heard before the buzz cut from guys the wrestling team always used to dry their hair blonde yeah that there was some talk of that as well oh really yeah well I might come tomorrow night just to see the bus Cuts I I think we our intimidation factor is going to be off the charts we’re we’re looking tough I wonder how many moms though had a had an absolute coronary when the son came home with a buzz cut oh it was uh I wouldn’t say live stream but there were several videos moms were picking up some practice it was uh we were having fun with it you know I think there were a few that pushed him into the chair to be honest yeah yeah it it got to Lord of the Flies really quick in there I’ll just tell you you know that that that is too funny uh but again you you know you get 15 16 17 year old kids you never know what they’re going to do so uh oh yeah but but you like to see that as a coach you like to see that because now that brings in the team uh part of it you know and uh the thing that’s been really interesting to follow with Woodford County Sports over the years uh and especially over the last several years with for me has been the fact that not we’ve had individual teams do this good and this good you know whatever but now it seems like as the athletic program as a whole have teams that are doing great I mean you know we got you guys going for a State title tomorrow night we’ve had uh you know the undefeated team for football a couple years ago we’ve had the basketball team get the state semifinals boys we’ve had the girls turn around and make great strides we’ve had the track teams with school records falling like crazy this year does it help that every coach seems to support the other coaches of the other sports as well yeah so it definitely uh you know I was listening to the last interview it it takes a village for sure and uh you know that that small town versus Big Town thing you know it’s more of a village right so um you got to work with each other there’s there’s one turf field right right now so you got to work together to do that then you you’re talking to other coaches uh you wouldn’t normally talk to in a big situation where it’s some you know scheduling snafu where everybody’s just mad at each other all the time it there’s more there’s more conversation around it there’s uh support for each other and and uh how’ you do last night you know congratulations uh you know it’s there’s a lot to that and um you know it is it is small everyone hears about it and uh you know when you do great things it doesn’t take long for people to hear about it and we’re seeing that right now so you know a lot of love the other night had a lot of texts and um you know we we had a lot of people behind us several people wanted to see wanted to see them go down but um you know that’s that’s really important and you know coach Johnson’s been uh has been pivotal in that he’s he’s really uh backed us and you know he’s behind us in a big way and since we’ve been in school sport past past three years now we’ll be khsa next year don’t know what that’ll look like yet but uh we’re just really excited you know to everybody will the school’s already recognized us everybody recognizes here we’re just ready to get out into the world and everybody see us so well tomorrow night we’ve talked about it uh you’ve got Henry Clay uh everybody knows about Henry Clay uh with their athletic programs over the years you play tomorrow night 7:00 is the game time it’s in Lexington so guess what folks if you’re not doing anything on Saturday night you might want to go up to Transylvania University it’s where it’s going to be held uh for the state championship game give us the details of that uh like uh you know I know it’s going to there’s going to be a a gate fee uh how much do you buy tickets online do you know anything about that coach yeah so it is uh it’s on Goan uh and you it strangely Henry Henry Clay does have the gate for tomorrow night they they had volunteered and got the bid several months ago before they knew they’d be in it but if you look up uh Henry Clay LaCrosse or Henry Clay High School it’ll be that that first event for Saturday says gates open at 3M uh that’s because there’s an allstar game before the championship so if you’ve never seen it and you know you want to check it out and get the whole experience uh all players who aren’t in the championship that have been selected from around the league will play at 5:00 pm uh in the in the All-Star game um and uh the fee for Gan is 8 and they’re accepting cash of the gate as well oh so yeah that’s good because a lot of people don’t know if you’re like me you’re the old school you don’t know how to work that QR code oh yeah yeah yeah I can get confusing they they will take cash at the gate so yeah again I mentioned I’m I’m old I’ll just I’ll admit it uh the coach uh we really uh appreciate you joining us tonight has been uh a fun time to follow the sport I haven’t been to a to a match yet or a game but I really want to to be uh a supportive of of your program because it is a part of what we call jacket Nation um and every sport in this town always has the full backing of a community not just for sales they have mville they have Midway they have none such they have mortonville mcafe Midway and Ducker station I think I think I got them all I think I got them all but but you have but when you have that you know the ability to have support from the community we want you guys to bring home the state championship and uh you’re going to feel a lot of love if they can do that I mean You’ got a lot of love now but you’re really going to get the full effect when you come back down US 60 towards for sales well uh we are we are absolutely going to put everything that we can on that field tomorrow night so uh whatever happens they’re going to know what Woodford lacrosse is about what our communities about um I really appre appreciate the uh platform earing to talk about it because it’s uh it’s been very important to me for several years um I’d be remissed but I talked about you know two of our big players um coach Rob hodj our Middle School coach has developed all these guys into what we are now they’ve played together for years and you’re seeing the results this is the fruits of his labor so um we’re just putting it all together giving him the ex as nose so I I really appreciate you having me on and uh we’re going to bring it home well I tell you what what do that and Woodford County I’m challenging you and you know I don’t back off of challenges when I make this I want you guys to be up there tomorrow night 7 o’clock if you’re not doing anything get to Transylvania University support this team bring home a state championship and know by the way we’ll bring one home in either baseball or softball how about that we’ll do it we’ll just we’ll just we’ll do the trifecta that sounds good to me I don’t know I don’t want it any other way let’s go so coach good luck tomorrow night and and knock them dead and bring it home will do I appreciate it Darren thank you you’re welcome coach Ted Wilson of the Whitford County boys lacrosse team joining us here on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network we have some folks that are listening uh and tuning in for the first time that are a part of that program parents we appreciate you listening uh we also appreciate you uh for listening as well uh on the fans uh side of things as well want to bring in a guy here in just a minute uh if you’ll give me a time to connect with him and we’ll do that in just a moment this is the from the sidelines program on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network e e e welcome back to you from the sidelines with Darren Douglas I are him as we butcher the English language but that’s okay uh want to really thank all our fine sponsors I mentioned several of them but I also want to thank Dairy Queen over here on Frankfurt street with Paul right happy never tasted so good I mean you can have a great dinner your wife or your girlfriend or whoever Cooks your meal for you then you go out get you a blizzard a nice way to end an evening I don’t care how cold it is outside so go see Paul Wright and the Folks at Dairy Queen also want to thank Whitford seal coach you got a a driveway or a roadway or uh something that looks just ratty and you need it fixed call Woodford seal coat they’ll take care of you today and they did our driveway and it looks fantastic uh they can seal they can stripe they can uh do all kinds of different things to it you get a free estimate from them and I want to also thank Mr Appliance in Georgetown uh I do say that all of our sponsors are in Whitford County well his business might be located in Georgetown but Chris farmer and his wife Kathleen uh Katherine excuse me are wher County grads and they both uh bleed black and gold so I want to thank them as well a lot of great spons all I can’t forget two people Cindy Lane sherro recor Hayden realy and I can’t forget whitre County judge executive and the youngest looking judge executive looks like he’s 12 and I’m gonna aggravate James K so I’m get in trouble and you hear a little cackle in the background that is with for Kelly softball coach Les Anderson with us on the phone Les I appreciate you calling buddy and talking with us tonight some softball you bet Darren good to hear from you man that’s uh I’m sure James is gonna enjoy that that that little cackle oh pry good man well he can’t he can’t say too much to me because I’ve known him since he was born I’ve known his wife since she was born and his mother-in-law was one of my first grade teachers so he don’t want me to call his mother-in-law well pray I probably not but uh great man great leader we sure are blessed to have him like he’s 12 years old yeah he does but I tell you what he’s got three of the most adorable kids in the world I I got to tell this on his daughter two years ago we were at the state semifinals for basketball and I told her I said hey you got that pom pom in your hand hand when you see that Team come out that you support you shake that thing for everything it’s worth and she beat the Daylights out of the person in front of her with that thing when when wh for Cy came on the court I was just like and James is like she did what you told her I said I know but I didn’t tell her to beat the person in the head in front of her uh but coach we haven’t been able to cover a lot of softball because you’ve had a lot of road games this year had several Road games uh had some bad luck with rain oh gosh terrible luck our weather it seems like you know I try to I try to play all over the state and that’s probably not always the smartest move but you know when you when you when you’re trying to win a state championship when you’re trying to get your kids the uh acknowledgements they want you know you kind of gota you gotta play all over and we try to get good teams come in but you know sometimes you got to make commitment to get him you know go to DAV we were supposed to be at South waren tonight you know in different places so that those teams can see you and you get a chance to compete against the best and uh we uh we we’ve had a little bit of bad luck with the weather and uh hopefully we’ll have a few more home games uh next season right well you you you went to North oldum uh you went to R County uh you did have a team out of Wisconsin come down here and play on their way to Florida by the way uh which you went to Florida as well uh you mentioned going you’re supposed to be uh up at uh South Warren tonight you’ve been to Louisville twice uh you know and had a a couple of tough games you played uh Ballard and mercy probably two of the better uh softball programs not only in Louisville but in the state of Kentucky year in and year out of course everybody looks forward to a Ballard Woodford County regular season game uh on softball div uh and then you turn around and played them in the state tournament last year uh in the opening round so you know that’s become a pretty good rivalry uh in the softball world for high school softball uh in the state of Kentucky Woodford County and Ballard we played Ballard every year for a long at least once for a long time yeah um compete with them very well they they you know when they had Britney gray and you know they were they’d only lost one game in two and a half years there for a while and it pretty tough stretch we gave him a pretty good game the other day uh just honestly had a little bit of bad luck and um you know we uh had an opportunity to bring that game bring that game home just didn’t quite get it but uh it’s still fun to compete against them fun to compete against the best yeah and you you know people ask you know why would he schedule like he does I mean you I mean you got the team from Wisconsin come down here I mean you got the win over but you know they’re they’re traditionally I was looking through there some of their stuff they uh because we were going to do the game that day and then rain kind of played some factor with me where I couldn’t be there um but you know they’re they’re pretty solid program out out of uh up there in Wisconsin uh year in and year out so you you got them of course we talk about Balor we talk about Mercy uh Davis county is one that a lot of people don’t hear about down here out of Owensboro they’re they’re a solid softball program as well uh you know and then you know you got the the ones around here in Central kentucky you got Bo County that has developed into a really good rivalry with uh you guys as well that that you played lexon Catholic uh is one uh and then of course you have your District as well uh but man you people say why does he schedule so hard well you just said you’re trying to get better the record during the regular season doesn’t matter outside of the district you want to get that number one seat in the district if you can and make it you know uh uh where you play two games in the district to get a district Championship instead of three and then you also want to get that number one seed in the region uh it’s it’s a little tough uh but but you guys scheduled to make yourself ready for the state tournament and the postseason as well exactly you know uh we sound dumb I don’t care about record man yeah I I just care about getting better every week and uh competing against the best and you know fire is what hardens iron right right is what that’s what makes and uh My Philosophy has always been to put the team Through Fire and so our our records aren’t always you know we’re not we’re we’re we’re not gonna be 35 and0 anytime soon you know because if I if I if we’re undefeated I’m not playing good enough teams and uh and so you know we we it might it’s not always the best uh Philosophy for uh for the for the record but at the end of the year we normally are playing pretty good ball um we’re normally very competitive when we get into into districts and regions and and I really think that tough schedule and and honestly the uh the trials and tribulations at a bunch of close games against good teams you know what that does for your team to help shape you and to help prepare you for for tough moments of the postseason because you know the only the only way you get that experience is put them in those in those situations and uh and so that’s what we try to do Darren it’s it uh you know it feel it’ feel pretty good to be uh you know 25 and five or or 30 and one or 30 and two or whatever but again I think I think that’s really a reflection of of scheduling a fairly weak competition because Kentucky High School softball’s good Darren yeah I mean know that we there’s some really good teams in in our in our state and so if you know if you choose to you can compete really hard against really good teams every single week and uh that’s our goal well you know we talked about a few of the teams that are usually year in and year out really good uh you know we talked about the mercies and the ballards and and teams like that but and Bo County’s been good over the years out of the 12th region that you go up the mountains you know you usually have East Carter you know and those types of teams up there in that area that are are really good programs but then you go down to the western part of the state and you got the McCracken counties and and and and uh teams like that then you know Davis County then you go a little bit south of there and you get into the waren County area and it’s usually uh uh oh good grief uh Greenwood that’s pretty good out of the softball area there and then you you played them this year and you knocked them off in Florida you also played Central Harden down in Florida they’re usually pretty good that’s turned out to be a pretty good rivalry when they appear on your schedule you got to win over them and I believe that was an extra innings too wasn’t it wasn’t it eight Innings yeah yeah that uh you know that uh coach Goodman does a phenomenal job with that program go to state the state tournament every year seems like they win that region everying year and it’s legit they got great players he’s a really good coach and uh we like compete against him uh Greenwood you know was in the state tournament last year uh they beat South Warren of course South Warren is the uh has been ranked number one in in Kentucky uh High School softball uh you know pretty much from week one and and deservedly so I mean they’re extremely good very well coached coach Reynolds does a phenomenal job um and uh you know but Greenwood Greenwood they’ll be able to compete with them you know they’re starting pitcher is as good as there is in the state kids got a phenomenal drop ball um really good command they their fielder number 25 I can’t remember her last name but and that kid’s a baller now I mean she can just she can ball and so you know a lot of good teams uh you know spread out spread throughout the state you know if we happen uh to catch some breaks and play some good ball and get out of uh get out of region you know Region 8 I mean whether it’s USM Anderson whomever you know they get to face Henderson County you know and Henderson County is a phenomenal Club um been playing extremely extremely well all year so it uh you know it’s a tough road to Ho here man it’s a tough road to Ho for uh for Kentucky sofball Well you you you get ready to play your uh District Tournament coming up on on the 20th of May um that will be Monday um will be that game no yeah that’s right my day uh for some reason the date didn’t look right to me uh but you you may the 20th and and uh you get Collins uh on their home field uh they are the host school for both the softball and baseball District tournaments by the way for everybody that might be wondering uh I just talked with uh coach uh Ted Wilson uh the boys lacrosse head coach and they’re going for the State title tomorrow night at 7 o’clock at try and um was talking about how phenomenal feeling it has felt with all the coaches uh that have texted him and and or emailed him and told him you know he they’re pulling for him and want him to do well and things like that uh you know when I’ll ask you you’ve been around for a while as the head coach at Woodford uh when a coach comes in a brand new coach comes in to a to the school here with the athletic program I know all the the veteran coaches reach out what would you tell a new coach about Woodford County Sports right now oh well you know uh we have tremendous support uh from Administration uh Mr a uh all the way down through Coach Johnson there and you know he will he will be supported they’ll be able to achieve anything they want to achieve here at Woodford County and and I believe he’s getting a chance to achieve one of his dreams that’d be my guess anyway and that uh that lacrosse team has played phenomenal you call the game yet um I I catch it online I have you know I’ll watch little bit some pieces of it uh particularly uh you know I mean it’s during our season right right so it’s kind of hard to get everything scheduled um but uh um just just watch you I’ve seen him practice a little bit um watch the clips talked to Randy Maguire and the other trainers and and Coach Johnson and uh and you know they they’re just doing a phenomenal job I mean that’s all there is to it right just getting her done those boys are getting it done done they’re playing hard playing well and well coached and they represent our County exceptionally well yeah you know I was talking with mik Whitaker the the baseball coach at Harrison County of course Cynthiana being a small community a one Community uh High School just like Woodford County what’s it mean to be a coach to you at Woodford County with this small community in in a one County High School never asked you that question all these years I’ve known you I’ve never asked you this question I just realized that the thing the thing about it is is you got to work a little lger yeah you know um and one of the secrets to you know our early success and and continued success is you know the youth programs and and we got I I don’t know if I want to say like we were fortunate uh to have some some parents and players you know 15 years ago that really uh wanted to put the time and the effort in softball and we had some success and you know success snowballs and we’ve always had a pretty good number of of of for a small school with a small number of female athletes we’ve had we’ve had our fair share of really good athlet thetes in softball you know we’ve had a couple of uh uhh softball players of the Year here and and uh and you know we’ve just we’ve been fortunate um that we’ve had got that early momentum got a lot of kids interested in the in in the game and we played the game at a pretty high level from eight and 10 you up right and that’s really what it takes I mean I was talking with Coach Whitaker uh oh years ago it’s when I first kind of got into coaching school ball I caught him with a friend saw him and a friend of mine in Bourbon County introduced me to him and my friend asked him it was you know coming up in January my friend asking him he said you know are are you ready for tri outs and uh coach Whitaker looked at my friend he goes Tri outs he goes what do you mean he goes well trouts will be coming up on February 15th and and coach wher goes man he goes I’ve never had Tri outs I know every kid from the time they’re five years up and and you know that’s pretty telling that’s really kind of what you have to do in a in a in a in a one count small kind of population I there 23,000 people in wer County you know and uh when you’re in a in a school like this and uh in an environment like ours you you’ve got to be highly invested in in the uh in the youth programs and um and the parents have to be highly invested uh in getting their kids better because you know we have the building out there we’ve got plenty of opportunity for the kids that in the county that get better to get better and we just got to get down there and and push him and uh coach Ashburn right now one one of my assistants and he was the Middle School coach last year he’s doing an exceptional job of bringing those kids along and uh and kind of uh keeping uh a little bit of juice flowing in the youth programs uh and so that that you just you just got to work a little harder man yeah and uh we we haven’t been immune to hard work around here for for quite a while and and that’s why our softball program has has been fairly successful for the last 15 15 or so years well we talked about the District Tournament coming up and and again uh you want to be playing some some good softball now you played a really tough schedule down the stretch uh you know when you finish with Ballard and mercy on the schedule that’s uh not dodging anybody but that’s that’s a brutal home stretch uh if you’ll let me use that pun there uh with the freakness being tomorrow uh but that’s a brutal stretch uh and you know your team right now coming coming in on on a losing streak but uh how’s your team’s mental uh Outlook right now about uh the postseason uh you know you got a fairly young team uh I think you had what three seniors four seniors maybe two two so you got two so you got a really young team uh so you think about you know the makeup of that a lot of the young people even though the coaches may not say you know that record doesn’t really matter we getting better every day uh out there whether it be practice or in game situations let’s get when we get to the postseason now let’s make that run that we have uh what’s your team’s Outlook mainly right now uh strong I got incredible leadership I mean the kids man all we can ask them to do Darren is get out and compete and compete hard right that’s what we can ask them to do and they do that I mean we you know uh now cerr Asen day our two senior uh captains and our our team captain Bryant I mean those they they they keep a pretty uh pretty good you know pulse on the team and I mean the girls are ready you know um and they I mean they kind of get my idiocy sometimes and they get what they get why we do what we do and they are they are prepared our biggest issue really for the last two weeks has has been injuries yeah um you know we uh have had some pretty significant injuries to some players that we really look to to to lead the team and um you know when you when when you’re when you’re in pain it’s really difficult to to to perform at the level that you expect yourself to right and I I think we’re kind of coming turning the corner on that a little bit and uh if we can just get uh you know a couple more days here to to uh to heal up and uh you know and then you just you got to give it everything you got after that I know the girls are going to come into the postseason ready to go well it begins next week the postseason for Woodford County 30th District Tournament actually gets underway Sunday with the four versus five seed in softball action when Spencer County takes on Shelby County that’s a 3:00 game on Sunday afternoon at Collins uh then the number one seed Anderson County via their win over the jackets here at home uh they are the number one seed they get the winner of that game they’ll play on the 20th at 6 followed by the jackets and Collins at 8 championship game is on the 21st that’s Tuesday at 6:00 so we Mark those dates down that’s the softball end of things uh coach and you know this district has proved to be unpredictable over the four years that Woodford kan’s been in it uh I was there for a game in Taylorville when uh Spencer upset you guys on a wild play at the end of the game uh but and and and the wind had been blowing out all day uh our I believe it was uh Slayton hit the ball and I thought it had a chance of getting out and all of a sudden the wind turned directions and knocked it right down at the foot of the of the fence um and it ended on a play at the plate uh but it was a wild game uh and it’s been like I said very unpredictable yeah to to say the least you know that year was a crazy year if you remember the game right in front of us Anderson County and uh uh Shelby County and uh um no Anderson and yeah yeah Anderson and uh were you all were playing Collins I think was Anderson Spencer we play yeah Anderson Spencer we played Collins in Spencer County uh you know starting second baseman for Louisville right now is uh uh was on Spencer County’s team at that time and and they just caught some breaks and and Anderson was the uh two seed and uh and they went down and then uh we came in thinking it was going to be pretty good pretty good game for for us you know we had clar Lim cooler uh Miss softball that year in the circle and uh we just uh we caught some bad luck and Collins played exceptionally well um and uh and we went down and you’re right we had the bases loaded right there um down three all right and Lily Slayton hit hit a ball to deep center field that just didn’t carry the fence and of course of it carries and it’s a walk-off yeah before Robinson was at first base and I uh attempted to score her on that hit um and not to not to throw Collins under the bus at all but they had had several opportunities at relays all day and had made one and uh then they made one yeah it had it took two perfect throws and they got them done it was you know but you got to be aggressive in that situation to also make them make those throws and they did it that time yeah yeah they sure did and it was a wild game but I mean you know so this district is unpredictable on the softball side of things it’s even more predict unpredictable on the baseball side of things as well so uh uh I still can’t used to seeing us in the eighth region they just it’s throws me totally off when I say that U I’ve been around been around the 11th region for so long I just I’m going okay now what we’re in the eighth and I got to remember that I think I even said in basketball this year was the 11th region tournament I kind of messed that up but that happened well definitely our old rivalries are are are still in the 11 but Anderson county is a phenomenal uh District opponent and rival Force well when you share a border it has it adds something extra to to that game you know and for years it was Franklin County because we Shar that border with them and uh and of course Woodford skott County is also a really nice softball rivalry that everybody in Central kentucky seems to focus on well we definitely have had some awfully good games against yeah I think I M and I been to a couple of those over the years before he passed and unexpectedly but coach I you know I can always always count on you know you guys you know being available to talk with me and talk sports on on our on my program I I appreciate everything that you do for me to help me out uh and things like that now go out and get yourself a district Championship well we’re gonna do the best we can and Darren we appreciate you brother you’re always uh you you support every sport in Woodford County and you’re all you’re there for all the kids and and in the long long run that’s what matters I mean the you’re there for the kids in Woodford County and I guarantee you they all uh love you for it and we appreciate you brother no I thanks Les and I appreciate everything that you guys do uh for our our young ladies who are uh the softball jackets uh and and I know you guys have connections down into the youth leagues as well you get down there and the girls uh so the girls will know who you what you look like and who you are before they get to the high school program well that’s the go anyway right y well I appreciate it buddy and you have a good weekend and uh run Between The Raindrops if you can if you got a if you got a night off tomorrow night’s a good time to go catch you a lacrosse game in person well there you go I’m pushing for for our fans to get up there I want Jack and Nation I mean they supported them the other night they had I think uh somebody told me they had around 13400 for the game against C in the state semis that’s fantastic it is coach good luck on Monday afternoon or Monday evening against the ladyy Titans of Collins on their home field in the opening round of the district for you thanks Darren thanks Les appreciate it coach Les Anderson of the Woodford County Softball program we appreciate uh him joining us tonight as well it has been a fantastic uh return to the airwaves of the from the sidelines program here on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network we appreciate everything that all these coaches have done over the years of their coaching career and especially coach Wilson and Coach Anderson we expect you uh to continue the good things that you’re doing with your programs and we look forward to having more uh of stuff like this tonight where we talk High School sports on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network somebody just texted me a minute ago and asked me okay you gave me the gave us the softball uh District schedule can we get the baseball District schedule and I will give that to you you’ll give me a second here the softball district is also or the baseball district is also being played at Collins High School those fields are right next door to each other too by the way uh opening round begins tomorrow or Sunday afternoon 3:00 at Collins Anderson County against Collins the number four seed Collins Against the number five actually it’s the number four seed Anderson County against Collins both teams finished with records of two and six in the district play they had to flip a coin to determine who would be the home team Whitford County will get their District Trek underway of course last year the jackets losing in the postseason for a return trip to Kentucky proud Park when they lost in Extra Innings to Shelby County by a run they get the winner of that Anderson County Collins game coming up on May the 20th that’s Monday the 20th at 6 o’clock the number two seed is Spencer County they’ll take on Shelby County they had to flip a coin there too as well both teams finishing with records of five and three in the district so they had to flip a coin there and Spencer will be the home team in that one but that begins at 8 o00 finals on Tuesday night May the 21st 6 o’clock at Collins so that’s the baseball schedule as well times are the same for both softball and baseball and of course the matchups are a little different as you mentioned uh coach Anderson said the eighth region Champion will turn around and play the Region 2 Champion which right now looks to be the colonels of Henderson County for softball baseball they will play the opening game of the state tournament they will play on June the six the very first game and oh by the way the first two rounds of the state boys baseball tournament are at Legends Field so they will be playing over at Legends Field on June sixth 7th and eighth the semifinals and the championship game will be at Kentucky proud Park a week later June 14th will be the semis the finals will be on June 15th at Kentucky proud Park but the Whitford County uh eighth region Champion for baseball will play the region four Champion so that is a look at the baseball schedule coming up again thank you to my guest tonight on the from the sidelines program tonight we want to thank first off our title sponsor Whitford public Whitford County Public Schools Danny Atkins you heard both all both coaches coach Wilson and Coach Anderson mentioned the support of the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools Danny Atkins uh we really appreciate all he’s done uh for the last couple years of his tenure uh what he’s done for the Yellow Jacket Sports Network and DD Sports Productions I really thank you and Danny if you’re listening happy belated birthday I did wish you happy birthday yesterday but I want to give you a shout out belated lead today also by Woodford Family Physicians UK sports medicine if you want treatment just like the wild cats go to the UK sports medicine also by Jack Kane for Bo falling Springs J&B Marathon Cafe Mr Appliance Dairy Queen Woodford car company Woodford seal coat also Cindy sherro recor Hayden realy and by James K Ricardos and for sales Brewing Company want to thank all those fine sponsors along our Network until next time when we try to bring up more Sports we’ll talk on from the sidelines and we hope to have games from the 30th District baseball tournament Woodford County gets the winner of Anderson County and Collins on Monday June the 20th until then so long and we’ll see you soon