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Five local baseball players, three from Thunder Mountain and two from Juneau-Douglas, were selected to the Region V All-Conference team at the region tournament in Petersburg last week.
Each team’s coaching staff is allowed to submit up to five players from their own team and the names are put into a voting pool. Each team’s coaching staff then votes for 12 top players based on conference play. Conference winner Sitka had four selections, conference second place and Region Champion Juneau-Douglas had two, conference third place Thunder Mountain had three, fourth place ketchikan one, and Craig and Petersburg one.
Chosen were: Nels Swenson, Brian Way, Jake Licari and Devin Romine (Sitka); J.R. Markovich, Patrick Millay and Chris Luck (Thunder Mountain); Ryan Kelly and Lance Ibesate (Juneau-Douglas); Brian Auger (Ketchikan); Taylor Pullar (Petersburg); and Karl Benolken (Craig).
Comments (21)
Add commentCROCK
I do not mean offense to any of the players out there or their families....but HOW in the world does a player make All-Conference from a team that didn't even play a Conference game until the tournament?
Josh and Kyle ...sorry you were overlooked....you both deserved it! I have watched you play with (and against) Brady since you boys were 9 years old! The coaches needed to take their pride and ego's and check it at the door, and vote on who deserved it THIS SEASON, not because they were awesome last year, or because you used to to date their mom, or WHATEVER the reason is that some of these kids made it over others.
Funny, these stats that they show were BEFORE the SE Tournament....Sitka got dominated at the Tournament...do you see them up at State, no we do not, why???.. because Ketchikan outplayed them in both games actually! There were some others from the Ketchikan team that should have made this list, but as we all know, that would never happen!
Yes...I will admit that as a mom, I would have liked to see my son finally get recognized for his efforts. With one of the best batting averages on his team, and his golden glove in the field, he deserved it. But alas he is not a SUPERSTAR, he just loves the game.
Good luck to the SE teams in the State Tourney. Whoop some butt up there. Go KAYHI! ...Oh and JDHS too :) !
Joke
This all star team is a joke any coach who didn't vote for Josh Magnuson and Kyle Gould should never be allowed to vote again or at least have a face to face chat with these two amazing players and tell them why they thought they didn't belong on this all star team. Any coach who voted for non-star players to try and help/manipulate the rankings so their player would make it should be ashamed of themselves.
Would any coach in the state take the THMS freshman over Magnuson? No. All Josh did was throw a 1-hitter over THMS the last time they faced. All Josh did in his last two pitching starts was beat first place Sitka. Josh won more games pitching than THMS won as a team all season. Plus hit fourth or fifth in the line up, played centerfield, short stop and was probably the Bears' second best player.
The paper said that Gould hit over .400. And I didn't see him make an error all season. Best second baseman in the conference.
JDHS crushed TMHS every time they played this year. Most games were 10-run mercy rule victories. But TMHS gets three all stars and JDHS gets only two? Seriously?
Opposing coaches can hate and manipulate all they want, you know why? Because JDHS will be representing Southeast at State and your team won't. This is aimed at the coaches not the players. THMS has some great kids who play the game hard and with respect.
Congratulations to the Bears. Winning as a team is the ultimate prize and the only thing that matters. Even if Magnuson, Gould and even Tanner Petrie got shafted in the all star voting.
Really?
How did Magnuson, Gould and Petrie not end up in there? Are the coaches that vote, truly that blind? Not pleased! Hopefully next year the coaches will pull their heads out!
If Magnuson, Gould, and Petrie
are as talented as you three tout, then being on the all-star team isn't their true motivation anyway.
Like its ever been fair or scientific
Had JD won the Conference maybe they'd get more on the All Conf. Team. They didn't, and your suggesting they should have 5 of the 12 spots? That sounds really fair.
Good luck at State Boys!
Take a deep breath folks...
I'm surprised at the spewed comments here... I don't know much about baseball and I'm sure the boys mentioned that didn't get the title are very good players. With that said, put biase aside and try not to make the boys that DID win the vote feel guilty. It may be all things considered; player attitude, dedication, ability, stats, etc. It's possible that abnoxious parents with the feel of entitlement are considered as well.
Spewing
I don't think there are rude comments here.... All of these boys are great players, and all deserved a nod. But many do not understand the politics that surround the voting process and the votes themselves.
I had two disputes...1: how a team can have an All Conference Player when that said team never played a Conference game until the Tournament...and 2: How some can get voted in even when they didnt have a great year, just because of who they are or what they did in previous years, when others didn't get the nod and had a spectacular season.
Say It Ain't So
JDHS won 9 games and lost 3 in conference.
TMHS won 3 games and lost 9 in conference.
JDHS and TMHS played each other 5 times. JDHS won all 5 of those games, several by the 10 run mercy rule.
The last time Magnuson pitched against TMHS he held them to ONE hit for the entire game.
Magnuson should have been in the discussion for MVP for the conference. And he doesn't even get picked as one of the top 12 players? Two kids who didn't even play a conference game made it over him? How is that even vaguely fair?
The All Conference team is a nice reward for the players who had the best seasons. Ima49er and Say It Aint So, I'm not sure why you don't think it is a good idea to recognize the players who excelled at their sport. Maybe we should just drop all individual awards and give everybody that plays their own MVP trophy?
And my post wasn't a criticism against individual players. It was specifically directed at the coaches who manipulate a system to try and benefit their own players or to try and keep players from a rival school off the all star team. That is what is disgusting about it.
And 49er you are correct. I promise you that all the JDHS players care about is winning Southeast and now trying to win the State Tournament. But with that being said, if there is going to be an award given out to those who achieved the most during the season it certainly should go to the proper players.
49er, there shouldn't be a stipulation of players per team depending on where you finished in the standings. It should be based on the 12 players who had the best season. That is what the award is for. And if you took the 12 best players this year, yes, five of them would be from JDHS. Which is probably why JDHS went 9-3 during the season and just went 3-0 during the Southeast Tournament where they outscored their opponents 34-7. Magnuson and Gould should have most definitely joined Ibesate/Kelly on that team, no questions asked, no doubt, not even close. And probably Petrie as well. Petrie being the kid who also pitched a no-hitter this year.
I don't care who the 12 kids play for. The 12 kids who played the best all season should get the award that they earned. Not sure how anybody can disagree with that.
and this is how parents can
and this is how parents can make a mess of an otherwise great experience for these kids. As a former student athlete myself and now a parent, I've seen too often how parents with some misguided agenda can take the fun out of sports for their children.
Seephoid
I'm not an obnoxious parent as I don't have a son on any of the teams. And the only words I've ever spoken to an opposing coach is to wish them good luck or congratulate them after a game.
Nobody is spewing hate or attacking kids or trying to make people feel guilty. In spite of a bias YOU might have not every parent or fan is obsessive or obnoxious. You should call a parent of a player and ask them what they do so their son can play baseball. How much money they contribute, housing kids from different cities every weekend, volunteering time to help running the league, fundraising. Please don't let the one bad parent out of 100 paint your vision of sports parents with a tainted brush. I couldn't play without my parents support. Who will do anything and everything to help out any coach - home or out of town.
This is a forum for people to share ideas. I'm simply pointing out that some grown adult coaches made a mockery of the southeast all star team, to further their own agendas. And it is ridiculous. Sorry if that offends you.
AKBR
Somebody questioning an all star selection is making a mess of everything? This isn't a crazy mom/dad yelling at the coach for not playing their little Sparky more.
This is a discussion about a kid who didn't play one conference game all season making an All Conference team over a kid who was probably the second best overall player in the entire conference. How is that not messy?
As a former athlete, I'm surprised that you take that approach. Hard work and accomplishment should be recognized. Those kids got robbed. And that is the sad part. Adults manipulating a voting process.
Heck, Al Pacino wasn't in any movies this year, but why not just give him the Academy Award anyway! Barry Bonds has been retired for a couple years, why not give him the MVP award this year!
But like I said earlier. At the end of the day all most of these kids care about is the fact that JDHS won southeast and now they are off trying to win State. And I know that Magnuson and Gould laughed it off and are happier to have won Southeast rather than getting an individual award, and their entire 100% focus is on representing Juneau and Southeast in the State tournament.
Your analogies are
Your analogies are rediculous. If Bonds and Pacino aren't playing or acting this year/season, they won't be eligible for an award. This kid (I'm guessing he's from one of the outlying communities that likely doesn't have the funding for travel to allow kids to participate in conference games) played well enough during the tournament to be recognized by the people doing the voting. Why you think it is necessary to rail against people who you think have some agenda over an award this meaningless is beyond me. You're likely making a bigger deal of this whole thing than the three kids you mentioned. They're probably embarassed by your behavior.
Here's your participation ribbon.
Yes
Yes, I'm sure that me making a couple posts on the newspaper forum is completely ruining the children's lives. I doubt they will be able to show their faces in Juneau again.
And making a big deal of it? Again, a couple posts in the Empire's forum is pretty similar to filing a federal lawsuit against the conference administrative staff. I'm calling judges, rallying the troups for boycotts and will start my starvation diet tomorrow.
A meaningless award? I suppose that's where you and I differ. If the award is meaningless then don't give it out. You want everybody to have a participation ribbon? I believe if you are going to award somebody for outstanding play then you should give it to the kids who EARNED it. Not sure why anybody would disagree with that, but apparently you do.
And my analogies were not ridiculous. All Conference was rewarded for regular season conference games. It has nothing to do with the championship tournament.
So my examples are actually exactly 100% correct.
Kids who did not play (actors who did not act) received an award for being an outstanding player for their conference play. Somebody who did not play ONE game received an award over somebody who had one of the 2-3 best seasons of everybody who PLAYED.
Because a small school can't afford the travel costs their players shouldn't have to participate in the games? Heck, with that logic, why do any of the schools even travel to different cities to play? Maybe next year nobody should travel and the all star team and conference championship teams should just be randomly drawn out of a hat?
You really are onto something. I cannot afford a boat right now to go fishing. But maybe the Derby will put me in the top 10 because I'm a good kid?
Your bitter attitude aside, please explain to me how you think this is fair?
And don't worry. I know all the guys I'm talking about. And none of them are embarrased by my posts. The only people who should be embarrased are the coaches who manipulated what should have been a nice honor for a few players who earned the award. You don't mind it when adults pull shady stunts like this. I do.
I suppose that is the beauty of an open forum. People who have no idea of the actual facts of a situation feel the need to present uninformed opinions anyway.
Done railing
I'm flabbergasted that anybody is actually debating this. I guess people just love to argue though, even when they don't really know what they are talking about.
Bottom line. Like it or not. These are the facts.
A team that won 3 games and lost 9 had more players put on the all star team than a team that went 9 wins and 3 losses. Even though the 9 win team beat the 3 win team FIVE times out of FIVE games.
The kid who was probably the best pitcher in the conference and was one of the top 5 overall players did not make the team. This kid had more pitching victories himself than the 3-9 team had wins - as a team. He also pitched a 1-hitter against that team.
Two players who did not play in ONE conference game made the all conference team.
Magunson and Gould would start on every baseball team in Alaska. Half the kids on this all conference team wouldn't even start on JDHS.
People are always going to hate on JDHS.
The Bears' players don't care about individual awards. They are playing as a team, representing Juneau with pride and class, and trying to bring a state championship back for all of us to be proud of.
Those are the facts, nothing listed can be argued against, debated against, or be blamed on me or any parent or anybody that agrees with me.
I do find it interesting that the people who disagree with me or the other person do not present any actual facts about why we are wrong, but instead resort to personal attacks or general statements. Not one person has said "you are wrong, because this kid actually had a higher batting average and won more games pitching than the kid you are talking about." Wonder why that is?
Yikes The Truth
All of that, from one simple statement I made.
If Magnuson, and Gould, laughed it off, maybe you ought to take the hint.
Before you go off on another rant, I've participated plenty. At times I got awards when I didn't feel I deserved them, and didn't get them, when I thought I should have. That's life, (not always fair, or just) you move on.
You're sounding like one of those obnoxious, overbearing loudmouths, that always voice their opinion at sporting events.
repeat, thanks GCI.
repeat, thanks GCI.
Truth, if the JDHS players
Truth, if the JDHS players don't care about these individual awards, why are you making such a big deal about it? I never said the committee that votes for the all-conference team made the best decisions. My issue is with people that take this all too seriously. Sounds like you're a "little league parent", and I get the feeling you don't even have kids yet.
49er, I think you hit the nail on the head.
The Truth
No one is arguing you're wrong.
I'll refer you to the last sentence of my 5:26 post, and leave it at that.
Apologize
Wow I apologize if this started a crazy debate...but I just wanted to voice my anger about the whole system. My son now plays for Kayhi but grew up playing ball with Josh and Kyle and Lance and all of them here in Juneau they were the best of friends. I watched these boys blossom into the great athletes they have become and although I cheer for Kayhi when they are playing, I always applaud the Juneau (including TMHS) boys on their great plays and their wins! I just think its sad that the voting is political. But then again.....what ISNT political these days right? Good job to all the teams and again....Good luck to the SE representatives up at State. Go KAYHI and JDHS!
Congratulations
Congratulations R.J. Markovich form all of the family in Eagle Point, OR.
My two cents:
The team(s) you speak of that only played in the Regional Tournament should have the ability to be on the "All Conference" team. Because of budget cuts and such is no reason to exclude these young men. As far as coaches manipulating the votes I have been in many seeding meetings as a Wrestling Coach and these can be very heated meetings, 100% of the time it's in the kids best interest. There may be bylaws that every team must have an "All Conference" player also. Until you were in the meeting it's all speculation. I would like to believe this was taken seriously by the coaches and the kids that were selected were all chosen because they are the best in the conference not because they are the coaches favorite.
With that said, good luck JDHS at the state tournament.
TMHS with those Markovich boys should only get better.
KCCO!
sad reality
Unfortunately, it would appear that these overlooked players are the fallout of a culture of arrogance and poor sportsmanship that has been cultivated by JDHS for years. It's a reflection of multiple sports programs at JDHS and the sentiments of their opponents.