Mercer County

The All-Area baseball team meets the very definition of a balanced baseball club. The 14 players voted to The Advocate-Messenger 2013 All-Area Baseball Team in balloting of area coaches are almost evenly divided among five schools. Mercer County, which won its third consecutive 12th Region championship Wednesday, has three players on the roster, as do Boyle County, Danville and Garrard County, while Lincoln County has two players. One of Lincoln's selections, John Day, made the All-Area team for the third consecutive season.

It may not be Yankee Stadium, but Whitaker Bank Ballpark will always hold a special place in Jon Banks' heart. Never mind that Banks got shelled the first and only time he pitched there. Even with that experience still fresh in his mind, he said there is something exciting about pitching from the same mound where Roger Clemens once threw and playing in the same park where he first watched professionals play when he was a kid. Banks and his Mercer County teammates have ended each of the last two seasons at the home of the Lexington Legends, and he'll play what might well be the final organized baseball game of his life there this week when he and the Titans return to the state tournament for the third consecutive year.

MOUNT VERNON - Mercer County has caught fire in the postseason again, and no one is hotter than Curry Brown. Brown delivered the biggest blow in the Titans' win Wednesday night in the 12th Region Tournament final, though it was hardly the only big hit he has had of late. In his first year as an everyday player, Brown has bounced back from a midseason slump to regain his former spot in the Titans' lineup, and he has become the team's top hitter in the postseason. “I've been dying to get my opportunity, and now it's here and I want to make the most out of it,” Brown said.

Boyle County grand jury indicts 10  The following people were indicted recently by a Boyle County grand jury:  Richard Allen, 33, of Paint Lick, possession of a forged prescription for allegedly having a forged prescription for methadone on March 6. Bond was set at $5,000. Danville officer Levi Preston testified before the grand jury. Donald Chamblee, 48, 3290 White Oak Road, alleged third-offense driving under the influence and second-offense driving on suspended license on April 7. Bond was set at $5,000.

MOUNT VERNON - Mercer County has worked hard to make it look easy. Playing with the confidence of a team that has been there before, the Titans managed to look both at ease and acutely focused Wednesday night as they wrapped up their third consecutive regional championship with a surprisingly easy win. An eight-run third inning propelled Mercer to a mercy-rule victory in the 12th Region Tournament title game, as it routed Southwestern 13-3 in...

MOUNT VERNON - The Mercer County Titans believed they would need a bunch of runs to beat the most prolific offensive team in the 12th Region. Turns out they only needed one. Jackson Stoeckinger saw to that, locking down a lineup that had scored 19 runs the day before by pitching a three-hit shutout Tuesday night in a 12th Region Tournament semifinal at Rockcastle County. And Mercer still got plenty of offense, thanks both to its aggressive nature on offense and Wayne County's lapses on defense, as the Titans rolled into the regional finals with a 9-0 victory.

Lincoln County High School Kayla Nicole Abell, Ajay Thomas Lloyd Adams, Brent Alan Adams, Shannon Nichole Adington, Sydney Cassandra Anderson, Candice Marie Atkins, Cory Scott Atkins, Devin Alan Atkins. Courtney Danielle Baker, Jaqualyn Baker, Cody Robert Barnes, Levi Spencer Barnett, Kourtney Blake Belcher, Jamie Darlene Benedict, Eli Davis Berry, Sarah  Blackburn, Ian Taylor Blevins, Eric Bowen, Blake Tanner Braden, Jamie Bradford, Edmond Bennett Braley, Riley Tildan Brewer, Barbara  Broaddus, Danielle Nicole Brock, Joscelyn Rachele Brown, Zachary Tyler Brown, Monique Michelle Brummett, Lauren Brooke Buchanan, Alacyn Crystal Buchwald, Alexandrea Nicole Bunch, Andrea Paige Bunch, William Dustin Burchfield, Jacob Daniel Byrd, Jeremy L. Byrd, Zachary Byrd.  Daniel Cain, Kaitlyn Esther Cain, Dustin Tyler Caldwell, Hannah Nicole Campbell, Austin Trevor Carrier, Christopher Jacob Carter, Leslie Gabrielle Caudill, Adam Matthew Chapin, William Bradley Chester, Kaylinn Grace Clarkson, Michael Ryan Coffman, Austin Coleman, Vanessa Kaye Conley, Jonathan Aaron Scott Cook, Andrew Wayne Cooper, Will Cooper, Jordan Hollis Corn, Haley Michelle Crabtree, Jessica Marie Craig, Austin Cress, Cayla Rose Cress, Dustin Thomas Crowe, Carl-Lewis  Cummins.

Chris Souder's Olympic games are just two weeks away. For all the big basketball games in which Souder has coached at Mercer County and elsewhere during his career, he knows there won't be many as big as the two games in which he'll coach the Kentucky All-Stars next month. In fact, The Mercer County girls coach likened the opportunity he has to coach in the Kentucky-Indiana series to a college or professional coach getting the chance to coach the national team. “Other than going to the state tournament with my team in 2003, this'll be the highlight of my coaching career,” Souder said.

One of two local teams with designs on earning a trip to the state baseball tournament won't survive the first game of the regional. Boyle County and Mercer County will kick off the 12th Region Tournament when they meet Monday in the first of four first-round games. Pairings for the regional baseball and softball tournaments were drawn Friday in Mount Vernon, where Rockcastle County will host both tournaments on adjacent fields. Mercer will be bidding for its third consecutive baseball title, while a few yards away Boyle will try to win the softball title for the second straight year.

Whether it's called a championship, title, crown or gold, West Jessamine has it and district foes East Jessamine, Mercer County and Burgin don't. That “it” would be the ability to call themselves the 46th District winners, as the Colts baseball team (24-10) can now do after defeating Mercer 5-1 Tuesday. “It's always been us and Mercer, and since Jeremy (Shope) has been over there, we've split districts,” West head coach Jody Hamilton said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game today.