BOWLING GREEN, KY – The Bowling Green Hot Rods and their parent club Tampa Bay Rays, officially introduced Craig Albernaz as the new Hot Rods Manager, in time for the 2018 season. He becomes the sixth manager in franchise history.
 
Albernaz takes over for Reinaldo Ruiz, who was promoted and will be managing the Charlotte Stone Crabs this season. Jim Morrison, who was slated to manage the Stone Crabs, is taking a medical leave of absence.
 
“While we are sad that Rei and his family won’t be coming back to Bowling Green, we couldn’t be more proud of him and his accomplishments that have him moving to Charlotte to manage the Stone Crabs,” said Hot Rods GM/COO Eric C. Leach.
 
Albernaz, 35, comes to Bowling Green after managing the Hudson Valley Renegades (Short Season-A) to a 2017 New York-Penn League title. He started the 2017 campaign with Triple-A Durham, coaching third base and assisting the catchers, before moving to Hudson Valley to start their season in June.
 
“We are excited to welcome Craig to the Hot Rods family,” Leach added. “Craig has a deep history with the Rays organization, and was on the 2007 Columbus Catfish championship team that we’ll be celebrating later this season.”
 
Albernaz will meet with the area media on Tuesday, April 3rd, beginning at 4:00p.m.
 
For more information on the Bowling Green Hot Rods, or to purchase tickets for the 2018 season, please call 270-901-2121 or visit www.BGHotRods.com.

Edmonson Voice Sports: Madison Doyle, photos:
The Wildcats took two games away from district opponent Trinity at home last night during a doubleheader against the Raiders. 

​Junior Tanner Woodcock pitched six innings in game one, striking out 11 while walking only 2 batters. He gave up only four hits to Trinity while allowing only three runs--two earned.  Edmonson County's bats came alive as well as the team went 10-28 collectively.

The Wildcats went up 3-0 in the third, but Trinity answered by tying things up in the bottom of the inning. It would be all the Raiders could do as Woodcock's mound performance held Trinity's offense at a standstill.

"Tanner did a great job for us in the first game," said Head Coach Bo West. "He gave us what we needed and more. We had a maximum pitch count in mind for him before we started the game, but he was throwing low-stress innings and kept getting stronger as the game went on. He gave us six great innings that we needed in a district doubleheader."

Woodcock also finished 2-4 at the plate with 1 RBI, Tucker Cole finished 3-5 with 1 RBI, Nick Clemmons was 1-1, Gabe Lindsey was 1-3, and Logan Minton was 3-4 with 3 RBIs. 

The team also kept things lively on the basepaths with 12 total stolen bases, only getting caught once. The Wildcats took game one 7-3.

"We have some kids with speed--a bunch of land sharks out there," West joked. "They steal when I tell them to, they steal when I don't tell them to--they just go. I like the chaos on the basepaths. It puts pressure on the opponents for them to make the play."

Game two saw even more offense from the Wildcats as they racked up 11 hits from 28 at-bats. Edmonson County also drew 11 walks and stole 12 more bases in the 9-3 win. 

Three pitchers combined for the win as Jacob Vincent threw three innings for the Cats, Preston Dunn added three more innings, and Chaz Wilson pitched one. 

Trinity only put together two hits in game two.

The Wildcats offense saw Ryan Lindsey go 2-2 with 1 RBI, Logan Lindsey was 2-3 with 1 RBI, Tanner Woodcock and Chaz Wilson each went 1-3 as Wilson added 2 RBIs, Tucker Cole went 2-4 and 1 RBI, and Nick Clemmons and Gabe Lindsey each went 1-3.

Coach West said he was pleased with the number of quality at-bats his guys compiled during the two games.

"They were a little too impatient to start the first game but they settled in after a few innings," he said. "They made adjustments had some really good at-bats from there on out."

West said while he's happy with the team's solid start to the season, it's just that--a start--and there are still plenty of areas the team is hoping on which to improve.

"We're still leaving too many kids on base. We need to do a better job oh hitting with runners in scoring position, but it's still early and our kids work hard. They have high character and baseball IQs. They'll find a way to fix that together as the season goes on."

The Wildcats are now 3-1 on the season and are scheduled to take on Breckinridge at home on March 29th.

Darren Doyle, story: Edmonson Voice photos:
Two Edmonson County High School students have been named to the Tom Leach "All-Resilient Team," according to a spokesperson from the organization.

The All-Resilient Team honors student-athletes from Kentucky high schools who have had to overcome some form of adversity to compete and often excel in sports, within the previous calendar year. 

Nick, a basketball team manager, member of the JV basketball team, and former football manager, suffered a stroke while in the womb. Doctors said he'd never walk nor talk. His mother, Elysia, said she and her husband Mickey, weren't satisfied with that diagnosis so they got a second opinion. Another group of doctors said otherwise and Nick began physical and speech therapy at around 8 months of age.

Nick's right side is weakened somewhat and has occasional trouble lifting certain objects with his right hand, but that's certainly not stopped him. During a recent JV basketball game at home against Metcalfe County, Nick hit three consecutive three-pointers that brought both the crowd and the opposing team to their feet. 

There are few students anywhere with the school spirit like that of Nick Johnson.

Skylar Lewis is also no stranger to overcoming obstacles. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 10 then with Type I Diabetes at age 12. Despite that, she began playing little league basketball at age 4, which eventually led to her role as a valued member of the Edmonson County Lady Cats, who just completed the most successful season in school's history.

Just this year alone, she's overcome a shoulder injury, a knee injury, and a horrible round of the flu--coupled with a viral infection where she suffered vertigo for nearly a month, in addition to her battles with epilepsy and blood sugar troubles. She recovered, and helped the Lady Cats claim the team's first district championship in 20 years.

She was named a Region 3 winner of the Ronnie Hardin Memorial Scholarship during the regional tournament. She is the daughter of Jessica Hines and Brian Lewis.

Both students are invited to a formal awards banquet at the Ramada Plaza Hotel Convention Center in Louisville on Thursday, April  26th at 6pm eastern time.

Edmonson Voice Sports:
Logan Lindsey, a senior forward for Edmonson County, was named to the Region 3 All Tournament team last week at the conclusion of the Region 3 Championship at the Owensboro Sports Center.

Logan was the leading scorer and rebounder for this year's Wildcat team, finishing with an average of 11.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, despite being injured early in the season.

The Wildcats finished 10-22 on the season and were 12th District runners up as well as runners up in the All A Region 3 Tournament.

Edmonson Voice Sports:
Although the Lady Cats historic season ended sooner than Edmonson County had hoped, the team still enjoyed record-breaking feats and accolades, even after the season's end.

After the Region final, the end of season awards were presented and Head Coach Kevin Jackson, senior guard Caitlin Simon, and senior guard Peyton Martin all received top honors.

Coach Kevin Jackson was named Region 3 Coach of the Year, Caitlin Simon was named 3rd Region Player of the Year, All-Region 1st Team, and Region All-Tournament team, and Peyton Martin was named to the All-Region 1st Team & Region All-Tournament team.

The Lady Cats finished the season 29-5, the best in school history for a girls basketball team, 12th District Champions for the first time since 1998, the All A Region 3 Champions, and seniors Simon and Martin finished first and fourth (respectively) on the all-time scoring list for the Lady Cats. Simon finished with 2,564 points and Martin finished with 1,740.

Three seniors from this year's team received offers to play at the collegiate level, including: Simon, Martin, and Katlin Collins, although none have committed to any of those schools at this time.

Darren Doyle, story: Madison Doyle, photos:
The historic 2017-18 Edmonson County Lady Cat season came to an end last night as Edmonson County fell to the Muhlenberg County Lady Mustangs 53-41 in the Region 3 semifinals, thanks to a stellar defensive effort from Muhlenberg County.

Edmonson County has consistently ranked in several of the state's top statistical categories over the course of the season, one being total team field goal percentage, where they were listed at #4 going into last night's game at 49.6%. Muhlenberg's defense held the Lady Cats' shooting at only 38% for the game. Edmonson County also shot poorly from the free throw line, connecting on only 25% of shots. The team has been one of the better teams in the state all season long, normally shooting more than 70% as a whole.

The team's leading scorers in seniors Caitlin Simon and Peyton Martin were held to 18 combined points. They averaged 36.8 points per game going into last night's game. 

Edmonson trailed 15-9 after the first quarter and had cut the deficit to 22-18 at the half. Muhlenberg's man-to-man defense made the comeback difficult for the Wildcats and a triangle-and-two bothered Simon and Martin all night long. 

Muhlenberg County was able to create more space in the fourth on both drives to the basket and perimeter shooting. They hit their free throws in the final minutes to extend their lead and move on to the region final game on Sunday.

Coach Kevin Jackson said it was obvious that his team was rattled from time to time and that it was difficult for the Lady Cats to get any momentum when they need it most.

"Muhlenberg hit some shots early, we missed several early, and that happens," said Jackson. "We were still only down four at the half and we had a good positive talk at halftime about 'hey, the second half will be ours,' but we came back out with that same blank stare. I don't know if it was nerves or what. Sometimes it's hard to tell with kids, and what's going on in their minds, but I can't blame one person for doing something bad or wrong, it was just that the team effort didn't get the job done tonight."

Although the game and the season didn't end as expected and Jackson was solemn after the game, he was still able to smile when asked about the overall success of the record-breaking season that brought a district championship back to Lady Cat basketball for the first time in 20 years, along with more wins than any other girls' basketball team in Edmonson County history.

"You could argue that this is the best (Lady Cat) team ever, as far as from top to bottom," he said. "It's been a pleasure for me. I want to thank our fans that came down tonight and the ones at home listening. I know I've heard so many positive things about this group and they have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I also want to say thanks to our coaching staff and support staff," he continued. "They don't get much of the attention, but they do the dirty work with me that when nobody else is watching. Terry Alexander is keeping stats, Tom Vincent is keeping stats, Tyra (Ballance) and Christy (Clark) on the coaching staff, it's been a total team effort. I love this bunch and it's probably been the most fun I've had."

For five seniors, it was their final game. Caitlin Simon, Peyton Martin, Katlin Collins, Skylar Lewis, and Abby Alexander. All have played valuable roles on the team for several seasons. Three of them have received offers to play basketball at the collegiate level, including Simon, Martin, and Collins.

Simon finished as the all-time leading scorer for Edmonson County girls basketball with a career total of 2,564 points, according to team and KHSAA stats. Peyton Martin finished as number four on that list with 1,740.

"When you lose five seniors like we have," Jackson shook his head. "It's been such a pleasure for me to be around the last three years. Everybody told me that they were good players, but nobody mentioned how good of people they were when I mentioned coming back. I would've jumped on that quicker had I known how good of people they are, but those five seniors left their mark on Lady Cat basketball. Whether it's their record, their behavior, whatever it is, they left their mark. To lose five quality ladies, it's disappointing and it hurts."

Jackson said he'd never have anything but good things to say about the senior-led team and wished them nothing but the best in their futures.

The Lady Cats were led by Chanley Logsdon with 13 points, Martin finished with 10, Simon had 8 points and 7 rebounds, Lauren Ballance had 7, and Collins had 3.

The Lady Cats finish the season at 29-5, the best in school history. They are the 2018 District 12 Champions and the 2018 Region 3 All A Champions.