Darren Doyle, story: Alyssa Doyle, photos:
Senior pitcher Levi Meredith was in control all night on the mound for the Edmonson County Wildcats as he pitched a shutout against the Metcalfe County Hornets at Bowling Green Ballpark last night.

Meredith gave up only two hits against the Hornets while striking out 10 over 5 innings with no walks, which was a run-ruled game. He was no slouch from the batter's box, going 2-3 with 2 RBIs with a double and a triple. He also had a stolen base.

He also had plenty of run support as the Wildcats put up a total of 15 base hits, led by sophomore Carter Hodges, who went 3-3 with RBIs.

Michael Mills, Dakotah Curtis, and Colton Webb all went 2-3, as Mills notched two doubles on the night with Curtis also knocking a double. Colton Webb led the team in RBIs last night with 3 as Curtis knocked in 2.

Hunter Wilson went 1-3, Drew Pierce was 1-2, and Layne Ashley went 1-3.

The Wildcats have won three consecutive games and are now 6-3 on the season. They are scheduled to travel to the Smokey Mountains next week for the East Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Tournament during spring break.

Darren Doyle, story:
Two members of the Edmonson County High School Bass Fishing Team are currently ranked number one in the state.

As of this week, Jake Coy and Cooper Richardson, both ECHS juniors, sit at the top of the point leader standings for the Kentucky Student Angler Federation (KY SAF).

According to ECHS Bass Fishing Head Coach Jeremy Hodges, the young anglers are in a good spot to finish on top, with only two more KHSAA-sanctioned tournaments to go this year, where the points are averaged from the top eight finishes from each team.

Coach Hodges said one of those tournaments will be held here on their home lake, Nolin, where they are projected to finish high enough to retain their top ranking for the year, noted in the rankings as TOY, or Team of the Year.

"Their performance this season has already qualified them for the Student Angler National Tournament, but finishing with the number one ranking would not only secure them a spot for Nationals, but also provide lodging and meal accommodations during their stay near Lake Hartwell on the Georgia-South Carolina border," said Hodges.

Should Coy and Richardson win the national tournament, they would each win a $10,000 scholarship in addition to other high school fishing sponsored items.

“For the last three years, I have watched in amazement the way Jake and Cooper have totally dominated the very competitive field of high school bass fishing," Hodges added. "Their commitment and dedication  is unparalleled, and we all see the results of their efforts right now with their top ranking. I’ve caught myself just shaking my head when these two go the weigh-ins with great big bags of fish time and time again.  Every high school team around knows who they are when they step up to the scales and usually end up shaking their heads too.  We’re so proud of the way that these two young men have represented ECHS.”

ECHS Bass Fishing was first organized during the 2019-20 school year but did not compete due to the COVID pandemic. They began bringing home trophies in 2021. Hodges has been the head coach since that time. He is assisted by Matt Richardson, also Cooper's father.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Today, Edmonson County senior Will Alexander signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Alice Lloyd College, located in Pippa Passes, KY.

Will was joined by his father, Brian Alexander, his mother, Tyra Alexander, and Alice Lloyd recruiter Brian Tackett in the ECHS auditorium for the signing.

ECHS Athletic Director Kyle Pierce welcomed everyone to today's event and spoke of Will.

"I can still remember Will as a little-bitty guy, coming around the courts and the ball fields. It seems he always had a ball in his hand and was playing something sports-related," Pierce said. "I'm thankful that he's grown up not only to be a good athlete, but a good student."

Coach Pierce then introduced ECHS Wildcat Head Coach Trey Tinsley to speak of Will.

"Looking at Will's high school career the last two years, he's hit 135 threes and close to 40% from three," Tinsley said. "The best thing about Will in the big game, he wasn't scared to shoot the big shot."

Tinsley recapped some of the big games where Will delivered and then introduced former head coach Brad Johnson.

"He played his best when it mattered the most," Johnson said of Will. "All players aren't like that. A lot of players are kind of scared of the moment, but Will was not scared of the moment."

Alice Lloyd recruiter Brian Tackett discussed Will's work ethic, his character, and other attributes, as well as the community pride shown and felt in Edmonson County. He also delivered a statement from Scott Cornett, head basketball coach who also serves at head baseball coach, who was unable to attend.

"We are excited to have Will in our program," Coach Cornett's statement read. "We love having great kids that come from wonderful families that play basketball at a high level. He'll be a great addition to our program and I can't wait to coach him."

Will then took the podium and thanked everyone for their support.

"I want to thank God for giving me all the opportunities I've had in my life," he said. He then thanked his parents, coaches, and friends.

He then signed his letter of intent to play for the Eagles. Will finished the season with an average of 12ppg and 3rpg.

Joseph Barkoff, story and photos:​ 
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. They may not have expected Owensboro Catholic Aces to stomp effortlessly Edmonson County Wildcats in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Region 3 Tournament first round at the Owensboro Sport Center Wednesday March 6 in Owensboro.
 
In their past 10 meetings, the Aces have been victorious in eight of those meetings, with the Wildcats only having two wins, according to stat curator and guru WildcatsLive Edmonson Voice broadcaster Jamie Carnes before the game.
 
Under the principles of March Madness and the ever-present cliché of “anything can happen in March,” plus the similar season stats, on paper.
 
Both teams averaged 62 points, 33 percent 3-point shooting and 68 percent free-throws, while Aces with 47 percent from the field versus 46 percent from Wildcats, according to stat curator Wildcats Live Edmonson Voice Darren Doyle said before the game.
 
The Wildcats average rebounds exceeded the Aces, 31-28, too, Doyle said.
 
Anything can happen and it did. 
 
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it did not play out as well, or evenly, as the stats on paper matched.
 
The Wildcats (14-16) end a sub .500 season, losing to the Aces (22-9) 87-55 on 
the road.

​For first year head coach Trey Tinsley, it was a positive accomplishment to take his young Wildcats to the District Championship.
 
Long, lobbing, desperation passes under pressure are never what the coach, in any sport, draws up for the team.
 
With only two seniors finishing the year with the team, they could be considered young, but with five seniors, six juniors and two sophomores to be next year, their time in the Regional and District Tournaments, plus the rapport that grows between players and coaches, means next year the potential to extend their play is increased exponentially.
 
“I am a positive thinker,” Tinsley said before.
 
The Wildcats do not have a potential Division 1 caliber starting player at their disposal so they will have to rely on each other as a team to achieve.
 
Folks thought they would only win maybe eight games this year, Tinsley said in the Wildcats Live Postgame. While they didn’t double expectations, with 14 wins he is proud of his team.
 
“I didn’t feel like we laid down,” Tinsley said. “We kept fighting.”
 
Owensboro Catholic is a really good team, he said. He expects to look up and see them in the finals.
 
The aces shot 64 percent from the field for the game, and at half time had shot 75 percent beyond the 3-point line, connecting on six 3-pointers in a row at one point.
 
“I’m just proud of our bunch,” Tinsley said. “We’re going to continue this summer and keep working.”

​For two young men though, two seniors, it was their last time on the hardwood for their high school.
 
“Those guys are fighters,” Tinsley said about seniors shooting guard Will Alexander and power forward Layne Ashley.
 
“I mean it’s tough,” Alexander said in the locker room after the game. “It’s the end of a chapter. It’s the end of my basketball career here, but I still have more to play. But I am going to miss these guys.”
 
“It’s been fun,” he said. “It’s been a good year.”
 
It is bittersweet, he said. But he is excited for the next step.
 
“Playing with the guys is always fun, but a tough loss,” Alexander said. “We’ll beat ‘em next year.”
 
Alexander plans to attend and play basketball at Alice Lloyd College, a private college in Pippa Passes in eastern Kentucky.
 
Layne has an offer to play at JV level with Alice Lloyd as well, said Tinsley.
 
“I am just proud of both of them,” Tinsley said. “I love ‘em both. I think they both have bright futures ahead of them. I’m not even gonna talk about sports, just them as people. They’re just two great young men.”
 
 “It’s defeating, for sure,” junior power forward Wyatt Gravil said after the game. “But we can come out here, do it again next year, hopefully, and you know, have a better result next year. It’s all we can hope for.”
 
They are going to put the work in during their off season, for sure, he said.
 
He enjoyed playing with the two seniors “all season long,” he said.
 
“They were our leaders,” Gravil said. “You hate to see them gone next year because we will always have connections with them.”
 
On the evening, Wildcats leading scorer was Alexander with 21 points and 3 rebounds.
 
Wildcats junior center Joshua Decker had 20 points with 6 rebounds, and Wyatt Gravil had 6 points with 5 rebounds. 
 
They shot 35 percent from the field on the evening, and it was noted it might be especially difficult to beat a good team who then shoots 64 percent from the filed in a high intensity “win or go home” type game.
 
Like Alexander said, it is the end of a chapter. Though often times we are lucky, and the end of one chapter means the beginning of a new one.
 
Life is a cliff hanger, and the Edmonson Voice will broadcast live views from them, including next season’s hardwood from both near and far.
 
Stay tuned.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
I’d like to take this opportunity to discuss another great season of sports broadcasting for Edmonson County High School from the Edmonson Voice. We've seen so many different scenarios over the years. Some good, some bad, some ugly, but it's overwhelmingly positive for both the Voice and for our community.

WildcatsLive came from humble beginnings and started in the red.

We just completed our ninth season of covering sports for ECHS. We were first contacted by the high school in 2015 after the company they had hired to handle their broadcasts failed to deliver on what they said they would do.

I was asked if the newly-founded Edmonson Voice could handle it. Not having a clue as to how to run a sports broadcast, I blindly accepted, and submitted a bid to the school to perform all the broadcasting duties. Not only did I lose my shirt in the deal, but I also lost a hat, two pairs of pants, and a sock…It was later discovered that the shirt was somewhere in Texas, but that’s an inside story of which only three people were made aware…

Anyway, relying heavily on old friends with some recent radio experience, I began working on the school’s first-ever, locally produced high school internet audio-only broadcast. I invested in the best equipment I could afford and came up with a risky plan to keep the broadcast local. I chose not to profit from the venture. Yes, you read correctly. I felt if the school handled all the sponsorship money and kept profit for their programs, everyone would win as long as the Voice’s expenses were covered. I grossly underestimated the expense to do the venture that first year, but the school was more than happy to rework the deal the following year.

After 9 seasons of multiple sports, a dozen broadcasters and crew members, multiple guest hosts, thousands of miles, seven district championships, and too many late night drive-thru meals, we’re already looking at how the broadcast can be improved for next year.

There's a lot going on behind the scenes on game day.

The prep for a game is much more involved than most would consider. One person has to do game preview tasks that include gathering previous game info for both ECHS and their opponent. Rosters, stats, and general team info has to be reviewed, printed, and prepared for the next game, and no one gets paid for this.

The equipment has to be checked and must be repaired, replaced, duct taped, or wired together in the event of a problem. Many homework assignments from student crew members have been completed inside the Voicemobile on the way to and from games. Again, all done on personal time.

Not all schools play well with others.

Above all, the most important aspect of the broadcast is available internet at whatever venue from which we work. Trust me, this is most stressful and frustrating part of the job. We don’t simply show up and hope it works. We contact the principal and athletic director of each school and make a request for internet access, usually the day before or even earlier. Sometimes we don’t even get a response. Our school normally has very reliable internet for us, although we’ve had a few issues this season that no one could seem to diagnose, and our school is also very generous in helping other school broadcasts when they visit. That’s not the same with other schools when we travel.

The vast majority don’t care whether our broadcast works or not. They will ignore our internet requests, flat out lie to us, or simply play dumb. We’ve had multiple ADs tell us they actually don’t know whether or not their school has wifi. Really? Granted, some of the opposing ADs I’ve dealt with are a special kind of dumb, but I’d rather a school just tell us straight up “we don’t like you and don’t want you to stream.” At least we’d know.

We also ask about reliability for major cell providers, and we pay for multiple carriers for this purpose. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes not, and other times what works great in a gym parking lot doesn’t work at all inside the building. We've also been sabotaged on multiple occasions. We have been told that internet would be available by one person at a school but after arriving, finding out differently and that the person we originally spoke with is nowhere to be found.

We've also been connected to internet at a school and suddenly it just stops working. Hmmmm.... Recently, we were at a visiting school and the AD told us that since we had been disrespectful in the past, they weren't sure if they would even allow us to broadcast. Huh? Ok. After a brief discussion and seemingly having things worked out, they agreed to give us wifi access and an ethernet connection. The ethernet connection didn't work at all and while we connected to their wifi, their network did not have internet. Hmmmmm...

On the other hand, some schools are great to work with and internet is becoming more available each year. Just a couple weeks ago, Grayson County, our rival of all rivals, did a fantastic job of accommodating us with our setup and made sure we had a great connection for the district tournament. It was the one of the best internet accesses we had all season. Many schools are accommodating and most try to help even when they can't offer much. So many schools filter their internet connections for safety reasons and most sites are blocked, which keeps us from using their internet for our stream.

We monitor our streams in real time and we can see how much bandwidth is available and how much we use at any moment. Yes, we know when the stream stinks and we can’t simply move a set of rabbit ears or stand on one leg to make it better. Trust me—we’ve tried it. That's normally when we start getting messages and comments like "this stream sucks!" "you guys used to be better than this," or "you guys need to fix the internet!" Thanks for that...we already know this, and your input doesn't help. There ain't JACK we can do about it.

Until all schools provide this service for media, there will always be hiccups and frustrations. Wake up, school systems, this is 2024. Limiting internet access or filtering sites is just plain silly for media outlets, but please know we do everything in our control to make it work.

You probably didn't realize it, but during last night's region game, while our video stream was super strong, Jamie had to stop and start the audio stream three different times--all while not missing a beat calling the game.

The good, the bad, and the ugly:

With our current setup, we have a chain of more than 30 different devices and hookups that not only must work individually, but also with each other. If one link in that chain doesn’t work, all the others are in some sort of jeopardy. If that happens, we have to troubleshoot and solve asap—while we’re also calling the game and keeping the game stats.

We also have to watch out for someone spilling something on us, unplugging a cable, knocking a plug loose, cussing from the stands that’s picked up in our mics, or actually cussing at us. We also have to deal with friendly fans who feel the need to start a random conversation with us—while we’re on the air…We love you, but if we are wearing headsets, please wait until the game ends before we have a conversation.

We've also heard this: "Why don't you just do what ______County's broadcast does? They just have one guy with a cell phone." Well, _______ County's guy has the same trouble with the internet, plus, his broadcast is terrible. You wouldn't want to watch it if someone paid you. On top of a quality stream, we also strive to bring you a good play-by-play and commentary, and I am positive that our guys are the best out of any surrounding school broadcast. Check out some of the other schools if you don't believe me. Some of these folks sound like your pappaw mouth-breathing into the mic, some squealing robot, or just a dummy. Our guys are pros and we have great rapports with each other that make for a great stream.

Lots of schools have one camera that doesn't move with no sound. You can't even see what's happening. What is the point?

A broadcast usually adds an additional full day of work on top of our regular daily jobs. For a road game, we normally put in about 8 more hours for each game day. It’s common to actually work 16-20hrs on some broadcast days when it’s all added up.

With all that being said, the good outweighs the bad, by a long shot.

We get to bring the joy of our kids, our school pride, and a little piece of our county to more people than ever before. I couldn’t imagine having this type of coverage and access when I played 30 yrs ago. Out of all the years I played sports, I have ONE—only ONE photo of me in action. Our kids today have multiple, high quality photos from nearly EACH GAME, thanks to our coverage.

We give you the full game, the full story, and access to our head coaches—for which we are truly grateful. Our coaches don’t have to give us the time they do—but they do. That’s really tough to do after a bitter loss, but they make the effort to share themselves and their teams with us, so we can share them with you.

Our school system is supportive in our efforts and their partnership allows us to bring games to literally thousands of people that would NEVER attend a game in person. This only strengthens our school, community, our programs, student-athletes, and our sponsors.

Those that attend games in person have not changed: moms, dads, grands, siblings, friends, family, students, and the local fans. They are all still buying tickets—PLUS—they can go back and watch the games later. ECHS has approximately 2500 seats and our game streams reach an additional 3000 viewers per game. The idea that live streams hurt attendance is not only wrong, it’s ridiculous, and we can prove it with our numbers.

WildcatsLive is a three-way partnership between the Edmonson Voice, ECHS, and our sponsors, who are crucial to what we do. These are the local folks that make it possible. While the school covers our costs, ECHS is in charge of gathering those sponsors, building those relationships, and allowing us run the show and set the broadcast schedule. The school entrusts us to handle the job efficiently and professionally, and we trust them to handle things on their end. We are all working together to help each other, which in turn, helps our kids. Please pay attention to those sponsors and support them. They put their dollars back into our community, and again, our kids. 

Finally, we get to highlight our kids. We're proud of them and our programs. We love our school, we always root for them to win and for our opponents to lose. Always. Yes, we're biased. We don't wish good luck to the other team and we hope our kids win each game by at least 50, however, we always do our best to stay professional. Sometimes staying positive is harder to do when our teams struggle, but we strive to lift up our kids as much as possible. Sports don't last forever but photos and videos will last much longer. 

Thanks to the 2023-24 Lady Cats and Wildcats. We appreciate you and wish the best to our seniors, Chaney Browning, Layne Ashley, and Will Alexander.

So for the 9th consecutive year, thank you to our broadcasters, Jamie Carnes, Scott Lindsey, Granville Meredith, and our camera crew, Preston Doyle on video and Joseph Barkoff, photographer, Madison Doyle and Alyssa Doyle for their camera work, our school, our sponsors, our teams, coaches, parents, viewers, and most importantly, our kids.

Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.

Joseph Barkoff, story and photos:
Just because they call it a game, does not make it easy by any stretch of the imagination.

The Edmonson County Wildcats knew what they were up against in the District 12 finals last night against one of the top teams in the region. The tournament was hosted at Grayson County High School.

Three nights ago, it all came together when the Wildcats defeated the Grayson County Cougars to advance to the Championship.

Friday was different. 

Edmonson County was still the underdog, that hadn’t changed, and facing a team who had beaten them twice already in regular season play wasn’t any different either.

The stands were even more packed than the previous games, with Butler County fans outnumbering Edmonson County at a glance. Both sides cheered their hearts, and in some cases, voices out during the contest.

What else was different was the Wildcats were facing the second-ranked team in KHSAA Region 3 in a 20-8 overall, 12-0 in Region, and 8-0 District record Butler County Bears.

“We went from playing our best game of the year to playing our worst game,” Wildcats head coach Trey Tinsley said after the game on the Edmonson Voice Wildcats Live Post Game Show. “But this is the good news, I’m just a positive thinker, we got next week Regional Tournament and we got a chance to do something, you know we haven’t done since 1993 I think.”

Three nights ago on Tuesday, they kept level heads and didn’t try to force passes, remembering they had a game plan to stick to.

“I don’t know if it was nerves,” Tinsley said. “We just didn’t play well tonight.”

Friday, Edmonson turned over the ball 19 times versus Butler’s 5.

They also only shot 34 percent to Butler's 50 percent on shooting from the field. Both teams did not shoot free throws well with Edmonson leading in the stat with 6-14 for 43 percent versus Butler's 2-6 for 33 percent.
​
There were positives on the night though, despite the final score of 79-40 in favor of the Bears over the Wildcats

Edmonson County outscored Butler County 15-13 in the second quarter, but the damage had been done and the score at half time was 38-22 in favor of Butler County.

“I think that we were ready to come out and play, we just got off to a slow start,” junior power forward Joshua Decker said after the game. “But they’re a really good team.”

There other positives are in the future too. Next week in the future.

“The good thing is, we have Regionals next week,” Tinsley said. “So, we got another chance to play.”

As well a chance to accomplish something not seen in Edmonson County in over 30 years with a win in the Regional Tournament.

“District finals are great, we want to win the game next week,” Tinsley said.

They have to forget about the game and he hopes to get a good draw for the tournament next week, he said.

“We got to forget about it, and just go to the Regional Tournament, let’s see if we get a good draw and let’s go win a game,” Tinsley said. 
​
The draw for teams was held Saturday morning and put the Wildcats against Owensboro Catholic next week.

Edmonson County still has some fight left in them and the team knows it can learn from its mistakes.
​
“Every game is a learning opportunity,” junior power forward Wyatt Gravil said after the game. “We learn a little from each game. Today we learned that through the Tournament we can compete with anybody on any day, they just came out and they played well. They sped us up a little bit.”

They just have to keep it together and go to Regions, he said.

“We’re gonna get us a win at Regions,” Gravil said. “We’re gonna fight hard. We know we can do that.”

They can fight indeed.

Despite the rivalries and hard-fought games, the harsh rhetoric often only emits from the stands, and in contrast the players play hard and intentional, but not malicious, and even exchange hugs with off-season neighbors after games.

Gravil said he loved both being the underdog and beating rival Grayson.

They will get another chance to be the underdog again.

Decker said he loved the atmosphere surrounding the games during the tournament, “Especially District,” Decker said. “Rivalries, I love it.”

“Anything can happen,” many people have said in specific relation to Edmonson County’s chances next week in the Regional Tournament and in general relation to basketball played specifically in March. 

Madness, they call it. March madness.

And Edmonson County is headed to the KHSAA Regional Tournament to play Owensboro Catholic on Wednesday, March 6th at 7:45PM at the Owensboro Sports Center in Owensboro.

The Edmonson Voice will have the live video stream available that night.

Four different team members of the 2024 Edmonson County Lady Cat basketball team earned special awards at this year's District 12 Finals, held last night in Grayson County.

Senior Chaney Browning was awarded All Academic, Jenna Cook and Julie Norris earned All Tournament awards, and the All Season awards went to Cariann Williams and Shelby Sowders.

The Lady Cats fell to Butler County 44-41 on Monday night. Their season ended with a record of 21-8, which was the first year for head coach Jody Booth.