Bonnin @BH

[TradenupBH]

Bonnin hit 97mph the other day on the gun in a game. Pretty impressive for the Arkansas signee. Every game he's pitching, 5 or 6 MLB scouts are there. Just thought I'd give him a shout out. Keep it going!

[CougarCal]

Playoff time I'm guessing they are wanting 1 game winner take all.

[Ballboy96]

Bonnin is a great talent for sure, but it takes more than one kid to win playoff games most of the time. Fortunately for BH, they have a great team around him! Remember Silsbee beat Kolek (Shepherd) when he was throwing 100mph in a playoff game. 

[TradenupBH]

BH has more pitching than just Bonnin. The program is loaded from freshman to seniors. Over 70 kids on 3 teams. It's tough for kids at BH because you have so many good ballplayers. Right now, our 3 teams are a combined 32-5 on the season. I started the thread to give kudo's to a kid touching in the upper 90's, but there is a bunch of talented young men at the Hill that can play ball.

[bljnhjs19]

They do have decent talent....still would not call it spectacular. The difference maker is Denny. He knows how to tap into those kids and get the most out of them. Every year he has a senior that contributes that was not a factor their junior year. Besides Bonnin they don't have a hard throwing staff....average around 83-84. But they throw strikes and can move the ball around and play good defense around them. BH has not produced big time college players in the past 6 years. The kids that are playing now went JuCo route first. There may be 1 in there that went to A&M out of high school, but they went deep into playoffs last year with not a whole lot moving on to the next level....and , not taking anything away from the kid, but Bonnin was not much of a contributor on the mound last year

[Broncos2447]

People often forget it can be hard sometimes to find a catcher that can catch 97 mph with movement at the high school level with a good breaking ball. 

[NCEagle1]

I promise you McCall has no problems catching Bonnin. He has caught many kids in the 90's in Summer Ball.

[easttexiasbias]

I would tend to disagree on the BH hasn't produced big time college players.  Over the last few years I can think of three kids playing for A&M  over last couple of years one kid at Texas.  Now Bonnin going to Arkansas.  Sprinkle that in with multiple kids going to southland confrence schools. Im not saying they are producing like Bellaire or anything but they have produced as much talent as any other 5a school in the area over the last 10 years.  

[Peppermint Patty]

43 minutes ago, easttexiasbias said:

I would tend to disagree on the BH hasn't produced big time college players.  Over the last few years I can think of three kids playing for A&M  over last couple of years one kid at Texas.  Now Bonnin going to Arkansas.  Sprinkle that in with multiple kids going to southland confrence schools. Im not saying they are producing like Bellaire or anything but they have produced as much talent as any other 5a school in the area over the last 10 years.  

Most of those guys went the JUCO route to D1. Not discounting that process, just throwing it out there. 

The biggest impact players from BH have been pitchers. They always seem to have a bevy of good arms.

Don't think Denny is seeing much playing time at UT. Not sure why.

[bljnhjs19]

2 that played at A&M with 1 of those walking on at San Jac 1st. The Kid that went to Texas is not playing anymore because of injuries acquired during football his senior year. Never got over that knee injury and is not on the team at Texas. Not many in Southland conference....1 at HBU now but went JuCo 1st. Just don't think there have been big time talent there and I give a lot of props to the coach.

the pitchers have been solid, but not spectacular. Thames was solid, but was still a 83-84 guy in high school. Since him they have been decent but nothing really that stands out....just guys that find a way to get the job done

[TradenupBH]

Never did I mention big talent. BH has in the system right now kids that just get it done. We had a pitcher go to Nichols last year, and there been several in the last 4 years go play at the next level. I'm not beating my chest about we have the best players, I'm just saying that we have a slew of average to above average players that know how to win. When you look at Southeast Texas, year in and year out BH produces talented teams. BTW, we have a number of guys that throw consistently in the 80's on JV and varsity. BTW, what are ya'll calling big time? Texas, A&M, Arkansas? Doesn't matter how they get there, they got there. Nothing wrong with going to Southland Conference, San Jac, Temple JC, etc. If the kids are getting to the next level, I'm good with that.

[NCEagle1]

My son went to BH his Freshman year with Bonnin, McCall, Stevens, and Holdren along with several other solid players in the program. Coach Denny always gets the most out of his players. Nephew played with Thames, Homan, Lyday, Furlong, made it to the fourth round of the Playoffs in 13,14, and in with the new group last year. I think that the pitch count will play a big roll in this years playoffs. Pitching Depth will be a must.

[bljnhjs19]

All I was pointing out was the props that Coach Denny deserves.....he wins with average to a little above average talent....just look at their team batting average the last two years....my opinion is if a kid is hitting .300 in high school...he's very average at best .....again I would give a crap load of credit to the coach....just my opinion which don't mean a darn thing to anybody....I understand that

[TradenupBH]

Denny does do a good job, not knocking him. It takes players to buy into his system as well. Together, they make a competitive program.

[Ballboy96]

4 hours ago, bljnhjs19 said:

All I was pointing out was the props that Coach Denny deserves.....he wins with average to a little above average talent....just look at their team batting average the last two years....my opinion is if a kid is hitting .300 in high school...he's very average at best .....again I would give a crap load of credit to the coach....just my opinion which don't mean a darn thing to anybody....I understand that

 

I would respectfully disagree with the .300 average comment. This could vary considerably depending on the district a kid is in. And I agree with you, Coach Denny is a very good coach, but to say that BH or any other 5A and under school with multiple next level players is "average to a little above average" might be a bit of a reach. I'm hoping you played ball, and maybe at a high level, so you should know how dang hard it is to play at any college level. To break down the numbers, approximately 6% of HS players get an opportunity to play at the collegiate level. 

[bljnhjs19]

Your right...a low level move on to play at the next level...and to be a position player at the next level will be dang near impossible to find a place who takes a kid that hit .300 in high school.....those kids hit over .400

[easttexiasbias]

21 hours ago, bljnhjs19 said:

2 that played at A&M with 1 of those walking on at San Jac 1st. The Kid that went to Texas is not playing anymore because of injuries acquired during football his senior year. Never got over that knee injury and is not on the team at Texas. Not many in Southland conference....1 at HBU now but went JuCo 1st. Just don't think there have been big time talent there and I give a lot of props to the coach.

the pitchers have been solid, but not spectacular. Thames was solid, but was still a 83-84 guy in high school. Since him they have been decent but nothing really that stands out....just guys that find a way to get the job done

When I said three kids at A&M i was counting Ross Hales who went there also but that was before Denny's time so I apologize.  

[bljnhjs19]

Sorry for digressing from the topic....Kuddos to Bonnin for the level of play he is at right now....hope the kid does well for the rest of the year and the rest of his baseball career.....97 is freaking hard....heck.. even 92 hurts when it hits you,  not to mention pretty tuff to hit

[eagle00011]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 11:51 AM, bljnhjs19 said:

They do have decent talent....still would not call it spectacular. The difference maker is Denny. He knows how to tap into those kids and get the most out of them. Every year he has a senior that contributes that was not a factor their junior year. Besides Bonnin they don't have a hard throwing staff....average around 83-84. But they throw strikes and can move the ball around and play good defense around them. BH has not produced big time college players in the past 6 years. The kids that are playing now went JuCo route first. There may be 1 in there that went to A&M out of high school, but they went deep into playoffs last year with not a whole lot moving on to the next level....and , not taking anything away from the kid, but Bonnin was not much of a contributor on the mound last year

Just FYI, Bonnin was not a contributor last year on the mound because he did not start pitching until the end of the season,  he discovered he could throw hard last February and Denny took it slow for him to learn how to pitch, and still looks not to over throw him.  Bonnin was recruited by colleges as a Short Stop ranked #1 SS in Texas in PG, since throwing 96, the SS may be out the window.  Did not even pitch for his summer team, he really just started with the Houston Area All Star Game, Area Code Games in California, and a couple of other events this fall where  he played as a two way player in all of those and improved and threw harder and harder,.   As the next level and BH, several kids in the last 7 or 8 years went on to play at next level with great success, some D1, Juco then D1, and some D3, Grayson Long A&M, #3 pick Angles Austin Homan starting SS at A&M, Kyle Leggett  pitcher Lamar, Taylor Coolings named to one of the All American teams for D3, Blake Bonnin named all Region at UT Tyler  when there also named  1st team All Conf,  Christian Thames HBU, Brian Taylor Nicholls State  and a few went on to Juco, now Rhett McCall- Lamar, Bonnin-Arkansas,  don't know many other 5A schools that have put that many kids in college and then made a impact while there, so pretty rich tradition making the 4th round 3 out of 7 years and 7 consecutive years in playoffs, as far as depth this year , Bonnin is 4-0 on the mound in Dist,  team is  8-0, and team is 15-3 overall with 2 losses vs Deer Park which DP threw their number one and 2 against BH where our top 3 pitchers did not throw vs them and DP is a State Ranked solid team, so they don't need just one player to win games, helps having a guy throwing mid 90s, but have plenty of depth and in HS sometimes low 80s with a ton of movement is more deadly than a 90 plus fastball. So should be good to go 2 out of 3 series when playoffs come.    Denny is a great baseball coach,  I'm sure he would tell you he appreciates some of the talent he has had over the years at BH as well.

[eagle00011]

Forgot about Kaleb Denny as well, kid was unbelievable, and went on to Texas, just did not fully recover from a injury.

[bljnhjs19]

Your wrong about the kid not throwing until this year. He pitched his freshman year ,not much, but started in tournament games, and he did start games last year, but struggled finding the zone, found it over the summer .....there are a bunch of 5A schools with that many kids playing....If kids want to play and are decently good there are plenty of places.....and all those kids you named that are playing were pretty spread out over the years....last years team that lost to tomball had how many seniors go play....1 that you named....and they started how many seniors???? Again....all I am saying is Denny is a solid coach that, in my opinion, is the main reason BH wins as much as they do. He does have talent and that helps, Hope to see them go far in the playoffs again this year...will have to see what they can do outside of district....

[eagle00011]

On ‎4‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 10:12 PM, bljnhjs19 said:

Your wrong about the kid not throwing until this year. He pitched his freshman year ,not much, but started in tournament games, and he did start games last year, but struggled finding the zone, found it over the summer .....there are a bunch of 5A schools with that many kids playing....If kids want to play and are decently good there are plenty of places.....and all those kids you named that are playing were pretty spread out over the years....last years team that lost to tomball had how many seniors go play....1 that you named....and they started how many seniors???? Again....all I am saying is Denny is a solid coach that, in my opinion, is the main reason BH wins as much as they do. He does have talent and that helps, Hope to see them go far in the playoffs again this year...will have to see what they can do outside of district....

He didn't really start his freshman year, got about 3 inning in his freshman year but was not considered a pitcher, ran out of pitching and threw him in,, no innings his Soph year, and I didn't state this was his 1st year to throw, I stated he really started end of last season ,Crosby towards end of regular season then got game 3 start vs Tomball.  So his first 3 years of HS ball he may have had 10 or 11 innings on mound, and only pitched 2 innings all summer for summer team so don't count that as really being considered a pitcher he stayed at Short Stop, was not until the Area Code games and PG national before he actually got to start pitching and that was minimal, this is his 1st season to actually be a starter or start as a pitcher from the beginning of the year, Denny never liked pulling him off Short last 2 years, and with Taylor, he did not have to,.  The kids I named are spread out over just 5 years,  The team last year I will give you, other than Taylor none went to next level, but Cauley is seeing time at Texas Lutheran as a freshman, but they still had Bonnin and McCall ,which both contributed a great deal last year on defense and both hit well in the play-offs.   Denny is a solid coach no doubt, still have to have skill to be consistent in winning 24-25 games.   They have showed this year they have depth, they are 5-0 without Bonnin on the mound in dist and swept KWP without his arm,   I agree with you 100% on Denny, but BH has had a lot of  really good talent over the last 5 years that had good success at the next level as well..

[bljnhjs19]

You're right....BH is loaded with talent....every year they have outstanding players...that's why they win every year....did not mean to upset the parents of those kids...I apologize for not knowing my facts about players from the Hill....not from there and should keep my mouth closed

[eagle00011]

LOL,  don't think anyone upset,  Looks like we both got way off original topic