2011 Eastern Eagles (31 wins – 8 losses)
The Eastern Eagles 2011 baseball team certainly had a season to remember as the Eagles posted another 30-win season and made it to the 7th region finals after two big wins over Male and Ballard in the regional tournament before losing by one run to St. X.
It was Eastern’s seventh straight year of winning at least 30 games and the Eagles were ranked as high as #3 in the state earlier in the season. The Eagles won its first nine games of the year, including wins over defending state runner-up and 20th ranked Butler 3-2, Bullitt East 6-4 and 3rd ranked Male 12-1.
The Eagles then won six of seven games over spring break, including winning two round robin tournaments, the Eastern Invitational and the Bowilng Green Invitational. Eastern played well and beat many top 25 teams in April, including #6 Ballard, Christian Academy, Somerset, Bowling Green and Boyd County.
In May, the schedule continued to be tough, but Eastern was up to the test and beat some very good teams. The Eagles were victorious over #3 Lafayette, #5 Dunbar and #4 Central Hardin to close out the season. In the post-season, Eastern opened district tournament play by beating KCD, but lost a one-run decision to district rival Jeffersontown in the finals. In the regional tournament, Eastern began with a 4-1 win over #7 Male and then beat #12 Ballard 3-2 in come from behind fashion by scoring three runs in the bottom of the 7th inning. In the 7th region finals, Eastern dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to #2 St. X and left the tying and winning runs on base and were just a hit away from advancing to the state tournament.
Head Coach John Morris finished his 10th year at Eastern and has led the Eagles to 10 straight 20-win seasons, seven straight 30-win seasons and 10 straight regional tournament appearances. Under his guidance, the Eagles have won five district championships and have advanced to the 7th region finals twice. Coach Morris has an overall record of 306-81 for an overall winning percentage of .791
Eastern was led during the season by their pitching staff with a team ERA of 1.81. Zach Strecker had seven wins (Lafayette, Bowling Green, Lexington Christian), Spencer Drake five wins (Male twice, Butler, Christian Academy and Jeffersontown), Robert Strader four wins (North Oldham, Central Hardin and Ballard), Jonah Philley four wins (Ballard) and Kyle Schuette four wins (Bullitt East). Drake led the team with an ERA of 1.22 with 97 strikeouts. Michael Davis led the team in hitting with a .405 average with 53 hits and 11 doubles and an on base percentage of .494. Zach Strecker was second on the team in average at .388 and led the team with six home runs and 48 RBI.
Eastern is sending one player to college to play baseball next year on scholarship as Spencer Drake is going to the University of Kentucky.
2011 Post Season Honors and Awards
Spencer Drake : All Region Team (Season), All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), Senior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Team.
Zach Strecker : All Region Team (Season), All District Team (Season), 7th Region All Star Team.
Michael Davis : All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Junior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Team.
Jonah Philley : All District Team (Season), Junior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Team.
Robert Strader : All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Tournament), 7th Region All Star Team.
John Gastinger : 7th Region All Star Team.
TEAM LEADERS FOR 2011 : (*denotes school record was set)
Hitting Highest Average : Michael Davis - .405
Highest On Base Percentage : Michael Davis - .494
Most At Bats : Michael Davis - 159
Most Hits : Michael Davis - 53
Most Runs : Michael Davis - 51
Most Singles : Michael Davis - 40
Most Doubles : Michael Davis - 11
Most Triples – 6 players tied at 1
Most Home Runs : Zach Strecker - 6
Most RBI : Zach Strecker - 48
Most Walks : Marshall Gei - 20
Most HBP : Jonah Philley - 9
Most Stolen Bases : Michael Davis -7
Most Sacrifices : J.R. Cecil – 15*
Pitching
Best Record : Zach Strecker 7-2, Robert Strader 4-0, Kyle Schuette 4-0
Most Wins : Zach Strecker 7
Lowest ERA : Spencer Drake – 1.22
Most Appearances : Jonah Philley - 14
Most Complete Games : Zach Strecker and Jonah Philley - 4
Most Shutouts : Zach Strecker - 2
Most Saves : Michael Davis and J.R. Cecil - 2
Most Innings Pitched : Spencer Drake – 57 1/3
Most Strikeouts : Spencer Drake - 97
Most Games Started : Spencer Drake - 10
Eastern did not set any team records in 2011
Eastern had two seniors on the 2011 team : They were Zach Strecker and Spencer Drake
Eastern’s coaches for the 2011 season were Head Coach John Morris, Assistant Coaches Tyler Christensen, Bryan Hall, Phil Hardy and Ralph Gali, JV Coach Seth Husted and Freshman Coach David White
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2010 Eastern Eagles (31 wins – 8 losses)
 2010 was another great year for Eastern Baseball as the Eagles won 31 games and the 28th district championship for the 5th time in the past 6 years and were ranked as high as #2 in the state in the coaches poll. The Eagles won 30 games for the sixth straight year and beat many ranked and top tier teams during the season.
Eastern won their first six games of the year, including wins over Germantown, TN (#9 in the state) and over #6 Bullitt East 11-1. The Eagles then had a successful spring break trip to Florida against all Florida schools where Eastern went 4-2 against some tough competition in Jacksonville, including a win over #9 ranked Baker County, FL 9-2.
The Eagles then came back to Kentucky and beat #14 Ballard 7-5, #15 Elizabethtown 2-1, #12 Henderson County 6-5, #7 St. X 7-2, #19 Franklin County 6-2, #18 Central Hardin 8-3, #17 Manual 10-9 and #2 PRP 7-6 in nine innings. In the win over #2 PRP, the Eagles came back from a 4-0 7th inning deficit and a three run deficit with two outs and nobody on to pull out the win. It was the Eagles fourth win in the past five games against highly ranked PRP.
Eastern then beat KCD and Christian Academy in the 28th district tournament before dropping a 2-0 heartbreaker to Ballard in the regional tournament.
John Morris concluded his 9th season as head coach of the Eagles and has led the Eagles to nine straight 20 win seasons and six straight 30 win seasons along with five district championships and nine regional appearances. Coach Morris has an overall record of 275-73 for an overall winning percentage of .790.
The Eagles were once again led by their pitching as Kyle Cornett had nine wins, Troy Spaulding eight, Zach Strecker seven and Spencer Drake six. Cornett beat St. X, Orange Park, FL, Germantown, TN, Ballard and J’town; Drake beat Elizabethtown, Franklin County, Bullitt East and Christian Academy twice; Strecker beat Baker Co., FL, Central Hardin and PRP; and Spaulding beat Henderson County, Corbin and Manual. Drake led the team in ERA at 1.24 while Strecker’s was 1.74. Cornett had 108 K’s while Drake had 91.
Cornett led the team again in hitting with a .481 average and a .613 on base percentage and tied for the most hits with Jimmy Conway with 51. Conway was second in average at .436 while Spencer Drake hit .430 and Zach Strecker .402. Cornett led the team in singles with 51, Drake in doubles with 16 and Conway in home runs with six. Drake led the team in RBI’s with 48 while Cornett had 44. Conway and Cornett led the team in walks with 24 and 23, respectively.
Eastern is sending two players to college to play baseball next year on scholarship. Kyle Cornett has signed at Murray State University as a pitcher and Jimmy Conway at Georgetown College as a catcher.
Post Season Honors and Awards
Kyle Cornett : All Region Team (Season), All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Senior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game.
Jimmy Conway : All Region Team (Season), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Senior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game.
Spencer Drake : All Region Team (Season), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Junior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game.
Troy Spaulding : All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), 7th Region All Star Game.
Ryan Spugnardi : All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), 7th Region All Star Game.
Zach Strecker : All District Team (Season), 7th Region All Star Game.
TEAM LEADERS FOR 2010 : (*denotes school record was set)
Hitting
Highest Average : Kyle Cornett - .481
Highest On Base Percentage : Kyle Cornett - .613
Most At Bats : Jimmy Conway - 152
Most Hits : Kyle Cornett and Jimmy Conway - 51
Most Runs : Jimmy Conway - 49
Most Singles : Kyle Cornett – 36
Most Doubles : Spencer Drake – 16
Most Triples – 4 players tied with 1
Most Home Runs : Jimmy Conway - 6
Most RBI : Spencer Drake - 48
Most Walks : Jimmy Conway - 24
Most HBP : Kyle Cornett – 13
Most Stolen Bases : Ryan Spugnardi - 20
Most Sacrifices : Troy Spaulding - 8
 Pitching
Best Record : Kyle Cornett 9-2; Troy Spaulding 8-1; Zach Strecker 7-1
Most Wins : Kyle Cornett - 9
Lowest ERA : Spencer Drake – 1.24
Most Appearances : Troy Spaulding - 16
Most Complete Games : Spencer Drake - 5
Most Shutouts : Spencer Drake - 2
Most Saves : Spencer Drake, Zach Strecker and Troy Spaulding - 1
Most Innings Pitched : Kyle Cornett – 68 1/3
Most Strikeouts : Kyle Cornett - 108
Most Games Started : Kyle Cornett - 15
Eastern set the following team records in 2010
Highest Batting Average : .380
Most Runs Scored : 355
Most RBI : 303
Hits : 407
Singles : 281
Doubles : 97
On Base Pct. : .468
Pitching (Strikeouts) : 339
Eastern had seven seniors on the 2010 team : They were Kyle Cornett, Jimmy Conway, Troy Spaulding, Ryan Spugnardi, Petey Cautilli, Hunter Boroff and Philip Nee.
Eastern’s coaches for the 2010 season were Head Coach John Morris, Assistant Coaches Tyler Christensen, Jim Conway, and Joe Dailey, JV Coach Seth Husted and Freshman Coach Bryan Hall.
2009 Eastern Eagles (34 wins – 6 losses)
The 2009 Eastern Eagles baseball team finished the year with the second highest win total in school history with 34 victories and with its highest ranking ever, #2, in the state in the last regular season coaches poll. The Eagles also won the 28th district tournament for the fourth time in the last five years and put together a school record winning streak of 16 games during the season. Eastern has won 30 or more games for five consecutive years.
 The Eagles had impressive wins during the season and went undefeated in the regular season against other 7th region opponents. Eastern beat the following ranked teams during the year: #3 PRP 4-1, #5 Male 3-2, #8 Trinity 4-1, #8 St. X 7-5, #14 Western Hills 3-1, #17 Dunbar 10-0, #20 Manual 2-0, #21 Madison Central 10-4, #22 Ballard 8-7, #25 Christian County 3-2.
Head Coach John Morris finished his 8th season as head coach of the Eagles and has an overall record of 244-65 for a winning percentage of .790.
After a loss to start the season to 6th region champion Bullitt East, Eastern won 10 of its next 11 games, including wins over Arnold, FL and Escambia, FL on spring break. Eastern won many other games over quality opponents during the year such as Butler, DeSales, North Bullitt, Somerset, Mercer County, Christian Academy, Woodford County, Campbellsville and Taylor County.
Eastern beat KCD in the district tournament 16-2 and run ruled J’town 11-1 to claim the 28th District Championship. Eastern then opened the regional tournament with an 11-1 win over Fern Creek before losing 5-4 in the regional semi-finals to Ballard in a last inning heartbreaker.
Eastern’s pitching staff again led the way in ’09. Chris Toombs posted 10 wins, Ben Lady eight wins, Tyler Dunaway six wins, Spencer Drake five wins and Kyle Cornett two wins. Lady and Drake led the team in ERA at 1.13 and 1.18, respectively while Drake threw a no-hitter against East Jessamine. Dunaway had wins over PRP, Trinity and Manual, Cornett over Male and Ballard, Toombs over St. X and Christian County and Lady over Western Hills, Dunbar and DeSales.
 Kyle Cornett led the Eagles at the plate by posting a school record .532 batting average and .653 on base percentage. He led the team in hits (58), singles (42), doubles (16) and walks (28). Jimmy Conway was second in average at .414 with Ben Lady at .393. Justin McCarty hit .383 and led the team in home runs with eight and RBI’s with 43 while Spencer Drake was second with 31 RBI. Lady was also named the player of the year in the 7th region.
Eastern is sending the following players to college to continue their playing careers. Ben Lady (Murray State University), Tyler Dunaway (Wabash Valley JC) and Justin McCarty (Bryan College, TN).
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Post Season Honors and Awards
Ben Lady : 7th Region Player of the Year, All Region Team (Season), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Senior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game
Tyler Dunaway : All Region Team (Season), All District Team (Season), Senior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game
Kyle Cornett : All Region Team (Season), All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), All District Team (Tournament), Junior State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region All Star Game
Justin McCarty : All Region Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), 7th Region All Star Game
Jimmy Conway : All District Team (Tournament), All District Team (Season), 7th Region All Star Game, Junior State East/West All Star Game
Chris Toombs : All District Team (Season), 7th Region All Star Game
Spencer Drake : All District Team (Season)
David Johns : All District Team (Tournament)
T EAM LEADERS FOR 2009 : (*denotes school record was set)
Hitting
Highest Average : Kyle Cornett - .532*
Highest On Base Percentage : Kyle Cornett - .653*
Most At Bats : Ben Lady – 163*
Most Hits : Kyle Cornett - 58
Most Runs : Ben Lady and Justin McCarty – 48
Most Singles : Kyle Cornett – 42
Most Doubles : Kyle Cornett – 16
Most Triples – Ben Lady – 3
Most Home Runs : Justin McCarty – 8
Most RBI : Justin McCarty – 43
Most Walks : Kyle Cornett – 28
Most HBP : Kyle Cornett – 12
Most Stolen Bases : Brent Carneal – 9
Most Sacrifices : Jimmy Conway – 14*
Pitching
Best Record : Chris Toombs – 10-1
Most Wins : Chris Toombs – 10
Lowest ERA : Ben Lady – 1.13
Most Appearances : Tyler Dunaway, Chris Toombs and Kyle Cornett – 14
Most Complete Games : Chris Toombs – 4
Most Shutouts : Spencer Drake, Kyle Cornett, Tyler Dunaway – 1
Most Saves : Kyle Cornett – 3
Most Innings Pitched : Tyler Dunaway – 65
Most Strikeouts : Tyler Dunaway – 91
Most Games Started : Tyler Dunaway – 13
Eastern set the following team records in 2009
Highest Batting Average : .364
Most RBI : 264
Most Hits : 399
Most Singles : 275
Most Doubles : 95
Eastern had eight seniors on the 2009 team : There were Ben Lady, Tyler Dunaway, Justin McCarty, Brent Carneal, David Johns, Chris Toombs, Brian Campbell and Tommy Dishion.
Eastern’s coaches for the 2009 season were Head Coach John Morris, Assistant Coaches Tyler Christensen, Jim Conway, Joe Dailey and Bryan Hall, JV Coach Seth Husted and Freshman Coach Tyler Sibley.
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2008 Eastern Eagles (33 wins – 6 losses)
 The 2008 Eastern Eagles baseball team had another stellar season and finished with 33 wins, which marked their fourth consecutive 30 win season. Eastern finished the year with a #5 state ranking and were ranked in the top 10 all season long in one of the toughest regions in the state and again played a very tough schedule. The Eagles twice had a 10 game winning streak during the season and won the 28th District Championship for the third time in the past four years.
The Eagles are now averaging 30 wins per season over the past seven years under Head Coach John Morris and have won 210 games during that span. Coach Morris now has a .781 winning pct. with a career record of 210-59 in seven years.
Eastern beat five top 10 teams during the season, including #1 ranked PRP on their home field 7-4 during the last week of the season. The Eagles also beat #4 Lexington Catholic 8-1, #5 Henry Clay 8-2, #7 Dunbar 13-1 and #7 Male 8-3. In the 28th District Championship game, Eastern beat Christian Academy 6-2 to claim the title.
To start the 2008 season, Eastern won their first 10 games against some quality competition including Bullitt East, Woodford County, Ryle, Seneca, Reynoldsburg, OH and Crestview, FL (Top 10 – 5A in Florida) before dropping a 4-3 extra inning heartbreaker to #7 pre-season nationally ranked and 6A Georgia state champion Walton 4-3.
Eastern beat many other quality opponents during the year, such as Marianna, FL, Christian Academy twice, Russell County, West Jessamine and Campbellsville
 After winning the 28th District Championship over Christian Academy (eventual regional champions), the Eagles lost a 1-0 last inning heartbreaker to #3 ranked St. X in the regional semi-finals.
The Eagles were led by their pitching and defense all season long as junior Tyler Dunaway led the way on the mound with a 10-1 record and had 99 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings pitched. He had big wins over Crestview, FL, Marianna, FL, Henry Clay, Male, Bullitt East and Ryle. Chris Toombs had seven wins, including one over Lexington Catholic while Shawn Frederick had six wins and Lucas Harry five wins. Harry had a win over Dunbar and led the team with a 1.50 ERA while teammate Ben Lady had a win against #1 PRP.
Offensively, Ben Lady led the Eagles in average as he hit .441 and led the team in runs (52), hits (56), singles (46), triples (3) and HBP (8). Kiley Jones led the team in on base pct. (.536), doubles (18), home runs (5), and walks (35). Kyle Cornett was the leader in RBI with 38 while Eric Schooley stole 13 bases. Senior shortstop Jake Wise set a team record for fielding percentage during the year at .958 as he made only four errors during the season.
 Eastern is sending the following players to college to continue their baseball careers. Kiley Jones (University of Cincinnati), Lucas Harry (Carson Newman, TN), Shawn Frederick (Spalding), Eric Johnson (Spalding) and Jordan Toby (Spalding).
All Tournament Team Selections
Kiley Jones (All 7th Region – Season, All 28th District – Season, All 28th District – Tournament, State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region Senior All Star Game)
Tyler Dunaway (All 7th Region – Season, All 7th Region – Tournament, All 28th District – Season, All 28th District – Tournament, State East/West All Star Game, 7th Region Junior All Star Game)
Lucas Harry (All 28th District – Season, All 28th District – Tournament, 7th Region Senior All Star Game)
Ben Lady (All 28th District – Season, All 28th District – Tournament, 7th Region All Star Game)
Kyle Cornett (All 28th District – Season)
Chris Toombs (All 7th Region – Tournament)
TEAM LEADERS FOR 2008 : (*denotes school record was set)
 Hitting
Highest Average : Ben Lady - .441
Highest On Base Percentage : Kiley Jones - .536
Most At Bats : Kiley Jones – 153*
Most Hits : Ben Lady - 56
Most Runs : Ben Lady - 52
Most Singles : Ben Lady – 46*
Most Doubles : Kiley Jones – 18*
Most Triples : Ben Lady - 3
Most Home Runs : Kiley Jones – 5
Most RBI : Kyle Cornett - 38
Most Walks : Kiley Jones – 35*
Most HBP : Ben Lady & Jake Wise - 8
Most Stolen Bases : Eric Schooley - 13
Most Sacrifices : Jordan Toby - 10
Pitching
Best Record : Tyler Dunaway – 10-1
Most Wins : Tyler Dunaway – 10
Lowest ERA : Lucas Harry – 1.50
Most Appearances : Lucas Harry & Shawn Frederick - 14
Most Complete Games : Tyler Dunaway & Lucas Harry - 5
Most Shutouts : 5 players with 1
Most Saves : Chris Toombs & Ben Lady - 1
Most Innings Pitched : Tyler Dunaway – 73 2/3
Most Strikeouts : Tyler Dunaway – 99
Most Games Started : Tyler Dunaway - 13
 Eastern set the following team records in 2008
Most Singles : 270
Fewest Runs Allowed : 86
Eastern had 8 seniors on the 2008 team. They were Kiley Jones, Shawn Frederick, Jake Wise, Ryne Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mitch Crite, Lucas Harry and Jordan Toby
Eastern’s coaches for the 2008 season were Head Coach John Morris, Assistant Coaches T.J. Graves, Jim Conway and Doug Gardner, JV Coach Seth Husted and Freshman Coach Tyler Sibley.
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