By Chris Fuller
Kentucky Scouting Director

As we prepare for our 2014 high school season coverage, we are going to take a quick glance at teams from across the state.

Team: Hazard
District: 54th
Region: 14th
Head Coach: John Meehan
2013 Overall Record: 25-10
2013 Region Record: 7-3
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 4

TOP PLAYERS (2013 stats in parenthesis)

Griffin Wells, LHP/1B, 2016
Ryan Smith, SS/RHP, 2017
Kameron Conley, RHP/3B, 2017
JT Haynes, 2B/RHP, 2014
Jacob Roll, C, 2014
Cole Ratliff, C, 2016

OUTLOOK:

The Bulldogs won 25 games last season and spent several weeks in our Power 25 rankings but suffered a disappointing loss in the first round of the 14th Region Tournament.  While Hazard lost several key players from last year's squad to graduation, they return 5 everyday starters to go along with 3 starting pitchers. The pitching staff will be anchored by sophomore LHP Griffin Wells, and freshman RHP Kameron Conley.  Conley just showed he is one of the top arms in the 2017 class at the Preseason All-State Showcase a few weeks ago.  The Bulldogs have a lot of firepower to replace in the offense and look to be led by Wells, Conley, freshman Ryan Smith, and seniors JT Haynes, and Jacob Roll.  Hazard's pitching makes them instant contenders for a 14th Region title.

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COACHES PRE-SEASON QUESTIONNAIRE

We appreciate the strong response so far from high school coaches across the state assisting with our pre-season coverage.  If you have not already done so you can fill out our coaches pre-season questionnaire online by clicking here.