It’s been a long and winding road to Whitley County’s third region title, and it all started this past fall when Jeremy Shope’s squad began its quest to get back on track in the 13th Region.
The Colonels did just that, posting a program-best 38 wins while playing one of the toughest slates in the state.
“Once fall sports begin, we begin working with some open fields,” Shope said. “We also have in school weightlifting five days a week with Coach Jacobs. He’s done a fabulous job with our guys. He is actively involved with our guys on a daily basis. He talks the talk and walks the walk. We also begin working on fundamentals right from the beginning and continue to do so all year long.
“Sometimes we have good numbers in the fall and sometimes we don’t,” he added. “We are very open to guys playing multiple sports, but will continue to work the guys who choose not to play. Our staff has a belief in making every guy better through out our program. Every player gets the same amount of reps. This philosophy instills belief amongst our whole team. From day one, every player in our program believes that they can win a state championship.”
To prepare his team for a region and state title run, Shope put together one of the toughest schedules in the state.
Games against Boyle County, Danville, Sayre, Murray, Glasgow, LaRue County, Yates Creek, Great Crossing, Frederick Douglass, and many others along with the Colonels’ games against 13th Region opponents, challenged Shope’s players day in and day out.
“There were no days off,” he said. “For us to be sitting here with 38 wins is phenomenal. It speaks volumes to how tough our team is. We’ve sat at number two in the state poll for much of the year. That’s a tough place to be. You get everyone’s best day in and day out. We play in a very tough district where someone is going home early during the district tournament.
“We had the number one RPI in the state,” he added. “While all these are huge honors for our program, I know that there is pressure with it. Again, it shows the toughness and resilience of this team.
“Our schedule was relentless,” Shope continued. “It just kept coming at you with good teams and getting their best shot. We played a tough spring break, tough district games, 2A State Tournament beating a Sweet 16 team in the championship game and an another team that just recently lost a close one to another Sweet 16 team. We understand how hard it is to win a 13th Region title. We were battle tested and we knew that even if we didn’t win it, we would have no regrets.”
Shope said a lot of his program’s success can be credited to “all of our alumni and all the people who are actively involved in our program.”
“A lot of sacrifices are made when you pour your heart and soul into this special program,” he admitted. “Our guys know how much blood, sweat, and tears have been put in before they even got there. Our alumni come around often talking smack. It’s a challenge for our guys to always want to be better. I love that part of our program.
“There have been heartaches and tears of joy,” Shope said. “At the end of each season, and career, I want our guys to have no regrets. Two things we always stand on is play for the guy next to you and have no regrets when it’s all over. I believe that this builds the never say die mentality.”
After finishing as runner-up in the 13th Region Tournament last season, Shope said he knew early on he was going to field a good team.
“But I had no idea that we would be sitting here with 38 wins,” he added. “That’s an unbelievable accomplishment while playing the schedule that we did. It’s tough to judge a season on what you do in postseason. Baseball is tough in a single elimination tournament. After seeing this team compete and win a lot of games on our schedule I knew we would have a shot at doing big things in postseason.”
