Baseball musings ...

Marshall County swept this week's two-game series with Calloway County, but the Lakers showed they are a legitimate contender for the First Region title.

And Calloway pitcher Casey Brockman may be the best 0-4 pitcher we've seen in the area in some time.

"We make errors behind him, for some reason," Calloway coach Zach Hobbs said. "He's 0-4 with an ERA in the ones."

Remember, also, the Lakers are still without the services of junior Grant Williams, one of their top hitters and pitchers. Williams is still out with a hamstring injury and hopes to be back in a couple of weeks, but that timetable could be a bit optimistic.

Brockman is one of the state's top quarterbacks and will walk on at Murray State, and he's also been one of the region's best hitters this spring. He's played several positions already this spring and was 3-for-5 with a pair of walks against the Marshals in the two-game set.

• So what is the area's pecking order right now? Marshall remains the consensus favorite, but putting the next four in order requires some effort.

In alphabetical order, it appears that Calloway County, Graves County, Lone Oak and Murray are in the next wave, and we already know that at least one of those top-five teams won't make it to the regional tournament, since Marshall, Calloway and Murray are in the Fourth District.

As usual, the regional draw will loom large for the tournament. If Graves and Lone Oak win their respective districts and draw into the same bracket, the Fourth District champion could be the top dog in a less competitive bracket.

• Ballard Memorial was considered to be one of the region's top teams, and still would be if ace left-hander Caleb Shelley was healthy this spring. Doctors won't allow Shelley, who underwent Tommy John surgery in December, to even make throw, which means he can't even play first base.

That, in turn, has had a domino effect on the rest of the Bombers. Because Shelley has to be in the DH slot, coach Jeff Sadler has little flexibility with his defensive alignment, and he's had to move some players to unfamiliar positions at times to keep their bats in the lineup.

Shelley's absence also means that the Bombers have had to dip further into their pitching depth, which keeps their infield defense almost resembling a revolving door — ace Colton Pool plays second base, shortstop Jordyn Abell has been pressed into mound duty much more often than anticipated and several players have moved around looking for the right fit.

Nevertheless, the Bombers remain a tough out in the postseason, especially with Pool on the mound. If Ballard ends up with the four seed and top seed Graves County gets the No. 1 seed, an upset isn't out of the question, especially with the tournament being played at Ballard and its unforgiving bandbox park.

• The First Region champion meets the Second Region winner in the semistate series this year, with the games being played at Graves County. And so far this season, the First Region contenders have fared fairly well against the Second Region's better clubs.

Marshall County is 2-2 against them, losing to Christian County, beating Henderson County and splitting with Hopkinsville. Calloway is 2-1, having lost to Henderson and owning wins over Christian and Madisonville. Lone Oak is 2-1 with wins over Hopkinsville and Madisonville and a loss to Christian.