Harlan County Sports: Baseball: Boggs a member of state championship Big League team

Already one of the 13th Region's best players heading into his senior year, Harlan County's Tyler Boggs stayed busy this summer improving his game as a member of the London Big League team.

London captured the District 4 title with wins over Monticello and Wayne County, then downed Oldham County 13-5 and 11-1 in the state championship series at Oldham County. London advanced to the Great Lakes Regional at Grand Rapids, Mich. London lost 5-4 to Grand Rapids, defeated Milwaukee, Wisc. 13-3 and fell to Lansing, Mich., 6-1.

Boggs played catcher, third base and pitched for London during the summer.

"It was a great experience," Boggs said. "I had a chance to play against some very good competition."

Except for Boggs, the London team was made up entirely of players from North Laurel and South Laurel high schools. The team was led by North Laurel center fielder Marcus Carson (who has committed to the University of Kentucky), South Laurel shortstop Alex Sears and Boggs. Those three will likely be ranked as the region's top three players next spring as seniors.

Boggs will enter his fifth season as a starter for the Bears and has played in every Harlan County High School baseball game to this point, starting all but one when he was an eighth-grader. He posted a 7-2 record last season on the mound and was the Bears' top hitter with a .450 average.

Several college coaches were in attendance earlier this summer in a baseball showcase at Murfreesboro, Tenn.,that Boggs attended. Boggs will also participate in showcases later in the summer at Whitaker Bank Ballpark and at Transylvania University, both in Lexington.