Perhaps Friday night’s best high school baseball game will take place in Norton as J.J. Kelly meets J.I. Burton in a key Lonesome Pine District baseball clash.

Sure, the matchup lost some of its luster after Powell Valley sophomore pitcher Kenny Burke shut down Burton on Tuesday and made the Raiders fall a game back in the LPD standings.
However, anytime legendary head coach Mack Shupe faces his old school, it’s a big game with intriguing storylines. Shupe was the man at Kelly for years and guided the Indians to eight state titles and
numerous district and regional titles.
Shupe left Kelly in 2001 and took a job with the Wise County school’s archrivals. Meanwhile, David Wyrick took over for Shupe and has kept Kelly among the area’s elite programs.

Kelly is off to an 8-2 start this season and has five regulars hitting over .350, led by Cody Bentley’s .447 batting average.

Other intriguing games tonight include Tazewell at Richlands, Virginia High at Gate City and Haysi at Honaker.
What are your thoughts and predictions on these games?