Wylie vs Falfurrias article

[Adidas410s]

Bulldogs two wins away from state crown
By Jacob Brown / brownj@reporternews.com
June 7, 2006


With part of Wylie's goal complete, the Bulldogs can achieve the ultimate end to their season by winning two more games.

Wylie earned a trip to the UIL Baseball State Championships beginning today at Dell Diamond in Round Rock by defeating Decatur for the Region I title last weekend. The Bulldogs will face Region IV champion Falfurrias at 7 p.m. in the second Class 3A semifinal matchup of the day.

Both teams have withstood a difficult road through the playoffs, but the lack of familiarity with each other will present a new challenge.

''At this point, we don't know a whole lot about Falfurrias. I imagine everybody's in the same boat,'' Wylie coach Clay Martin said. ''Right now we're just concerned about our team and getting ourselves to play as good a baseball game as we can.''

Falfurrias coach David Salinas agreed that his players will need to focus on what got them to where they are instead of worrying about their opponent.

''We've just got to play the game of baseball the way we know how, and keep doing the things that we're doing and adjust on the run,'' Salinas said.

For the Jerseys - who are making their third trip to state but first since 1993 - that means continuing strong defensive play. In seven of its nine playoff games, Falfurrias allowed three runs or less and shut out its opponent twice.

''We're pretty well-balanced, but during the playoffs there was a stretch where we were playing tremendous defense,'' Salinas said. ''We've had pretty solid pitching and real good defense, and I'd say the kids have come through like you have to in the playoffs.''

Wylie has experienced its share of ups and downs during the postseason. The Bulldogs have played four games on the brink of elimination, having lost their openers in the area round to Canyon and the regional final round to Decatur. But Wylie was able to bounce back with wins in the second and third games of each series to stay alive.

The Bulldogs have also shown how dominant they can be. Six of their eight wins have come by at least five runs, and they came back to win from a seven-run, fourth-inning deficit in the opening game of the regional semifinal against West.

The victorious team will face the winner of the matchup between Texarkana Liberty-Eylau and Bridge City for the state championship at 6 p.m. Thursday, also at Dell Diamond.

But the Wylie players know they cannot overlook today's contest.

''We just approach it like every game. You win, or you die and go home,'' Bulldogs senior Chase Davis said. ''We've been talking the last two weeks about how we want to be the one team. When we break out of the huddle, we say 'One team,' so that's our approach. We want to be the last team there.''

Davis is one of several key seniors that has led Wylie to the state tournament for the fourth time overall and the first time since 2002. The experience of the seniors played in integral factor in the Bulldogs advancing through the region after the team fell in the regional quarterfinals last season, and it could prove to be the difference in Round Rock.

''We all just believed in each other,'' Davis said of his teammates. ''We knew we could do it coming into this year and that we had a good shot of making it this far.''


WYLIE (27-8) VS. FALFURRIAS (28-6)

What: Class 3A semifinal matchup of the UIL Baseball State Championships

Where: Dell Diamond in Round Rock

When: 7 p.m. today

Radio: KWKC 1340 AM

[sinton66]

I expect this to be a close game. Both teams should pitch their #1's. Wylie just has to be careful not to give up any errors, especially throwing errors. Fal will get people into scoring position and have the speed to take advantage of any mistakes. Game should be a low scoring affair, possibly 3-2 or so. I know Wylie has some bats, but EVERYBODY on Fal's team bats over .350. They also play almost flawless defense.

[Buccaneer]

Hometown heroes
Jerseys baseball giving Fal fans a reason to cheer

By Javier Becerra Caller-Times
June 7, 2006


FALFURRIAS - Other than the Super Bowl, only one other sport draws as much attention in this brush country hamlet about 85 miles south of Corpus Christi.

Football season is long over, but it didn't seem like it last Saturday after Falfurrias beat rival Sinton to claim a spot in the University Interscholastic League Class 3A state baseball championships.





"The H-E-B ran out of meat," longtime coach and Falfurrias native David Salinas said. "When everybody got back from the game, there was barbecuing galore. Everybody had the pit fired up."

The Jerseys hope to give fans more to celebrate when it meets Region I representative Abilene Wylie tonight in the second of two semifinals at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The winner stays for Thursday's title game against either Texarkana Libert-Eylau (Reg. II) or Bridge City (Reg. III).

Falfurrias isn't a newcomer to the state tournament. It's just been a while since its last trip.

The Jerseys ended the 1991 season - their first in the final four - as the 3A champions following victories over Buna and Queen City. The team returned to state two years later and defeated Hooks in the semifinals before losing to Bellville in the championship.

The next 12 seasons didn't last as long.

Cut down in the first round of the 1994 playoffs, Falfurrias missed the postseason the next year. After losing in the area round in 1996, the Jerseys came up short against Medina Valley in the 1997 regional finals.

Falfurrias ran into Sinton in the area round in 1998 and 1999, losing both times. The Jerseys made it to the regional quarterfinals in 2000, but dropped a one-game playoff to La Vernia.

The next two seasons ended after only two rounds, which Falfurrias made up for with an appearance in the 2003 regional finals. Once again, Sinton brought the season to a close.

Falfurrias had its 2004 season halted in the regional quarterfinals, but made it back to the regional final round in 2005. Yoakum played the role of spoiler this time, although it took the Bulldogs three games to win the series.

The letdown left the Jerseys wanting more.

"That's been our motivation the whole year," senior Reese Forest said. "We worked too hard to come up short. It hurt us, but it added fuel to the fire. Now we're back."

The journey hasn't been easy.

Falfurrias had to battle old nemesis Sinton for the Region IV crown. The Jerseys won the opener 3-2 in eight innings and the second 8-6 in a game that started Thursday night and ended Saturday afternoon because of the thunderstorms that soaked the area.

"It's a good feeling to know we're one of the last four teams in the state that are still playing," Forest said.

If Salinas has his way, the Jerseys are going to be playing twice more before the season is officially over.

Salinas hasn't coached at the state tournament in 13 years, but he's been there as a spectator every season since then. In that time, Salinas said he's made mental notes of the things that might help if he ever made it back.

"It's good medicine when you're there and reminisce about what you didn't do right the times before," Salinas said. "After all these years of being there and watching it's nice to finally be able to put what you learn to use."

"And if you have something in your back pocket, don't save it. You have to throw out all your cards."

As passionate as the fans are about the Jerseys, Salinas hopes to take advantage of their presence in the stands.

"I'm sure the town is going to be pretty empty," Salinas said. "Baseball is our life. It's something they feel like they're a big part of. It's something they've bragged about for a lot of years.

"Now it's their time to be loud and proud."

[Buccaneer]

Falfurrias is green with Jersey fever
By MATT YOUNG Caller-Times sports editor
June 7, 2006

FALFURRIAS - The drive down State Highway 285 into this town could be an ad for a good strong cup of coffee.

Once you cross into the Falfurrias city limits, the weathered sign proclaiming "Pop. 5,297" doesn't do much to break the monotony, but then you cross Highway 281 and enter what folks around here call town.





You'll know it by the assault of green.

Ribbons dangling off street signs.

Homemade signs in storefront windows.

Shoe polish on cars.

All green, and all honoring the city's high school baseball team - the Falfurrias Jerseys, who are headed to the Class 3A state tournament in Round Rock today for the first time since 1993.

A little ways down Rice Street, which cuts through the center of town, there's a green shop missing a sign identifying the name of the store. However, there is a sign in the window proclaiming, "Jersey fans work here."

As it turns out, the Sumara's Furniture sign is down temporarily, but the message seems clear: Who needs a sign identifying the furniture store, as long as Jerseys fans are the ones working inside the brick walls?

Around noon, even with the antiquated temperature gauge that rests below the Gallaway's Steaks & Family Dining sign permanently stuck at 120 degrees, town was bustling.

The lunch crowd was starting to pile into the Side Door Cafe. As Sumara Salinas was trying to sell a mattress, several shop owners were adorning their building's windows with cardboard baseballs inscribed with each player's name.

Even with the hustle and bustle going on at mid-day, all anyone seemed to talk about was the Jerseys.

Whether it was discussing the best route to the stadium or what might happen on that stadium's field, all conversations seemed pointed 260 miles north, to Round Rock's Dell Diamond.

"There are people that haven't paid their bills," Falfurrias head coach David Salinas said, "but they're finding money to go to Round Rock."

The waitresses at the Side Door Cafe lamented that they would be stuck at work today, relying on the radio broadcast to relay updates to customers left behind.

They won't be alone.

"Those that can't go will definitely be here listening to the game on the radio," said Philo Salinas, who is headed to Round Rock with wife Sumara after the couple found someone who can staff their furniture store for a few days. "It's a tradition, when the game comes on, people fire up the (barbecue) pits and turn on the radio."

"Yeah, come drive through here Wednesday," Sumara said, "and you'll see all the smoke coming from the different yards and all you'll be able to smell is barbecue. That's the way the people are here - they're just crazy for the Mean Green."