piratebg
06-06-2007, 04:57 AM
All the right pieces
Pirates combine experience, youth on path to state
By Javier Becerra (Contact)
Originally published 01:00 a.m., June 6, 2007
SINTON -- The starting lineup looked more like that of a team in rebuilding mode than one capable of reaching the state tournament.
Sinton returned five starters, only two of which were seniors -- first baseman Andres Alaniz and catcher Justin Moreno. The other three, sophomore Josh Rodriguez and juniors Robert Dunlap and Anthony Trevino, at least gained valuable experience during the team's run to the Region IV-3A finals.
After being swept by Falfurrias in a series that took four days to decide, longtime coach Gene Kaspryzk had plenty to figure out. The decision to go with more underclassmen -- two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman -- ended up paying off.
"We started some young kids that just had to grow up," Kasprzyk said. "We had some bumps along the way early on that I think we learned from. Now they're playing much better because of the maturation process."
Well enough to take out Falfurrias in a rematch of last season's regional final and earn a seventh trip to the University Interscholastic League state championships. Sinton (29-5-1) is set to play defending champ Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (30-5) in the first of two semifinals today at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, with the winner advancing to Thursday night's title game against Abilene Wylie (33-3-1) or Jasper (32-7).
The youth movement started when the coaching staff went in search of the right players to replace the four starters lost to graduation.
Kasprzyk found a second pitcher in Joseph Alaniz, who is 11-1 with a 1.06 ERA and also plays the outfield when not on the mound. Fellow junior Cruz Rivas, a designated hitter and outfielder, leads the team with a .431 batting average.
Sophomore Roy Perez has helped pick up the slack in the outfield, while freshman Shane Segovia has been solid as an infielder and designated hitter. Despite Segovia's inexperience, Kasprzyk decided he needed an opportunity.
"We knew about Shane and how successful he had been at the youth league level," Kasprzyk said. "We expected big things of him, but he's still a freshman. You have to be able to handle the situation mentally. We knew he had the physical talent and attributes. If anything, the surprise was that he walked out there from Day 1 and looked like he'd been playing varsity all his life."
Having a foundation to work with certainly helped.
The infield returned intact with Andres Alaniz at first, Dunlap at second, Rodriguez at shortstop, Trevino at third and Moreno behind the plate. Rodriguez is hitting .418, followed by Dunlap (.378), Alaniz (.376), Trevino (.357) and Moreno (.290).
The five have combined to score 131 of the team's 260 runs -- 47 of those by Dunlap -- and are responsible for the bulk of the RBI (115 of 213).
"We are young in a lot of ways, but we did return a good core," Kasprzyk said. "Those guys really have been leaders. They really developed at the plate. This year the middle of the order had to be the young kids that last year were at the bottom of the order and they stepped it up. They have really come through and been a big catalyst for us. A year of experience helped them grow up a lot."
So did last year's loss to Falfurrias.
Kasprzyk said the Pirates weren't out for retribution, but got it anyway.
"Losing to Falfurrias was disappointing, but that was last year," Kasprzyk said. "Our goal again was to qualify for the state tournament, it just so happened that it was Falfurrias in our way. We never really talked about a revenge factor or anything like that."
These days the talk is about winning a state championship.
"It feels really good to get there, especially after coming up short last year," Moreno said. "To make it is just unbelievable, but we're not done yet. At the beginning of the year we talked about what we wanted to accomplish. One of our goals was making it to state. Now it's time to finish what we started."
Contact Javier Becerra at 8
Pirates combine experience, youth on path to state
By Javier Becerra (Contact)
Originally published 01:00 a.m., June 6, 2007
SINTON -- The starting lineup looked more like that of a team in rebuilding mode than one capable of reaching the state tournament.
Sinton returned five starters, only two of which were seniors -- first baseman Andres Alaniz and catcher Justin Moreno. The other three, sophomore Josh Rodriguez and juniors Robert Dunlap and Anthony Trevino, at least gained valuable experience during the team's run to the Region IV-3A finals.
After being swept by Falfurrias in a series that took four days to decide, longtime coach Gene Kaspryzk had plenty to figure out. The decision to go with more underclassmen -- two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman -- ended up paying off.
"We started some young kids that just had to grow up," Kasprzyk said. "We had some bumps along the way early on that I think we learned from. Now they're playing much better because of the maturation process."
Well enough to take out Falfurrias in a rematch of last season's regional final and earn a seventh trip to the University Interscholastic League state championships. Sinton (29-5-1) is set to play defending champ Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (30-5) in the first of two semifinals today at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, with the winner advancing to Thursday night's title game against Abilene Wylie (33-3-1) or Jasper (32-7).
The youth movement started when the coaching staff went in search of the right players to replace the four starters lost to graduation.
Kasprzyk found a second pitcher in Joseph Alaniz, who is 11-1 with a 1.06 ERA and also plays the outfield when not on the mound. Fellow junior Cruz Rivas, a designated hitter and outfielder, leads the team with a .431 batting average.
Sophomore Roy Perez has helped pick up the slack in the outfield, while freshman Shane Segovia has been solid as an infielder and designated hitter. Despite Segovia's inexperience, Kasprzyk decided he needed an opportunity.
"We knew about Shane and how successful he had been at the youth league level," Kasprzyk said. "We expected big things of him, but he's still a freshman. You have to be able to handle the situation mentally. We knew he had the physical talent and attributes. If anything, the surprise was that he walked out there from Day 1 and looked like he'd been playing varsity all his life."
Having a foundation to work with certainly helped.
The infield returned intact with Andres Alaniz at first, Dunlap at second, Rodriguez at shortstop, Trevino at third and Moreno behind the plate. Rodriguez is hitting .418, followed by Dunlap (.378), Alaniz (.376), Trevino (.357) and Moreno (.290).
The five have combined to score 131 of the team's 260 runs -- 47 of those by Dunlap -- and are responsible for the bulk of the RBI (115 of 213).
"We are young in a lot of ways, but we did return a good core," Kasprzyk said. "Those guys really have been leaders. They really developed at the plate. This year the middle of the order had to be the young kids that last year were at the bottom of the order and they stepped it up. They have really come through and been a big catalyst for us. A year of experience helped them grow up a lot."
So did last year's loss to Falfurrias.
Kasprzyk said the Pirates weren't out for retribution, but got it anyway.
"Losing to Falfurrias was disappointing, but that was last year," Kasprzyk said. "Our goal again was to qualify for the state tournament, it just so happened that it was Falfurrias in our way. We never really talked about a revenge factor or anything like that."
These days the talk is about winning a state championship.
"It feels really good to get there, especially after coming up short last year," Moreno said. "To make it is just unbelievable, but we're not done yet. At the beginning of the year we talked about what we wanted to accomplish. One of our goals was making it to state. Now it's time to finish what we started."
Contact Javier Becerra at 8