High School Baseball Season Is Here

From the Brazosport Facts

Baseball season officially gets underway today on the diamond with all six public school teams, Brazoswood, Angleton, Brazosport, Columbia, Sweeny and Danbury in action today.

It could be another interesting season just like last year when the Sweeny Bulldogs made it all the way to Austin. They return a host of players from last year’s state semifinalist and start the season ranked No. 2 in Class 4A.

A lot of different stories will develop during the season.

Here is a look at each team:

BRAZOSWOOD

COACH: Mike Cressman (Second year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORDS: District 23-6A 8-4, 17-12-1 overall

GRADUATED: Ryan Faltisek, Brett Wagner, Andy Rubalcaba, Horacio Garcia Jr., Brandon Dubose, Tanner Bundick, Grayson Gillespie, Tyler Reinhardt, Blake Perry, Cullen Cooper, Blake Fails, Zach Friedrichs, Joe Villareal, Nash Neff, Robby Cole and DJ Soliz

RETURNING LETTERMEN: Cade Johnson, senior, 1B/P; Sam Massey, senior, 1B/3bB/P; Mason Seay, senior, C/OF; and Nick Zuniga, junior, 2B/P

RETURNING STARTERS: Johnson and Massey

OVERVIEW: A large graduating class from last season took most of the Buc experience, so this could be a rebuilding season which Brazoswood is not used to doing too often. Johnson (47.1 innings, 2.07 ERA, 4-4 overall, 53 strikeouts, 17 walks; batting, .329, 24 RBIs, 76 at bats, six doubles), Massey, Seay and Zuniga will have the majority of experience and will lead a group of juniors that will have to step up on varsity along with possibly some sophomores who could be pulled up. Strake Jesuit has been added to the district which will make the playoff race a lot more challenging. Pearland will continue to be very strong as well as George Ranch and Pearland Dawson, which went undefeated in district last year.

NOTABLE: Pearland is ranked in the top 15 in the state

QUOTABLE: “Although we lost a lot of seniors to graduation, I still feel that we have very capable players to fill their shoes and make a strong push at the district championship,” Cressman said. “With any team that loses so much to graduation, there will be a learning curve that takes place, especially early in the season. How quickly our players are able to adjust to the speed of the game at the varsity level will ultimately determine the overall success of our season and we will lean on our senior leadership to help us speed up that process.”

ANGLETON

COACH: Brian Lostracco (Fourth year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORDS: District 27-5A 12-2, 21-12 overall

GRADUATED: Trystan Butterfield, Chase Morris, Nate Trevino, Colby Chandler, Colton Willliams and Trent Zavala

RETURNING LETTERMEN: Tanner Davis, senior, OF/P; Gavin Baird, senior, 2B/P; Seth Cosme, senior, OF/P; Josh Hyatt, senior, P; Ethan Ebner, senior, SS; Zack Medart, senior, OF; Tyler Barker, senior, UTL; Thomas Brannon, senior, C; and Caleb Jackson, senior, P

RETURNING STARTERS: Davis, Baird, Cosme, Hyatt, Ebner, Medart and Brannon

OVERVIEW: A large group of seniors will make this season interesting for the Wildcats who surprised a lot of district teams last year. A plethora of experience returns starting with Baird (.368 batting, 16 RBIs, 30 runs, .430 on base), Cosme (.372 batting, 11 doubles, 28 RBIs, 31 runs, 1,000 fielding), Brannon (.318 batting, 25 RBIs, .995 fielding), Hyatt (64.2 innings, 2.92 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 7-3 overall), Ebner (.413 batting, 16 RBIs, 28 runs) and Davis (.286 batting, 21 RBIs, 15 runs). Foster, Manvel, Shadow Creek, Lamar Consolidated and Terry will battle it out for the district title along with the Wildcats.

NOTABLE: The Wildcats won their first district title in 1956

QUOTABLE: “We expect to be in the hunt if we can stay healthy and focus on playing good baseball,” Lostracco said. “Through our senior leadership we plan on using our experience to give ourselves a chance for a district title and a playoff run.”

BRAZOSPORT

COACH: Kenneth Schulte (Fifth year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORDS: District 24-4A 5-6, 15-12 overall

Graduated: Josh Luna, JoJo Martinez, Draven Saldivar and Angel Amador

Returning Lettermen: Carlos Moreno, senior, SS; Race McIntyre, junior, P/1B; Tanner Quick, junior, P/IF; Eddie Flores, junior, C; and Christian Guevara, senior, 3B

RETURNING STARTERS: Moreno, McIntyre, Quick, Flores and Guevara

Overview: The Ships’ returning starters played every game last season led by Quick (5-3-1, 1.61 ERA, 85 strikeouts, 28 walks. batted .268) and Guevara (batted .276, 12 RBIs, 18 runs). Because of the loss of the entire outfield, Moreno will move from second base to shortstop. Guevara plans to move to the middle infield. New outfield candidates are senior Javier Diaz, juniors Christian Gillchriest and Nate Nixon and sophomore C.J. Calhoun. Freshman Tristen Stowers will play third base and catch. Other varsity candidates are sophomore, Bronson Kozak and freshman Romeo Reyes.

NOTABLE: The Ships will host their Red Tide game March 26, Parent Night April 5 and Hall of Fame game April 26

QUOTABLE: “This is a fun group of kids to coach and they know they have an opportunity to do special things on the field,” Schulte said. “Guevara and Calhoun play basketball, while Diaz plays soccer. We will not know how complete and competitive this team can be until they join us after the completion of their seasons.”

COLUMBIA

COACH: Jeff Shank (18th season)

LAST YEARS RECORDS: District 24-4A 7-3, 14-14 overall

GRADUATED: Aaron Riojas, Jarrett Brown, Kanyin Soria, Michael Carlson, Derek Bock, Tyler Russell, Jordan Salazar and Jack Russell

Returning Letterman: T.J. Spitdowski, P/OF; Nick Cardwell, C/3B; Nathan Mayfield, C/3B; Mason Chupp, P/1B; Grant Beaver, P/SS; Kason Galbreath, P/3B; Garrett Irwin, P/OF; and Kelby Coburn, 2B/OF

RETURNING STARTERS: Spitdowski, Cardwell and Beaver

OVERVIEW: The Roughnecks have lots of experience returning despite only three starters coming back. Cardwell (batting .295, 23 hits, 14 RBIs) is one of those. Newcomers will be Kameron Craig, Blake Seiler, Cameron Cox, Lance Nunley, Dawson Thornbrugh, Kaleb Burnett, Hunter Treesh and Kade Reynolds.

NOTABLE: Coach Shank celebrates 20 years with the program

QUOTABLE: “The Roughnecks are a senior/junior led team with guys who’ve been pushing each other all year and we look to be a tough team to beat especially when district play begins,” Shank said.

SWEENY

COACH: Jeff Dunham (Second year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORDS: District 24-4A 9-1, 35-6 overall

GRADUATED: Ty Ringo, Jaden Bohlar, Mark Schumann, Cody Kotrla and Caleb McKnight

RETURNING LETTERMEN: Caden Homniok, senior; Wes Folse, senior; Quinton Martin, senior; Jackson Kiddy, senior; Blake Benavides, senior; Nathan Nance, senior; Cord Filipp, senior; and Joe Effenberger, senior

RETURNING STARTERS: Homniok, Folse, Martin, Kiddy, Benavides, Nance, Filipp and Effenberger

OVERVIEW: A talented group of Bulldogs returns in hopes of returning to Austin including Hominok (.392 batting, 50 hits, 35 RBIs; 12-1 pitching, 1.050 ERA), Martin (.370 batting, 38 hits, 30 RBIs; 4-2 pitching, 2.935 ERA), Folse (.341 batting, 42 hits, 31 RBIs), Nance (.364 batting, 37 hits, 15 RBIs), Kiddy (9-1 overall, 1.75 ERA, 61 strikeouts), Filipp (.323 batting, 32 hits, 14 RBIs), Effenberger (.348 batting, 40 hits) and Benavides (.277 batting, 6 home runs)

NOTABLE: The Bulldogs open the season ranked No. 2 in Class 4A

QUOTABLE: “There is definitely a lot of excitement surrounding the start of the 2019 baseball season and our expectations are high,” Dunham said. “With hard work, a little luck and focused leadership from this senior-heavy team, we hope to have another exciting season this year.”

DANBURY

COACH: Rusty Sample (Second year)

LAST YEAR’S RECORDS: District 24-3A 8-2, 11-15-1 overall

GRADUATED: Nick Gill, Corbin Larson, Austin Huett and Cade Marquis

RETURNING LETTERMEN: Lane Labauve, senior, OF; Garrett Williams, senior, OF/P; Branson Vrazel, senior, U/P; Alexander Skoruppa, junior, SS/P; Brett Neubauer, junior, C; Brandon Martin, senior, 2B/P; Larry Strebeck, senior, P; Trey Lukasheay, senior, P/3B; Deegan Bang, sophomore, OF/P; Paul Penn, senior, P/1B; and Drew Christian, senior, 1B

RETURNING STARTERS: Lukasheay, Skoruppa, Vrazel, Strebeck, Williams, Neubauer

OVERVIEW: A lot of talent returns for the Panthers including two of its top pitchers, Lukasheay (2.20 ERA, 47 innings, 51 strikeouts) and Vrazel. A third pitcher, Skoruppa didn’t pitch much last year because of injury. Penn, Williams and Martin will also help out on the mound. Danbury will battle for a playoff spot along with the addition of Van Vleck, Palacios and Tidehaven in its district.

NOTABLE: In 2009, Danbury beat Holliday 6-5 to win Class 2A state title.

QUOTABLE: “We are coming off of a strong finish to a slow start from last year’s season and looking to continue moving forward,” Sample said. “We have quality experience and good senior leadership returning, and as always, we are looking to compete for one of the top spots in the district race. We once again scheduled a strong nondistrict schedule in hopes of preparing us for district and hopefully a strong playoff run.”

Joel Luna is sports editor for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0160