West Of The Brazos Tournament starts today

From The Brazosport Facs
Even with rain in the forecast, organizers of the Hit and Run baseball tournament in West Columbia and Sweeny this weekend plan to play even if the weather forces the schedule to be altered.

Sweeny, Columbia and Danbury will all participate in the tournament, which will be played (weather permitting) at West Columbia and Sweeny today and Sweeny only Friday and Saturday.

Also beginning today, Brazoswood and Angleton will particpate in the First Pitch tournament at Pearland, Santa Fe, Alvin and Mavel while Brazosport will be in action at the Texas City tournament.

Hit and Run

Twelve teams will converge on Sweeny and Columbia for their annual three-day event, coming from as far as Weimar and Giddings, as well as several teams that made the playoffs last season.

“I think we have a pretty good field, I really do,” Columbia baseball coach Jeff Shanks said. “We are excited about it. We are excited all these guys are committing and coming down to us and we are really to see them and hopefully run a good tournament for them.”

All three local teams will play once today. Danbury (0-1) will face Needville at 8:30 a.m. at Sweeny. The host Bulldogs (1-0) will face Sealy at 12:30 p.m. The Roughnecks will meet Fulshear at 6 p.m. in West Columbia unless rain forces the game to Sweeny, where it would then be played at 6:30 p.m.

The returning state finalist Bulldogs won their season opener Monday against Foster, 6-1.

“We have a bunch of good teams coming down this weekend,” Sweeny Bulldog coach Mark Durham said. “I know we are going to have to play good baseball. We kind of just use this first tournament to see where we are at, see what we need to get better at, see who can play where. It will be a good test for us right off the bat, for sure.”

On Friday, Danbury will open the day at 8:30 a.m. against El Campo and then play Sealy at 12:30 p.m. Columbia will face Calhoun at 10:30 a.m. and Sweeny will meet Bellville at 6:30 p.m.

The Roughnecks lost their season opener Monday to Sealy, 15-0.

“We are going to be looking for consistency moreso than anything else, in all phases of the game,” Shanks said. “Hitting, we did not do a a good job of attacking pitches. We are going to work on our offensive game, hopefully have a better mindset and focus at the plate, hunting good pitches.

“Defensively, when balls are hit to us, we have to catch the ball, throw the ball and make outs when the other team hits the ball. And pitchers, we just have to throw strikes, batting in the strike zone, make them earn it. We had too many walks the other night. Baserunning is that last phase. We have to get guys on base and hopefully we can make some things happen; play for a big inning.”

On Saturday, Columbia will play Weimar at 10:30 a.m. and Sweeny will close the tournament with back-to-back games against El Campo at 4:45 p.m. and Fulshear at 6:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs are looking forward to playing their tournament games at home.

“We always glad to play at home,” Durham said. “The chances of us getting games in at home are pretty high with our turf. It is exciting playing at home.”

First Pitch

At the First Pitch tournament, Brazoswood (0-1) will play its first two games today at Santa Fe. The Bucs will face Santa Fe at 10 a.m. and Clear Falls at 10:30 a.m.

Friday, the Bucs will move to Alvin, where they will face Episcopal at 12:30 p.m. and Alvin at 3 p.m. Saturday at Santa Fe, the Bucs will play Clements at 12:30 p.m.

Angleton (0-1) will open the tournament at Alvin today and will meet Pearland Dawson at 12:30 p.m. at Alvin at 3 p.m.

The Wildcats wlll move to Santa Fe on Friday and play Santa Fe at 3 p.m. Saturday, Angelton will finish up the tournament at Pearland against Pearland at 10 a.m. and Episcopal at 12:30 p.m.

Texas City

At the Texas City tournament, Brazosport (0-1) will open play against Lutheran South Academy at 12:30 p.m. today.

On Friday, the Ships will face Texas City at noon and Houston Kincaid at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, they will close out the tournament against Houston Furr at 3 p.m