Sweeny state preview baseball story

From the Brazoport Facts
SWEENY — A couple more victories and the Sweeny Bulldog baseball team will wind up the 2018 season on the highest note possible — adding to its baseball trophy case with the school’s second state title.

At 4 p.m. today at UFCU Disch-Falk Field at the University of Texas in Austin, the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs (34-5) will take on the No. 4-ranked Godley Wildcats (30-2) in the UIL Class 4A state baseball semifinal.

“I know they are good, and they have like three Division I commits,” Sweeny coach Mark Durham said. “We have like six, but Fredericksburg had quite a few, and at this point all of these players are on the same level, so it really doesn’t matter. They are going to be good and we are going to have to play our best baseball to be able to move on.”

That game will be preceded by No. 1-rated Argyle (35-0) taking on Jasper (33-7-1) at 1 p.m. The winners will return for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch Thursday to decide the 4A champion.

If Sweeny wins all the marbles, the team would join school history with the 1985 Bulldog squad that defeated Linden-Kildcare (6-3) to claim the Class 3A title

Sweeny enters the semifinal with a strong offense, defense and pitching staff. The Bulldogs are 9-2 in the playoffs and have outscored their opponents, 70-16. That means Sweeny is scoring 6.36 runs per game while giving up only 1.45 runs.

“From (Blake) Benavides, who is very powerful despite his size, to Nathan Nance at the beginning of season who was hitting .600, and he was not going to allow me to take him out because of the way he was playing,” Durham said. “Nathan has carried on through the year, but every game it seems like there has been someone different just stepping up. From Joe Effenberger, Q (Quinton Martin), Wes Folse, Caden (Homniok), and let’s just get it to the next man. Cord Filipp is a nine-hole guy that can hit as good as anybody in the lineup. They are just amazing in what they can do with their abilities.”

Some of those big sticks for the Bulldogs are Homniok (.392 batting, 35 RBIs, 49 hits), Martin (.370 batting, 30 RBIs, 37 hits), Nance (.364 batting, 13 RBIs, 36 hits, Effenberger (.348 batting, 23 RBIs, 40 hits), Ty Ringo (.345 batting, 19 RBIs, 40 hits) and Wes Folse (.341 batting, 31 RBIs, 42 hits).

“In order for us to do this, I have to get good pitching, and if Caden can pitch like he did against Fredericksburg then we have a chance,” Durham said. “We also had some opportunities to score some runs against Fredericksburg in that first game. We have to find a way to put some runs on the board. There is no tomorrow or coming back, we have to win. As the visiting team against Godley, hopefully we can strike first and put the pressure on them. If we can get ahead and put pressure on them, it will make it hard on them, especially on that stage.”

The Wildcats are a senior-laden team that made the region finals in 2017 and 2016. They have broken through with seniors Tad Thompson, Bobby Goodloe, Taylor Grimes, Will Buchholz, Brett Brown and Brendan Davis, who have been there for those previous playoff runs.

Brown is 12-1 on the mound with 92 strikeouts in 71 innings with an 1.28 ERA. He will get the nod against the Bulldogs. He is a Texas A&M signee.

Brown is joined by junior Chase Lummus, who is 6-0 with 64 strikeouts and a 1.25 ERA. Lummus already has committed to the Texas Longhorns.

Easton James, James Goodloe, Brown and Lummus all hit .370 or better, with Brown driving in 42 runs and Lummus 38.

“We come in with one mindset and that is winning,” Nance said. “We are not worried about where we are playing or the heat, we are just there to take care of business.”

Homniok (11-1, 1.05 ERA, 114 strikeouts) will get the start for the Bulldogs, as he has throughout the playoffs.

“We keep going with him and he’s been our workhorse all year. He’s stepped up on the mound, at the plate and with his defense,” Durham said. “We have to try to get to Thursday and for us he will take the ball to try get us there.”