Argyle Eagles Baseball

[regaleagle]

All the other regions except Region 1 will be playing a best of 3 series this week. Argyle vs Iowa Park will be decided by Wednesday night late and all the other teams still playing will know whether it was Argyle or Iowa Park that advanced. Either team will be a tough out in Austin, regardless. But my money is for Argyle to not let up.....to keep hammering the baseball and committing zero errors. Iowa Park does have two very effective pitchers and will use both if they need to. I believe Argyle will hit their pitching and do well in the field. Argyle is also very excellent on the bases.....so all in all they seem to be playing at a very high level right now. Maybe their best since the season began.

[regaleagle]

I'm also hoping that the home plate umpire calling the balls and strikes is not too liberal with the strike zone. I think it is very important at this stage of the season to make the pitchers throw strikes......not to "give" strikes away from the plate because he hit the mitt......or the count was in the batter's favor. Pitchers don't need "help" at this juncture......the batters need fairness. Argyle has a whole lineup of hitters with a good eye for balls & strikes......I hope they force the pitchers to throw strikes or pay the price.

[regaleagle]

I totally expect Argyle to start their #1 pitcher Chad Ricker......he has a couple of no-hitters this season and usually does a good job throwing strikes. The Argyle defense backs him up very well and commits very few mistakes. The infielders have good gloves and play excellent fundamentals.....even if the ball takes a bad hop they will knock it down. I'm expecting a close and hard-fought game from Iowa Park, but who knows??? Argyle might come out smoking.....they have that ability to put the whack attack on any team.

[regaleagle]

What I'm not expecting is for Iowa Park to take a big lead at any point in this game......that just hasn't happened this season against any 4A level team to Argyle. In fact.....it's only happened against 6A Southlake Carroll in the Highland Park tournament earlier this year. Since the start of the 2018 season, Argyle's record is 74-1-1.....and that's against the best 4A teams in the state and a very competitive upper classification predistrict schedule.

[regaleagle]

Let's not forget that Iowa Park is a very accomplished team in their own right and just so happens they will have a straight up 50/50 chance to win this game......the math doesn't lie. That's why they opted for the one-gamer when they won the coin flip.......it's better odds for them than a best of 3 series. Plus, they don't have to worry about their pitching depth in a Game 2 and possibly a Game 3.......everything will be thrown at Argyle to win this game.

[regaleagle]

Argyle moved up from their #2 ranking to the #1 spot in the National High School Baseball Coaches(NHSBCA) poll this past week. They also jumped up to #1 from #2 in the MaxPreps Excellent 25 Writer's poll this week. There are 5 national high school baseball polls. Argyle also remained ranked #1 in Collegiate Baseball's National High School Poll this past week. In Perfect Game's National Top 50 Poll, Argyle remained 3rd as of May 21st, but can still move up to the top spot if they keep winning. USA Today's Super 25 Ranking has Argyle remaining at #2 behind IMG Academy out of Bradenton, Fla.......but their season is completed at 26-1. Argyle still has a chance to move up a spot in that national poll also.

[regaleagle]

What's up with this stormy weather all year??? Now they are calling for some stormy weather on Wednesday......but not sure if it will extend all the way down to Abilene. I sure hope they get some decent weather for this game tomorrow night......Argyle had to play a semifinal in terrible conditions in football against Waco La Vega in December. It's always better to settle these playoff games when the weather conditions don't play a role in the outcome.

[regaleagle]

If it gets windy.......that could become problematic for the pitchers......depending on just how windy it gets. Throwing strikes is difficult enough without high winds playing havoc to the baseball. Late May and early June are supposed to be summertime conditions in Texas......not springtime storms.

[regaleagle]

We have severe flooding in some states this year......I guess we should be thankful here in Texas. This situation will definitely have an adverse effect on the planting and harvesting of crops for the USA this year......as if the prices of food at the grocery store aren't high enough already. I know the farmers in the Midwest and southern states are at least a month behind on getting crops in the ground and are worried there will be no sustantial corn, wheat, or soybean crops this summer. The prices will rise significantly for the crops that do get harvested. This will affect the cost of beef and poultry prices also. Planting your own garden if you have some acreage might be a good idea going forward. Now I'm getting off topic and onto another tangent, LOL. Fishing has been lousy this spring too because of the weather!

[regaleagle]

Off topic......but here's another interesting UIL tidbit. As of the latest update of Lone Star Cup standings on May 24th, Argyle and Canyon are dead even at 86 points each. Liberty Hill is still in the mix in 3rd place at 74 points. Most of the categories have been tabulated for the school year......except for team baseball, girls softball, and Academic State. Argyle knocked Canyon out of the baseball playoffs last week, but it happened before the May 24th update. Argyle and Liberty Hill are still playing this week in baseball......each round means more points and winning the State Championship gives even more points. Lots of points still remain to be tabulated for Academic State......which Argyle usually wins. I think Argyle has won the Lone Star Cup for the past 7 years in a row in 4A(and the old 3A).....but now an old nemesis Canyon is back in the mix. Liberty Hill is also a contender each year......especially if their team sports programs do well like they have this school year.

[Caveman]

Off topic......but here's another interesting UIL tidbit. As of the latest update of Lone Star Cup standings on May 24th, Argyle and Canyon are dead even at 86 points each. Liberty Hill is still in the mix in 3rd place at 74 points. Most of the categories have been tabulated for the school year......except for team baseball, girls softball, and Academic State. Argyle knocked Canyon out of the baseball playoffs last week, but it happened before the May 24th update. Argyle and Liberty Hill are still playing this week in baseball......each round means more points and winning the State Championship gives even more points. Lots of points still remain to be tabulated for Academic State......which Argyle usually wins. I think Argyle has won the Lone Star Cup for the past 7 years in a row in 4A(and the old 3A).....but now an old nemesis Canyon is back in the mix. Liberty Hill is also a contender each year......especially if their team sports programs do well like they have this school year.

At academic state Argyle amassed 319 points next closest was Stephenville with 112. Argyle wins Lone Star Cup.

[regaleagle]

It seems that Highland Park in 5A and Argyle in 4A are dominating their respective classification in the Lone Star Cup. I wonder how either would do if their football season did not go very deep into the playoffs each season. I would venture that Argyle may win it anyway......and so would Highland Park.....just looking at their point differential. But all sports and all other related UIL events are included.....so a school must participate and do well in many areas to win this yearly award. It is the highest distinction that any school in Texas can attain during the course of a school year......but there are many many schools that would be happy just winning a championship in any UIL category for the year.

[regaleagle]

Well......today is Wednesday and it's gameday for the Argyle Eagles and Iowa Park Hawks. This game this evening is what both teams played for all season long......to win the Region 1 final and advance to Austin to the Final Four. The weather looks sketchy for out in Abilene where this game will be played. If it was in the metroplex, would probably be cancelled because of lightning and storms later this evening.

[regaleagle]

Looks like the weather will cool and be nice in Abilene tonight by gametime at 8 pm. I think I heard that today is the last day of classes at many schools around Texas. It's supposed to be summer, but feels like the first of April instead of the last of May. This game should have a live broadcast from Sportsgram.net starting at 8 pm for anyone who wishes to listen in. The call will be from the Argyle Broadcast Network, but I will be giving as many updates and play by play as I can during the game on this thread. OR maybe I should just create a new thread for this game, Huh?........Nah, not really necessary.

[regaleagle]

Obviously, the 8 pm start time for this game gives those traveling from the metroplex and Iowa Park a chance to see as much of the game as possible. There's no school for the students tomorrow and it doesn't get dark until about 8:30(except for the cloudy weather)......so why not? I think the later into the evening it goes the less chance for any weather related problems that would delay this game.