AAA State Tournament Lubbock Cooper/Carthage/Bridge City/Yoakum

[GWOOD]

Who's the favorite?

Lubbock Cooper's scores over Iowa Park were impressive. 11-0, 11-1 (5)

[RdaleBoi08]

I Think Carthage Will Take It Cuz I've Been Hearin They Have a Real Good Pitcher

[44INAROW]

I am going to be a "homer" and say Yoakum, since I have not seen any of the other teams and really don't know much about them. Yoakum has a rich tradition and good pitching. They are all obviously good at this level of play

[CRHSeagle]

Lubbock Cooper seems to have the pitchin to do it.

[Old Cardinal]

I of course will go with BC. They come from a long tradition of Region III State Championship wins and they and Lufkin Hudson have played some awesome teams to get to the top of Region III. Coming from a 4-0 behind status to a win of 10-5 against Hudson in the last game today convinced me. There were 3 HRs in the last game by-- Johnny Dishon, Cody Sparks and Darryl Stevens-- to seal the trip to the Tournament. Everyone on the team has proven they can hit HRs. Even the 9th batter, Sophomore Johnny Dishon, had 3 HRs in this series and the back 5-- hit better than the top of the lineup in the playoffs.
Many people respect Kevin Angelle and Darryl Stevens on the mound; however, the real hero in the last game today was a big burly Designated Hitter, Kirk Vincent, who came into the game in the third inning to relieve pitch (behind 4-0) facing a bases loaded no-out situation. He pulled a Houdini act and got them out of a jam. From that point on he held the Hornets to one run while BC slammed them for 10 big runs and a Regional title!

Congrats to the Lady Leps from Region III for the big SB win -- I hope BC can keep the same tradition going also.

[GWOOD]

Another plug for this poll:

Final THSB Magazine Poll (April 30)

#1 Carthage
#2 Yoakum
#4 Bridge City
#8 Lubbock Cooper

Each team was the highest ranked team in its region. Basically, THSB Magazine picked the final four correctly.

[EastTeXBulldog]

Carthage is going to take it with the two ace pitchers that no one can hit.

[AggieJohn]

lubbock cooper

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by EastTeXBulldog
Carthage is going to take it with the two ace pitchers that no one can hit.

now that is confidence lol

what are the records of Bridge City, Carthage and Lubbock Cooper? I am pretty sure Yoakum is 31-3 with losses to West Columbia, Liberty Hill and Falfurrias

[GWOOD]

Lubbock Cooper is 35-5

From Lubbock Avalanche-Journal:

Iowa Park coach David Fuhrman, who took the Hawks to the state tournament in 1993, 1998 and 2001, was impressed with Cooper.

"They're good," he said. "They're the best hitting 3A team I've seen in 13 years. One through five in their lineup are super scary, and six through nine are good contact hitters. We put a strikeout pitcher (Derrick Bowers) out there today, and we couldn't strike them out."

[Old Cardinal]

BC has played mostly ranked 4As in preseason and scrimmages. A lot counts as to WHO you play not your win-loss record. They have beat some great premium type higher classification teams and traded out some wins with them along the way. Lufkin Hudson was the first team in a long time to beat them from a 3A classification-- in the early game yesterday.
We might say Brandon Belt on the mound at that game and at the plate was the LH catalyst. Remember Hudson had not lost to a 3A team either.
I just hope that BC can give a good account of themselves like LaGrange did last year in a big win over Forney, or Lorena before that, etc:
The last time that I can remember a Region III team not winning it was when Sinton had Adrian A. on the mound some time back. He was exceptional and that team was exceptional!

[bccards]

Reg. I - Lubbock Cooper 35-5
Reg. II - Carthage 35-4
Reg. III - Bridge City 35-6
Reg. IV - Yoakum 31-3

[LH Panther Mom]

I'll have to defer my thoughts until after I see the schedule for first round.

[dogs15]

Yoakum vs. Lubbock Cooper at 12:00
Carthage vs. Bridge City at 3:00

[VWG]

My prediction is Carthage. Dropped down from 4A, and have been impressive this season. Lubbock Cooper killed their competition in the Region I playoffs, but I have to admit that some of their competition wasn't that good. Canyon and Iowa Park had two pretty solid teams and Cooper destroyed them. Cooper can hit very well up and down the order, but we all know that good pitching can beat good hitting any day. Carthage has the arms to contend and I'm going with Carthage from Region II to take home the state championship.