THSBCA PLAY- BALL AUGUST, 2014 Volume 5, Issue 4 The official voice of the TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION Special Interest Articles STATE TOURNAMENT ALL STAR GAMES WELCOME TO THE 19th ISSUE OF THSBCA PLAY BALL TEAM TEXAS In BRIEF NEWS: PRESIDENT S LETTER UIL CALENDAR ALL-STAR GAMES NFHS RULE CHANGES SPONSOR NEWS WACO HOTEL INFO HEARTLAND CLASSIC SUNBELT JUNIORS HALL OF FAME The State Tournament was held June 4-8, at Dell Diamond and Disch-Faulk Field. There were 13 teams in the 2014 State Tournament who had never been to the State Tournament. This made it a very exciting format of teams to watch. In 1A, teams from Douglass, Dawson, Anson, and Flatonia battled for the state crown with Douglass defeating Flatonia for the 1A state In class 2A Sunnyvale defeated Troy for the state championship. Idalou and East Bernard also represented the class 2A in Round Rock. In 3A action, played at Disch-Faulk, teams from College Station, Lubbock Cooper, Argyle, and Sinton played for the state championship with College Station winning the state title. In class 4A George Ranch, Victoria East, Hallsville, and Aledo competed for the crown with Aledo the final champion. In class 5A the games were just as exciting as the rest of the tournament with Pearland, Atascocita and SA Reagan competing with The Flower Mound, the eventual champion. Congratulations to all the teams representing Texas baseball at its finest. championship.
2 TYPE TITLE HERE PRESIDENTS LETTER FROM JON RUSTENHAVEN Coaches, It s hard to believe but summer vacation is almost over. Maybe it s just me, but our time off just doesn t seem as long as it used to be. Many of you are already preparing for the upcoming football season. I hope that all of your hard work and dedication pays off for you and your teams. The month of June was a great month for Texas High School Baseball. It started with an amazing state tournament and the crowning of our new state champs. That was followed by another fantastic All-Star weekend in Round Rock featuring many of the best players our state has to offer. In Oklahoma, all of our Team Texas squads excelled. The sophomores and juniors won their respective tournaments showing an incredible amount of talent along the way. The seniors played for the championship for the fourth year in a row but unfortunately fell just a little short. All in all an amazing month of baseball! As we start another school year, I want to once again take the time to congratulate all of this year s state champions. It s an experience that everyone wants to be a part of someday. I also want to remind all of you to be looking for this year s registration and Waco Convention information. This year s dates are January 8-10, 2015. That information should arrive to you in September. Please get your reservations and registrations in early! As I conclude this message, I want you to know how honored I am to be able to help baseball in our great state. Please feel free to contact me any time if have a question or a concern. Our organization needs your help in order to continue to be the best state high school baseball association in the country!! Good luck and have a great school year! ALL STAR GAMES The 2014 All Star games were played at Dell Diamond in June. Both games were played on Saturday June14th. The 1-3A game was played first and was exciting as usual with the North coming out on top. We saw outstanding pitching and hitting and some outstanding defensive plays. The 4-5A game was a very competitive game. The pitching was outstanding as was the hitting. All of these young men were a class act during the game as well as at the hotel and practice. Our coaches and parents should be proud of these players. The PRO-LINE player of the year was announced at the 1,2,3A game and this year s recipient was; KEIFER SCHELLHASE from Shallowater High School. The award was presented by Charlie Harris, representing Pro-Line Cap Co. This year s ALL STAR coaches were: 1-3A SOUTH: 1-3A NORTH: GLEN KIMBLE - HUDSON TED LEPS BRIDGEPORT JOHN BROUSSARD CAMERON YOE JIM BOB WILLIAMS - BANGS KELLY KUHL - THORNDALE MIKE SMITH WOLFE CITY 4-5A SOUTH: 4-5A NORTH: DAVID COLLENBACK - SA O CONNOR PAUL GIBSON LD BELL DOUG RUCH - TOMBALL DAVID WALDEN MANSFIELD LEGACY HONORARY COACHES- LEO MCDANIEL BILL MIDKIFF JAMES SAUCIER HECTOR SALINAS
2014 UIL CALENDAR 3 Baseball Tournament and Game Limitations 0 tournaments and 23 games 1 tournament and 20 games 2 tournaments and 17 games 3 tournaments and 14 games BASEBALL DATES 2014-2015: Date Event or Deadline January 30 First day for practice February 9 First day for interschool scrimmages February 23 First day for interschool games May 5 District certification deadline May 9 Bi-district deadline *May 16 *Area deadline *May 23 Regional quarterfinal deadline May 30 Regional semi-final deadline June 6 Regional playoff deadline June 10-13 State Tournament Notes on STAAR testing If any student in the school is taking any test (excluding makeup tests and retest) at any time that day, no playoff game can be scheduled Monday through Thursday, as required by state law. Once testing is complete for the week, teams may schedule playoff games beginning the following day, provided they remain in compliance with UIL rules for scheduling playoff games. On Friday, when there are timed tests that end at a time certain, with school approval teams could travel no earlier than 30 minutes after the scheduled end of tests on Friday. If any test for any student on a team involved in a post-season contest occurs on Friday and is an untimed test, travel for that team is not permitted until the end of the school day. If there are conflicts between a playoff series and the state track meet, it is recommended (but not required) that schools schedule only a one game series.
4 TYPE TITLE HERE RULE CHANGES FOR BASEBALL Prep baseball coaches and players will be able to legally implement video monitoring or replay equipment for coaching purposes starting in 2015, according to new rule 3-3-1 from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The NFHS recommended the new rule at its June 8-10 meeting in Indianapolis and it was recently approved by its Board of Directors. "With advancements in technology, it was extremely difficult for officials to determine if teams were using video replay during games," NFHS director Elliot Hopkins said. "The committee determined it was the right time to permit teams to use these technological aids if they so choose." In other baseball rules changes, the committee expanded the definition of interference in Rule 2-21 to include follow-through interference and backswing interference. Rule 2-21-4 will state that follow-through interference is when the ball hits the catcher after the batter has swung at a pitch and hinders action at home plate or the catcher s attempt to play on a runner, and Rule 2-21-5 will state that backswing interference is when a batter contacts the catcher or his equipment prior to the time of the pitch. Hopkins said that follow-through interference and backswing interference are separate and distinct acts that previously were not addressed in Rule 2-21. The rule previously covered offensive, umpire and spectator interference. The rules committee approved a change in Rule 1-5-1 regarding the batting helmet to be consistent with the rule for helmets used by defensive players. As is the case with head protection worn by field players, the batting helmet now must have a non-glare surface (cannot be mirror-like in nature) and meet the NOCSAE standard at the time of manufacture. The definition of a foul ball in Rule 2-16-1 was expanded to be consistent with language elsewhere in the rules book. Specifically, Rule 2-16-1f will now state that a foul is a batted ball that hits the batter in the batter s box. Article g will state that a foul is a batted ball that hits the ground or home plate and then hits the batter or the bat which is held by the batter while he is in the batter s box. The final change approved by the Baseball Rules Committee involves the following additional language to Courtesy Runner Rule No. 1: In the event that the offensive team bats around, the pitcher and/or catcher who had a courtesy runner inserted on their behalf may bat in their normal position in the batting order. Baseball is the fourth-most popular sport for boys at the high school level with 474,791 participants in 15,632 schools during the 2012-13 season, according to the NFHS Athletics Participation Survey
AISD TOURNAMENT 5 The Austin Independent School District, due to realignment, has changed the dates of their 2015 Baseball Tournament. We will now hold our tournament on March 5-7, the second weekend of the season. Our tournament has a solid history and has been well received by coaches all over the state. We had the tournament built up to one of the best around. Last year we had 31 teams entered. We play on six very nice baseball fields. Your team preferences will be taken into consideration and every effort will be made to accommodate your requests. Your team can play up to six games, depending on your choice. We have had nothing but positive feedback from teams that have entered the tournament previously. If you are interested in finding more about this exciting tournament, please contact Tom Hancock at thancock13@austin.rr.com or 512-773-2015. Good luck to all of you in your 2015 season. Hope to see you in Austin.
6 TYPE TITLE HERE JUNIOR SUNBELT On June 5 th the Junior Team Texas met at TCU to prepare for the Sunbelt Tournament. After meeting with parents and players and a two hour workout they departed for McAlester Oklahoma. The team and coaches attended a banquet that night and then got ready for the next day s games. Game one was against Arizona and behind the pitching of Luken Baker defeated AZ 7-2. Game two was against OK Team Blue which they won handily 13-5. Game three was against a strong Mississippi team and we won that one 4-3. The fourth game was versus Tennessee and with a strong pitching performance by Jackson Parthasarathy, who pitched the complete game, and we won 4-1. An interesting note was Jackson only threw 63 pitches. In game 5 versus Georgia we had 11 hits and won 14-5. Game 6 pitted us against Colorado. Again, we had a complete game by Beau Ridgeway and we won again 5-0. We were now 6-0 against good competition, but not satisfied yet. Karan Patel pitched a NO-HITTER against Canada and again we won 8-0. Game 8 started a little rough against Missouri, but we finally won that one also by a score of 9-6. This win set us up for the Championship versus Tennessee. Luken Baker, winner of game 1, threw a two hit shutout with 9 K s. We won the Championship by a score of 2-0. The coaches of this championship team were: Lou Kosanovich, and several other quality coaches. In typical Lou: Our parents were great. That is why our team is great, they have great parents. Thanks to the coaches and their outstanding team for representing Texas and the THSBCA. ROSTER: Luken Baker Oak Ridge HS ** Cole Clinton Carthage HS Trent Davis Cedar Park HS Dylan Duarte Calallen HS Cade Edwards 2 nd Baptist HS Kyle Finkenstaedt Langham Creek HS* Ragan Forrest Lorena HS Isaac Garland - Canyon HS Kyle Hill Calallen HS Nate Miranda SA O Connor HS ** MVP * ALL TOURN Chris Paddack Cedar Park HS Jackson Parthasarathy * Lake Travis HS Karan Patel Kempner HS Daniel Priwin Clements HS Beau Ridgeway * College Park HS Tanner Schuetz * Kempner HS Michael Smith * Magnolia HS Josh Van Gelder Liberty HS Ivan Vera * Stony Point HS Jacob Walker Hallsville HS
SOPHOMORE TEAM TEXAS 7 On June 26th thirty-nine of the top 2016 baseball players in the State of Texas met each other for the first time in Ft. Worth at Western Hills HS. There were players from out west in El Paso to as far east as Carthage; from Canyon in the north to Galena Park down in the south, each one having earned the honor of representing the great state of Texas in the 20th Annual Sophomore Sunbelt Classic Baseball Tournament. The players were divided up and placed on either Texas Gray or Texas White and competed for the next three days against teams from Canada, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Texas White ran through pool play finishing 5-0 while Texas Gray won their pool going 4-1. This set up a show down of the two Texas teams for the title. In the championship game Texas Gray defeated Texas White 7-4 to win the Sunbelt Classic Championship. John Doxakis (Houston Lamar HS) was awarded the Most Valuable Pitcher Award while Cagan Baldree of Carthage HS won the Most Valuable Player Award. Several other Texas players were named to the All-Tournament team. Texas Gray was coached by Chris Carrejo and EZ De Los Santos of Sugar Land Clements HS while Texas White was coached by Brian Roberts (Houston Lamar), Corey Cephus (Langham Creek HS), and OJ Holcombe (Castlebury HS). Lou Kosanovich is the Director of Team Texas for the Sunbelt Classic. All in all it was amazing to watch these total strangers gel together, play with pride, and show everyone else that Texas baseball is the best in the country!
2014 WACO CONVENTION/ REGISTRATION 8 TYPE TITLE HERE The 2015 Waco Convention will be January 8-10, 2015 Dane Saucier, President Elect, has put together a great group of speakers, many of them are our own Texas coaches with a few from other states. That list of speakers will be posted as soon as all speakers are confirmed. If you have any suggestions for speakers in future clinics, please let us know. Registration forms are now available on the website: thsbca.com as well as one included in this Newsletter. 2014 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS 1. SHERIDAN ADAIR ELKHART HIGH SCHOOL 9. TYLER JONES ROCKWALL HIGH SCHOOL 2. KALEE ANDERSON KEMP HIGH SCHOOL 10. KATHRYN LAIRD - BRIDGE CITY HIGH 3. RENE ALVAREZ JR. ZAPATA HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL 4. WILLIAM BRUNS FLATONIA HIGH SCHOOL 11. MACKENZIE TRAWHON LCM HIGH 5. TYLER COLLINS - HEREFORD HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL 6. ARLYNA GARZA LOS FRESNOS HIGH 12. ISAIAH VEGA SAGINAW HIGH SCHOOL SCHOOL 13. ASHLEE VILLARREAL LUBBOCK 7. HAYLE HARDY QUITMAN HIGH SCHOOL CORONADO HIGH SCHOOL 8. RAEGAN HYDES MIDLOTHIAN HIGH SCHOOL Each of these scholarship winners will be awarded a $1000 check at the Hall of Fame Banquet. HOTELS IN WACO (some did not respond) AMERICAS BEST VALUE INN - $54.99 254) 772-9440 CLARION HOTEL - $99.00 254) 757-2000 COMFORT SUITES - $105. 254) 537-0413 COMFORT SUITES NORTH - $109. 254) 799-7272 COTTON PALACE - $110. 254) 753-7294 HAMPTON INN - $119. 254) 662-9500 HOLIDAY INN NORTHWEST - $119. - $95. 254) 799-9997 HOTEL INDIGO - $109. 254) 754-7000 MAGNUSON HOTEL - $59.99 254) 537-0413 QUALITY INN - $99.00 254) 296-0550 SLEEP INN (HEWITT) - $79.95 254) 420-3200 SPENCER HOUSE - $95.00 254) 537-4720 SUPER 8 WACO MALL - $53.95 254) 776-3194 SUPER 8 UNIVERSITY - $59.99 254) 754-1023 NO PRICES HOMEWOOD SUITES 254) 644-4663 NO INFO did not respond BEST WESTERN PLUS; WACO NORTH COURTYARD MARRIOTT DAYS INN( BELLMEAD) HILTON WACO MOTEL 6 (BELLMEAD RED ROOF INN RESIDENCE INN
SPONSORS Please continue to support all of our SPONSORS and official DEALERS as you have done in the past. Your support shows our sponsors that their participation is important to our association. Our hope is that we will continue to award 12-14 Scholarships a year at $1000 each with our goal of eventually awarding a scholarship to all who apply. Change of Ownership at Pro-Line Cap Company 9 Effective August 1 st 2014 Pro-Line Cap Company will be under new ownership. Pro-Line Headwear Texas has acquired Pro-Line Cap Company from Badger Headwear of North Carolina. Charlie Harris and Scott Kirk are the owners of Pro-Line Headwear Texas DBA Pro-Line Cap Company and the company will produce custom made caps in Dallas and the corporate office will stay in Fort Worth Texas. Both Charlie & Scott have been friends of the THSBCA for many years with connections to Pro-Line Cap Company and All American Licensing Company. Pro-Line caps are now being produced on the same steam heads that were used in the late 1990 s & 2000 s giving Pro- Line caps that great classic look. Pro-Line will continue to be the Official Cap of the THSBCA and look for great quality, service and delivery for the coming years. Again, all Pro-Line custom caps are Made in the USA and we ask that members give Pro-Line a look for the coming season. BLUE BELL/ THSBCA HALL of FAME If you have not had a chance to visit our Hall of Fame in Brenham, you should make your plans today. We now have on display pictures of all Baseball State Champions from the earliest days of the UIL. There are over 600 pictures that will be on display; our thanks to the UIL for helping us with this endeavor. Jim Long, long time head coach in Brenham and past President of THSBCA, will be the Chairman and care taker of all the exhibits. Blue Bell is open Monday thru Friday from 9:00-5:00. Many thanks to Blue Bell for their support.
10 TYPE TITLE HERE BEAR BRYANT STORY At a Touchdown Club meeting many years before his death, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story: "I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havin' trouble finding the place. Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant." "I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white fella in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, "What do you need?" I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today? He says, "You probably won't like it here, today we're having chitlins, collared greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. I'll bet you don't even know what chitlins are, do you?" I looked him square in the eye and said, "I'm from Arkansas, I've probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I'm in the right place." They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, "You ain't from around here then?" "I explain I'm the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I'm here to find whatever that boy's name was and he says, yeah I've heard of him, he's supposed to be pretty good. And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach. As I'm paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay. The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I'd been there. I was so new that I didn't have any yet. It really wasn't that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I'd get him one and shook his hand and left." "I met the kid I was lookin' for later that afternoon and I don't remember his name, but do remember I didn't think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought. When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn't forget it. Back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. The next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, "Thanks for the best lunch I've ever had." "Now let's go a whole buncha years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and I'm back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y'all remember, (and I forget the name, but it's
not important to the story), well anyway, he's got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he's got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go 11 on see some others while I'm down there." "Two days later, I'm in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it's this kid who just turned me down, and he says, "Coach, do you still want me at Alabama?" And I said, "Yes I sure do." And he says OK, he'll come. And I say, "Well son, what changed your mind?" And he said, "When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn't going nowhere but Alabama, and wasn't playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y'all met." Well, I didn't know his granddad from Adam's house cat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, "You probably don't remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he's had hung in that place ever since. That picture's his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him." "My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that's everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I'm going to. "I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don't cost nuthin' to be nice. It don't cost nuthin' to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakin' your word to someone." "When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he's still running that place, but it looks a lot better now; and he didn't have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that woulda made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don't think I didn't leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football." "I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they're out on the road. If you remember anything else from me, remember this. It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable."