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2020 Texas Baseball


zlavydra

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28 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

Will be very interesting to see how the draft impacts the incoming class.  Kelley is almost certainly gone.  But Witt, Jones, Halpin, and Tucker are all projected anywhere from late 1st to early 3rd.  I would be really surprised if Campbell or Sthele were drafted high enough to sign.  So if you assume that Kelley, Elder, Witt, and Tucker are drafted away, here’s how I see the 35 man roster:

 

C:’ Ardoin, Powell, Constantine

IF: Faltine*, Campbell*, Zubia*, Williams*, Dixon, Stehly, Daly, Melendez, Nixon

OF: Halpin*, Kennedy*, Ellis*, Todd*, Hodo, Porter

RHP: Jones*, Sthele*, Madden*, Duplantier*, Fields*, Kubichek*, Southard, Cobb, Quintanilla, Stevens, Merryman, Taylor

LHP: Hansen*, Walbridge, Wallace, Gordon, Noah

Out: Swope, Petrinsky, Diaz, Ford, Geib, Peter, Eckhardt, Meaney, Bryant

Weak at catcher but otherwise a stacked lineup, with insane upside in the rotation and plenty of pitching depth.  Sky’s the limit.

Lineup:

SS Faltine

OF Halpin

OF Kennedy

1B Zubia

3B Williams

DH/OF Ellis

DH/OF Todd

2B Campbell

C Ardoin

Bench: Powell, Dixon, Stehly, Hodo

Weekend SP: Jones, Madden, Hansen

Weekday SP: Sthele, Kubichek, Cobb

Primary RP: Duplantier, Southard, Walbridge, Stevens, Quintanilla, Merryman

Edited by Snake Diggity
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2 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I would have liked that.  I could have gone to Phoenix and stayed with my oldest while watching the horns kick some ASU ass (while watching some ASU ass).  The we could have hosted TCU in the Supers

Retire Beau Hale's number before the game?

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Those were the days, first we bitch about getting sent out to Tallahassee, then we bitch about Tempe, but by the time we get shipped to Oxford,  Ole Miss fans were bitching about getting Texas, they knew. Augie's teams could go anywhere and kick teeth in, it was beautiful.

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Those were the days, first we bitch about getting sent out to Tallahassee, then we bitch about Tempe, but by the time we get shipped to Oxford,  Ole Miss fans were bitching about getting Texas, they knew. Augie's teams could go anywhere and kick teeth in, it was beautiful.

Best of years. Sigh.
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Saw this recent article about Gus. (excerpts)     Story has been told many times but it never gets old.   For your Summer reading in a baseball absent time.

 

Led by legendary coach Cliff Gustafson, who went on to an iconic career at Texas, South San won an unprecedented seven state championships in 10 seasons from 1958 through 1967. No other school in the state has ever come close to equaling the Bobcats’ run.

Now 89, Gustafson said he thinks of those glory years at South San and the boys who played for him “many, many times a day." The memories of that era have become more poignant with the passage of time.

Gustafson's emotional bond with South San transcends sports. He met his late wife, Janie, a teacher at Athens Elementary in the South San district, a few months after leading the Bobcats to their first state title, and developed deep roots in the predominantly Hispanic community.

South San won all seven of its titles in Class 3A, then the UIL’s second-largest classification. The Bobcats took back-to-back titles three times – 1960-61, 1963-64 and 1966-67 – before another coaching legend, Darrell Royal, offered Gustafson the baseball job at UT. Royal, one of the icons in college football history, was also the Longhorns’ athletic director.

More than 50 years after coaching his last game at South San, Gustafson remains inextricably linked with the Bobcats and one of the greatest dynasties in Texas high school sports history.

“We had a lot of talent and a great coach who stressed fundamentals,” Zamora said. “Gus knew  “Gus knew the game but he got better as a coach every year. Once we won that first one, things fell in place for us. The expectations were high each year and that motivated us. But we knew we had to work hard.”

South San won 12 district championships in its 13 seasons under Gustafson, who was 344-85-5 with the Bobcats.

“We lost eight games in a row my freshman year,” Zamora said. “Gus took us to the football field after practice one day and sat us down in the end zone, and he told us what he thought. We took exception to what he said. He said there were too many guys on the team that just wanted to eat chicken-fried steak (on road trips).

“All the guys got upset, especially the Hispanic. We had some pride. We weren’t well off, but we weren’t starving. We took it personally, even though he didn’t say, ‘You Mexicans.’ We thought, ‘We’re going to show him.’ I’m sure Gus didn’t know what our reaction would be. But, psychologically, it worked. Everything started to fall into place after that.”

Zamora, who has drawn closer to Gustafson as they’ve aged, laughs at the memory now.

“I think we needed that,” he said. “Think about it. We had lost eight straight games and we didn’t know what was going on. I was just a freshman, so I didn’t know what was going on.”

Gustafson still remembers how his players responded after the pivotal meeting.

“They felt like they owed the school, their families and the community more than what they were giving,” Gustafson said. “They decided they wanted to do whatever was necessary. They thought I would know what was necessary.

“They worked hard for me. We worked on fundamentals a lot, things you would expect a junior high team to be working on. They worked on all that stuff and when it happened in a ballgame, they were ready for it.”

Born in Kenedy but raised in San Antonio, Gustafson graduated from Harlandale High School in 1948 and had a stellar baseball career at UT. He is the younger brother of the late Martin Gustafson, who coached Uvalde to a football state championship in 1972 before becoming head football coach at Churchill. He later was athletic director of the Northside ISD.

Cliff recalled some sound advice Marvin gave him after watching one of his baseball games at South San.

“We went to my mother’s house for dinner that night, he and I both, and I asked him how he liked the ballgame,” Gustafson said. “He said, ‘It was a good ballgame, but I couldn’t play for you. You do too damned much hollering. You need to cut that out. They can play without that. So, I gave that a lot of thought because I respected what he said all the time.

“I was just getting ready to go to Texas about that time, so I said, ‘Now would be a good time to change that.’ I got to where I didn’t yell and scream during the ballgame at all. People would ask me, up there (Austin) all the time, ‘How do you stay so calm during a ballgame?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, I might not be as calm as you think I am.’”

Gustafson was noted for his stoic demeanor when he coached at UT, where he went 1,466-377 in 29 seasons and led the Longhorns to College World Series championships in 1975 and 1983. UT also won 22 Southwest Conference titles in its 29 years under Gustafson.

https://www.kens5.com/article/sports/robert-zamora-always-will-be-synonymous-with-south-san-baseball-dynasty/273-9911defd-5c40-4a3a-b09f-dde7be01effe

 

 

 

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Looks like there may be Summer baseball if Corona doesn't interfere.

 

ROUND ROCK — There will be baseball games at Dell Diamond this summer.

The Round Rock Express, with their Triple-A season shuttered, will field a temporary expansion team in the Texas Collegiate League, team officials announced Thursday.

Ten teams are expected to play a 30-game season from June 30 to Aug. 2 with college-eligible players. Teams will be located in Round Rock, San Antonio, Bryan/College Station, Amarillo, Frisco, Victoria, Texarkana, Tulsa, Okla., and Lafayette, La. And Amarillo might have two squads.

Players with remaining college eligibility will make up the rosters, pulling from regional talent. Most traditional summer leagues have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Express will sell tickets for Texas Collegiate League games. Prices will be announced next week. They can have fans up to 25% capacity of Dell Diamond under social-distancing measures in place.

Round Rock is planning theme nights, promotions and concession sales for its 15 home games, according to club officials.

 

https://www.statesman.com/sports/20200611/play-ball-express-will-field

 

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