Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2015 9:39:17 GMT -6
Aledo baseball trying for school’s second trifecta
By Ryan Osborne
rosborne@star-telegram.com
Aledo pitcher Coby Talley was on junior varsity last season and spent most of this year in the bullpen. But when the Bearcats head to the state tournament Thursday, Talley, now a starter, knows what is on the line. He can even add it up in his head.
“They said last year it was some one-in-a-million chance that it happens,” he said. “And the fact that we could do it back-to-back. I’m not good at math, but that’s double. That’s pretty insane.”
Aledo, the defending state champion, plays Georgetown at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Class 5A semifinals at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
But the Bearcats can do more than just win their second consecutive state baseball title — they can duplicate the school’s best athletic year.
In 2013-14, Aledo became the first UIL school to win state championships in football, softball and baseball in the same academic year. High jumper Carl Williams and girls golfer Cheyenne Knight also won individual state titles.
This year, it’s been about the same for the school. The football team, under the guidance of new coach Steve Wood, won its sixth state championship. Knight won another golf title. And Jeff Lemons’ softball team became the eighth UIL school to repeat as champions when it beat Cedar Park Vista Ridge 3-2 on Saturday.
Now it’s the baseball team’s turn.
“I just want to do it one more time,” said third baseman Garrett Uhl, who also started at linebacker for the football team in the fall. “We really want to get the job done.”
After losing four district games and tying for second in District 8-5A, Chad Barry’s team has won in the playoffs mainly with pitching, including Talley, fellow senior Isaac Hale — who will start Thursday — and junior left-hander Cody Bradford.
The emergence of those three — all on the junior varsity last year — has helped make up for the losses of Mark Swift (injury) and Shane Mosiello (illness).
And even as Thursday — and potentially in a 7 p.m championship game Friday — will be their first time pitching at the state tournament, they were with the team in Round Rock last season as “pull ups,” the high school version of a September call up.
The experience for everyone was “eye-opening,” Barry said. The games are televised and played at the home of the Round Rock Express, the Rangers’ Triple A club. After practice Tuesday, Barry reminded his players to fill out a consent form that allows the UIL use players’ photographs.
“There’s a lot of things that are surrounding the state tournament, a lot of distractions, if you will,” Barry said. “But what it boils down to, what people walk away from there remembering, is who won and who didn’t.”
To help their focus, the Bearcats are at least trending in the right direction, the same as they did last year after finishing third in district.
In a series-clinching 12-2 victory over Fort Worth Arlington Heights on Friday, Aledo collected 15 hits, including a 5 for 5 effort from Connor Duer, who homered. In Game 1, the Bearcats turned a triple play, and Hale threw a two-hit shutout to win 4-0.
“We did pretty much the same thing we did last year,” Hale said. “But throughout the whole season, especially now, our hitting has been a little stronger than last year’s. It’s just if we’re on or off, and here lately, we’ve been on.”
Ryan Osborne, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @ryanosbornefwst
www.dfw.com/2015/06/11/1003944/aledo-baseball-trying-for-schools.html