For Day 4 of our five-part baseball position rankings series, we focus our binoculars on the outfield grass.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top pitchers, catchers and infielders earlier this week, we now do the same with the area’s best outfielders, ranking our top 10 with others to watch in 2020.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After ranking the top pitchers and catchers on the Big Country baseball scene the past two nights, we now turn our attention to the infield.
For the third installment in our five-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 infielders in the area with a list of others to watch in 2020.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
After opening our baseball position rankings series with the pitchers on Monday, it’s time to shift our attention to their battery mates.
For the second installment in our five-part series, we celebrate the Big Country’s top catchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2020.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the area girls heading into the area round of the playoffs and the boys settling their final tiebreakers to determine seeding, it’s time for Evan and Daniel to take a good look around the area.
All the top favorites, all the top surprises and what they’re up against will be this week’s topic of conversation.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
BAIRD — When perennial power Eula came to Baird on Friday with a No. 7 statewide ranking and a 24-5 record, few gave the upstart Bears, with three players overcoming illnesses, much of a shot.
By evening’s end, however, the Pirates were counting themselves as fortunate to escape with a 58-47 win and Eula coach Josh Fostel was pleased to see his top-seeded crew get a much-needed challenge.
Jayton Jones scored 21 points, including six 3-pointers and David Phillips dropped in 18 more to lead Eula (25-5, 9-0 District 20-1A), which locked up the district title with the win.
Baird (15-6, 7-2), which whittled a 27-point first-half deficit to only four by the 3:00 mark of the fourth quarter, was led by Max Dayton with 13 points and Aaron Halburton with 11.
While the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches does not have the Priddy girls basketball team ranked at the moment, the Lady Pirates (20-7, 11-0 District 17-1A) are making enough noise to get noticed.
And with last week’s sweep of Lometa (51-29) and Cherokee (59-52), it’s beginning to look as though PHS is capable of doing some postseason damage.
Our Player of the Week, senior Linda Evans, led that charge with a combined 60 points through two games, including a 36-point effort with four assists in a district-title clinching win over Cherokee.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
ABILENE — The University Interscholastic league released its new athletic districts for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years on Monday.
As always, a sizable contingent of area coaches was on hand at the Region 14 Education Service Center to receive their information packets and arrange for any last-second schedule changes that were forced by realignment.
Perhaps the biggest stunner was a move north by Class 2A Division I power San Saba, which has been shifted to the new District 4 with Cisco, Coleman, De Leon, Goldthwaite and Winters.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Big Country Preps publishes area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders each Thursday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Under longtime boys basketball coach Josh Fostel, the Eula Pirates have been among the best and most consistent Class 1A programs in the state. And EHS, which reached the state semifinals in 2007 before winning the state championship in 2011, has another strong team this year, sitting at 19-6 after routing Moran on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Fostel took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team, its 62-56 upset of Class 4A Brownwood last week and the program he’s built for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of the biggest boys and and girls basketball storylines of the season so far.
Each Thursday at 7 p.m., Big Country Preps will publish area boys basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Each Thursday at 7 p.m., Big Country Preps will publish area girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
We all know a football player who almost never misses any practice time and practically lives in the weight room. He’s always early to arrive and late to leave. He’s coachable, but seldom needs direction because he always pays attention.
You know who I’m talking about.
The guy who sets a good example for young players. The guy who never complains and, first and foremost, is tough mentally and physically. He may not be the best player on a team (though some of them are). But he’s definitely the guy who gets the most out of the talent he’s given.
Welcome to the 2019 “True Grit” team — the one place in the Big Country where guys who fall into this category are recognized for it.
After a two-week holiday break, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood return to the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast to discuss the All-Big Country Preps football teams, released Wednesday.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel speak briefly on the Big Country hoops scene.
Continue to check back at BigCountryPreps.com each Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when Evan and Dan discuss the current happenings in Big Country High School sports — often with an interesting sports figure from around the area.
You can also peruse our BCP Podcast archive, which features dozens of our previous shows with prominent coaches and Big Country media fixtures.
Inquiries regarding these podcasts may be directed to Evan Ren at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.
If you have a suggested topic of conversation or a recommended guest, don’t hesitate to contact us!
In a week that saw several top-flight performances, Brownwood senior Zach Strong handed in a genuine rarity — topping the 1000-point mark for his career while helping the Lions to a perfect record and tournament championship.
Helping Brownwood to a 5-0 record on the week, including a tournament title in Hamilton, Strong averaged 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game to earn all-tournament honors and our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week award of 2019.
After spotlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, it’s time to take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top-10 posts with others to watch for the 2019-20 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
San Saba senior Sean O’Keefe wasn’t fully needed through much of an 8-0 start that saw the Armadillos rout one team after another and consistently pull their starters early.
In Friday’s district title game against Crawford, however, the Tulsa-bound signal caller had a full opportunity to shine in a 48-28 win over Crawford — the closest game the Armadillos (9-0) have had this season, by far.
Rushing 21 times, O’Keefe piled up 364 yards on the ground, finding the end zone four times in the process to earn our Big Country Preps Player of the Week honor and lock up the District 7-2A Division I championship in his final home game.
BAIRD — Baird High School spent 97 years playing 11-man football before the decision was made in late June to play an outlaw six-man schedule this year due to being in between UIL realignments.
That change has paid immediate dividends for the 5-2 Bears.
“It brought us some energy because you have to do your homework,” Baird coach Joel Baker said. “We did our homework this summer and we visited a lot of people to find out how to do (the transition) right.”
LAST WEEK: 34-9, .790
OVERALL: 251-51, .831
There comes a point when every emerging football program has to show its hand. And it’s usually around the midpoint of the season when we can differentiate between who has a full house and who’s holding a pair of deuces.
The Coahoma Bulldogs (4-1) will reach that point this Friday when they host perennial toughie Idalou (3-2) in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
What is the purpose of interscholastic athletics? It seems silly to even pose the question.
I bring it up because within the word purpose lies the problem — a poisonous problem, brought on by our own lack of vision.
Must I say it?
The original purpose behind high school sports was the teaching of teamwork, work ethic, sacrifice, respecting authority, overcoming adversity and accepting discipline.
Sports taught our kids that the world wasn’t perfect. It taught our kids that there would be disappointments to endure. It taught them the benefits of hard work and we hired our coaches accordingly.
Somewhere along the line we injected winning into the mix and it has resulted in something truly ugly.
Continue reading “EVAN REN: High school athletics has forgotten itself”
There are great games, and then there are those that border on insanity.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a misprint: Hawley’s Colton Marshall tallied 516 yards rushing and seven touchdowns in last week’s 73-20 win over Windthorst.
If that isn’t scary enough, he did it on just 12 carries and was pulled from the game three plays into the second half.
I’ve seen six-man players tally numbers like this on a fairly regular basis. But six-man is a different game with more field space between the players. To see an 11-man player do something like this is unreal.
Is he the Big Country Preps Player of the Week? Uh … that’s a rhetorical question.
LAST WEEK: 43-7, .860
OVERALL: 173-34, .835
While the Cisco Loboes have been in countless big games over the last two decades, the last few years have been a bit lean for Ballinger.
In fact, the general consensus is, when the Bearcats (3-0) play host to the Loboes (2-1) on Friday, this will be the biggest regular season game played in Ballinger in several years.
At the very least, it’s our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, and deservedly so.
LAST WEEK: 41-8, .837
OVERALL: 130-27, .828
On a Friday where any one of four or five games is arguably a candidate for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, our final decision — Brady at Dublin — was based on sharing the love.
Jim Ned and Mason is on the board, as is Wichita Falls Rider at Brownwood, Hawley at Albany, Christoval at Cross Plains and, of course, the annual war between Brock and Breckenridge.
But with Jim Ned a likely candidate for Game of the Week when it faces Wall and Eastland later this year, and Brownwood receiving live coverage for Snyder two weeks ago and Wylie next week, the field narrowed a bit.
Hawley got our Game of the Week last Friday, and Albany will likely see the GOW when it faces Hamlin, so we’re heading to Dublin where Brady will be a part of its first-ever BCP spotlight game.
It shouldn’t disappoint.
LAST WEEK: 46-6, .884
SEASON TOTAL: 89-19, .824
I don’t know what has me more jazzed — the interesting slate of Big Country games we’ve got on tap this week, or the fact that I hit 88 percent of my picks in Week 2 and am at 82 percent for the season.
I don’t mind saying, it’s way too early in to be picking at a rate that high. Normally the 80-percent plateau is crossed in the second half of the season, after you get dialed in on who’s who. But why should I complain? It will give me a leg up on Youngblood.
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week — Hamlin (2-0) at Hawley (2-0) — was actually circled on the calendar well in advance of the season.
Yes, last year’s matchup resulted in a 32-6 Hamlin win.
But the venue switches to Hawley this time around and unless I’ve missed my guess, the Bearcats are more than motivated after being escorted to the woodshed by the Pipers a year ago.
Just how much the Brady football team will improve this season has yet to be determined. But one thing is certain: The Bulldogs are explosive.
Headed by our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, senior quarterback Walker Bauer, Brady handed a solid Class 2A Division II team from Haskell a 59-24 loss on Friday.
It was the biggest offensive output in coach Shay Easterwood’s tenure as BHS’ head coach.
LAST WEEK: 43-13, .767
SEASON TOTAL: 43-13, .767
The beauty of Week 1 of the football season is that it throws all sorts of new questions into your face. The beauty of Weeks 2 and 3 is that most of those questions get answered.
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week — Wall at Cisco — should serve as a moment of clarity.
Just how good is this Wall team that routed perennial power Mason 47-7 at the Puncher Dome last week? Entering as a nine-point favorite, the Hawks shattered the computer projections leading some to believe this could be a vintage Hawks football team.
At this point, however, we don’t know exactly where Mason stands.
We do, however, have a pretty fair idea about Cisco, which handed a rapidly improving (albeit young) Class 4A Sweetwater team a 49-27 loss in the Mustang Bowl. This is your standard, tough Cisco football team with an excellent running game and physical defense.
So we’ll find out precisely where Wall is on Friday.
We like diversity at Big Country Preps and often use it as a tiebreaker when determining our Player of the Week award.
We begin the 2019-20 school year with a prime example of this in Haskell senior Logan Burson, who did a bit of everything in the Indians’ season-opening 32-24 win over Quanah.
It all begins with four receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown and two carries for nine yards and another score. But that’s just scratching the surface.
Burson also added a two-point conversion run, a 76-yard kickoff return to the Quanah 5 to set up a touchdown, a 90-yard fumble return off a PAT that he returned for a defensive two-point conversion and an interception he returned 50 yards.
Without further ado it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it.
DUBLIN — Start with serious production on the ground. Add some production as a receiver. Sprinkle in some speed and finish by throwing in a dash
of humor, and you’ve got Dublin utility man Hagen Huffman.
If, as a Big Country football fan, you haven’t heard of Huffman yet, a quick education may be in order.
The 17-year old senior is one of the most versatile returning Class 3A players in the Big Country. And in all likelihood, he will be a key element if the Lions are to repeat the success they had in last year’s 8-3 season.
On the heels of announcing our first-ever Big Country Preps Girls Athlete of the Year, it’s now time to announce our first boys winner.
Again, our Athlete of the Year and subsequent “Super Dozen” represent the Big Country Athletes who contributed the most to their athletic programs — most often over a broad range of disciplines.
So, at this time, Big Country Preps proudly announces its Boys Athlete of the Year: Kevin Yeager of De Leon.
An Athlete of the Year award for the Big Country has been a long time coming, and Big Country Preps is officially ending the wait.
What better way to end our first school year than by honoring our top all-around athletes. By that, we mean those athletes who competed at a high level over a broad range of disciplines and had the biggest overall impact on their athletic programs (as nominated by area athletic directors).
So without further ado, we proudly announce our first Big Country Preps Girls Athlete of the Year: Anna Masonheimer of Eula.
From start to finish, Masonheimer was a key contributor to Eula’s athletic success during the 2018-19 school year, beginning with her helping the EHS cross country team reach the regional meet.
She was the MVP of Eula’s district champion basketball team, earning all state honors from both the Texas Association of Basketball coaches and the Texas Girls Coaches Association. But she was just getting started at that point.
OTHER 2019 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Friday and Saturday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2019. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring.
This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.
The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.
It is for that reason that this team is largely selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the best team players (boys and girls) that the the Big Country had to offer during the 2019 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
Here are our superlative award winners for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our superlative award winners for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the inaugural All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Prior to the release of our All-Big Country Preps softball and baseball teams on Friday and Saturday, Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood will review the 2018-19 school year throughout this week and the top athletic stories produced by the area in football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.
I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for fastpitch softball — I admit it.
A long time ago, it was common for men to play the game. My dad played it. I played it. So I still thoroughly enjoy getting to as many girls softball games as possible — just to see some fastpitch again.
So, it is with pleasure that I review the the 2019 season — the top teams, the top games, the top surprises and the clubs that are about to make a splash in 2020.
That said, it’s time to dive in.
Continue reading “2018-19 IN REVIEW: Softball (w/ two photo galleries)”
With Baird’s decision this week to join the six-man football ranks, which follows a trend set in recent years by fellow Big Country Class 1A schools Rotan, Gorman, Bronte and Roby, the Bears will be entering a whole new world this fall.
On this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood explore that transition from all angles.
Also in this week’s episode, Evan and Daniel take a look back at the 2018-19 athletic year and discuss some of their highlights from the football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball seasons.