At the Class 1A level, where it is common for athletes to participate in multiple sports at the same time due to a lack of numbers, individuals who excel in different disciplines are invaluable.
At Gordon, junior multi-sport star Stryker Reed falls into this category, and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week is now demonstrating it on the heels of an amazing effort.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Legacy-Cooper baseball (62 images)”
Brady Henderson had nine strikeouts while allowing just one walk in a no-hitter as Cooper beat Wichita Falls Legacy 20-0 on Saturday afternoon in blustery conditions at Cougar Field.
It marked the second time this week that the Leopards were no-hit, following Abilene High’s George Ferguson achieving the feat on Tuesday afternoon.
Cooper coach Brandon Stover was pleased with how Henderson attacked the zone with his 64 pitches — 44 of which went for strikes — as well as the Cougars’ defensive effort behind him.
The Wylie baseball team rallied from a pair of early deficits to defeat Abilene High 15-8 on Thursday, using a seven-run bottom of the sixth to finally put the Eagles away in a three-hour affair at Bulldog Field.
Trailing 2-0 after one inning and 5-2 after three, the Bulldogs followed three-run outbursts in the fourth and fifth innings with the seven-run explosion in the sixth to open District 4-5A play with a comfortable win.
Wylie, which outhit AHS 11-8 on the afternoon, took advantage of 12 walks and turned three Eagle errors into seven unearned runs on the way to scoring 11 of its 15 runs with two outs.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wichita Falls Legacy-Abilene High baseball (20 images)”
George Ferguson was utterly dominant on the mound, and he got far more run support than needed Tuesday as the Abilene High baseball team opened District 4-5A play with a 10-0 run-rule victory at Blackburn Field.
Ferguson struck out 14 batters in a five-inning no-hitter, allowing just two base runners — one of those on an error — in an outing that was almost perfect.
And behind the hard-throwing sophomore, who struck out the side in four of his five innings, the Eagles put up four runs in the first inning and five more in the third to take control early in joining Wichita Falls Memorial atop the district standings after the Mavericks downed Cooper 8-1 in their league opener Tuesday.
Fresh off a successful basketball season, Eula’s Hailie Cauthen has transitioned to softball as though she were in mid-season form.
In fact, the senior shortstop was good enough through five games last week to take our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending March 8.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos. Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: AISD Invitational (174 images)”
The annual AISD Invitational came to a cold, windy and wet end on Saturday as Cooper finished an undefeated tournament with a 9-2 win over Burleson, while Abilene High beat Copperas Cove 10-6.
Cooper finished the tournament at 5-0 while AHS went 4-1.
Meanwhile, a highly anticipated game between Brock and Wylie was canceled on account of the weather.
Five teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area picked up a pair of wins on Friday on the second day of the AISD Invitational.
Abilene High, Cooper and Wylie all had relatively stress-free days, while Brownwood and Brock combined for four wins.
Wall, which struggled at times during its tournament action, closed out its play in the event with a big win over San Angelo Central.
Cooper and Wylie swept their opponents as the AISD Invitational got under way on Thursday at three different locations across town, while Abilene High split a pair of games with Brock and Wall.
The Cougars knocked off San Angelo Lake View and Brownwood, while the Bulldogs were able to dispatch Andrews and San Angelo Central in their two games. The Eagles fell to Brock in their tournament opener before rebounding with a resounding win over Wall.
Teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area went a combined 8-4 on Thursday with Brock joining the two Abilene schools with an undefeated day.
While Stephenville’s Tristian Gentry is no stranger to this column, it’s usually via football that he lands in our Top 10 — especially after missing track last year due to injury.
Well, it’s track season again and it just so happens that the SHS senior is healthy this time around — returning as one of the area’s top guns in that sport. He’s already off to a great start, having captured four gold medals at a talent-loaded Brock meet last week.
Aside from first place leaps in the long jump (21-1) and triple jump (43-2), he also helped SHS’ 400 and 800 relay teams take gold with splits of 43.26 and 1:30.1, respectively.
Munday’s Caisen Lee isn’t the first freshman to whom we’ve given our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. But during the basketball playoffs, it is indeed a rare occurrence.
Nonetheless, Lee takes our top spot with a pair of top notch efforts in playoff wins over Aspermont (77-48) and Westbrook (48-36).
After recognizing the Big Country’s top pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders, we wrap up our baseball position rankings series with the area’s multi-position standouts.
For the final installment in our five-part series, we take a look at the top utility players, ranking our top-10 with others to watch in 2025.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these lists and are as excited as we are that baseball season is underway.
For the fourth installment of our five-part baseball position rankings series, we shift our focus from the infield dirt to 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 2025.
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 2025.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
After opening our baseball position rankings series with the pitchers on Wednesday, 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 2025.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After kicking off the spring sports season with our softball position rankings last week, it’s time to turn our attention to the the baseball field and the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2025 campaign.
For the first installment in a five-part series that will cover all position groups on the area baseball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s best pitchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wall-Abilene High baseball (51 images)”
Tye Briscoe — and those who have followed his decorated baseball career — have known where he was going to play his college ball for going on three years now. On Wednesday, the talented pitcher and outfielder got to make it official.
Flanked by football players Sutton Peck (Abilene Christian University), Andre Gjerpe (Morehead State University) and Keegan Anderson (Independence College), who also locked in their college choices during Wylie’s Wednesday afternoon Signing Day ceremony, Briscoe signed with the University of Arkansas, making good on the commitment he made to the Razorbacks on Aug. 25, 2022.
And though there was little mystery or suspense to his recruitment process, the fire-balling and power-hitting lefty was happy to put pen to paper in front of friends, family and supporters at Bulldog Gym.
National Signing Day is typically a busy one in the Big Country Preps’ coverage area and 2025 was no exception with several players inking and/or confirming their commitments to play at the next level.
At various signing ceremonies held throughout the area, athletes celebrated their final choices to pursue a degree while competing collegiately.
Toby Goodwin never would have dreamt he would become a six-man football coach.
In fact, when Goodwin made his debut leading Ira’s football program in 1997 fresh out of college, it was only the second time he’d ever witnessed a six-man football game in person.
Goodwin never left Ira, amassing 237 victories in those 28 seasons. He also reached the pinnacle last baseball season when the Bulldogs captured the 1A state championship.
And now Goodwin has only one semester to add more coaching memories as he announced his retirement this week.
The fall national signing period opened Wednesday, and a number of athletes throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area either made their college decisions official at signing day ceremonies or have announced plans to do so in the near future.
Here’s a list of those area seniors and where they’ll be competing next season:
LAST WEEK: 45-8, .849
SEASON TOTAL: 464-122, .791
The regular season ends Friday night (if you can believe it) and there’s no better way to close things up than with No. 5 Class 2A DI Hawley (9-0, 4-0) at No. 1 Stamford (9-0, 4-0).
The winner will earn the District 4 championship and No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs, so much is at stake.
I’m leaning toward Stamford here for three reasons: First, the overall team speed of SHS is unmatched by anyone in the area.
Secondly, the Bulldogs have an intangible working here — specifically a last-second miracle touchdown scored by Hawley’s
Camden Ables from 45 yards out with 0:47 left in last year’s game.
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. 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 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
Here are our superlative award winners for the 2024 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 2024 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 2024 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2024 All-Big Country Preps baseball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s baseball selections, please click the links below.
ROUND ROCK — After weathering an early storm to play Franklin even after six innings, the Brock baseball team had every reason to be optimistic about its chances of closing its time in Class 3A with its first state championship since 2006.
But a series of unfortunate events with two outs in the top of the seventh led to an unlikely three-run outburst for the Lions that proved to be the difference in a 7-4 loss at Dell Diamond.
The Eagles, who had rallied from early deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to knot the score with a three-run bottom of the third, gave up runs in the seventh on a pop up behind the bag at third that landed fair by inches, a seeing eye grounder through the left side and a weak ground ball up the middle that second baseman Cam Harris got to, but couldn’t field cleanly enough to make a throw.
By the end of that sequence, Brock went from playing for a walk-off win in its final at-bat to staring at a deficit that proved too large to overcome. And the end result was the Eagles’ second state championship game loss in three years.
ROUND ROCK — After seeing each of its last two state tournament trips end with losses to Corpus Christi London, the Brock baseball team flipped the script on the Pirates on Friday.
This time, it was the Eagles who sent London home with a 5-2 win in the first of two Class 3A state semifinals at Dell Diamond.
Brock, which fell to the Pirates 7-2 in the 2021 semifinals and 16-13 in the 2022 championship game, never trailed Friday, scoring two runs in the top of the second before answering a two-run London sixth with a three-run outburst in the seventh to earn the win and advance to Saturday’s title game against Franklin.
ROUND ROCK — It took more than a month and 12 playoff games, but the surprising Hawley baseball team finally met its match Thursday at Dell Diamond.
Top-ranked Collinsville scored in every inning but one and got a stellar start from Logan Jenkins to down HHS 9-0, ending the Bearcats’ best season in program history one win shy of the Class 2A state championship.
The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for coach Jamie Seago’s team, including an 11-game surge in the postseason that saw the Bearcats outscore six playoff opponents by a combined 82-25 margin.
ROUND ROCK — During an extended tenure at Ira, as both a football and baseball coach, Toby Goodwin has had a lot of good teams. Included on that list are several he felt were capable of winning a state championship.
On Thursday, just one day after making their state debut in either sport, both Goodwin and his Bulldogs finally reached that summit, downing Fayetteville 7-6 in eight innings to claim the Class 1A title at Dell Diamond.
The victory, which saw IHS record the final out with the tying run on third base, put a perfect bow on a perfect 24-0 season and left the Bulldogs’ longtime mentor emotional as he reflected on what his team had just accomplished and what it meant to a community that had been longing for so long to taste that level of success.
AUSTIN — The Hawley baseball team needed eight innings and contributions from almost every player in its lineup to extend its deepest playoff run in program history Wednesday at the University of Texas’ Disch-Falk Field.
But the Bearcats’ Class 2A state semifinal matchup with Flatonia ended the same way each of their first 10 postseason games did — with a check in the ‘W’ column.
After watching FHS rally from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, coach Jamie Seago’s squad scratched across a run in the eighth and held on from there for a dramatic 4-3 victory, ending a hectic day that saw a morning storm in Round Rock force a venue change to the state’s capital.
ROUND ROCK — Ira’s Class 1A state semifinal game against Chester wasn’t always pretty Wednesday at Dell Diamond. But the good thing for coach Toby Goodwin and his Bulldogs is it didn’t need to be.
IHS was outhit 8-4, had three errors lead to four unearned runs and trailed 5-0 just three innings into its first-ever state tournament game. And when the Bulldogs did finally rally, they did the bulk of their damage with their bats on their shoulders, taking advantage of seven walks, two hit batsmen and two wild pitches on their way to a 10-5 win.
But in the end, the come-from-behind victory over a feisty Yellow Jackets squad was enough to earn the Bulldogs their first state championship appearance in program history. And that reality is as beautiful as Goodwin could have ever imagined it would be.
WEATHERFORD — The Brock baseball team cashed in on its scoring opportunities and kept Jacksboro from doing the same Saturday night at Weatherford College’s Roger Williams Ballpark.
In the end, that was the difference in a 9-3 win that clinched the Region I-3A championship for the Eagles and earned BHS its third state tournament trip in four years.
Coach Koby Page’s lineup scored at least one run in all six of its trips to the plate, while pitchers Cam Harris and Ethan Riley pitched around near constant base traffic to keep Jacksboro off the board until the seventh inning. And by then it was too late for the Tigers, who saw their season end one win shy of their first state appearance at 31-10-1.
SEMINOLE — The Hawley baseball team is headed to the state tournament for the first time ever after blasting New Home 8-2 in Game 2 of its Region I-2A finals series on Friday to secure a series sweep over the two-time defending region champion Leopards at Robert Ryan Baseball Field.
Facing New Home ace Logan Addison, the Bearcats came out of the gates firing, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first to chase the Texas Tech-bound right-hander after just one-third of an inning.
That cushion was all starter Creed Ernst needed as he delivered five strong innings before handing an 8-2 lead over to relievers Gavin Olney and Alek Southerland, who closed out the win with a clean sixth and seventh.
LUBBOCK — Pushed to the brink of elimination by an emotional Game 1 loss to Canyon on Thursday, the Stephenville baseball team rallied from a 3-1 sixth-inning deficit to defeat the Eagles 5-3 in Game 2 and force a decisive third game Friday at Texas Tech’s Dan Law Field.
But the Yellow Jackets’ postseason magic — and a wildly successful 2024 campaign — ended with the rubber match, as Canyon responded with a 5-4 win in Game 3 to deny Stephenville its second state tournament trip in four years.
The finale, which saw the Eagles score two runs in the bottom of the fifth to break a 3-all tie, closed the books on an intense regional finals series that was ultimately decided by a single run. And in reflecting on the highly competitive three-game set, during which both teams posted identical run totals, SHS coach Justin Swenson said the Eagles were just a little bit cleaner than his team was over the two days in Lubbock.
GRAHAM — It took Brock almost five innings to score in Thursday’s opener against Jacksboro.
With the Eagles’ season on the line Friday night in Game 2 of the Region I-3A championship series, Brock erupted for six runs in the first inning.
With Evan O’Connor throwing strikes, that was more than enough as the Eagles forced Game 3 with a 7-2 victory at Steers Stadium. The Region I-3A title will be decided at 7 p.m. Saturday at Weatherford College.
SEMINOLE — Hawley left-hander Westyn Balch continued his postseason brilliance on Thursday, delivering his third complete game shutout in five playoff starts to pitch the Bearcats to a 2-0 win over New Home in the weather-delayed opener of the Region I-2A finals series at Robert Ryan Baseball Field.
Balch, who lowered his playoff ERA to 1.06 with the win, allowed just one seventh-inning hit to outduel New Home starter Ashton Lucio in a game that was delayed 3½ hours by a severe thunderstorm that produced baseball-size hail in nearby Denver City.
Taking advantage of a two-run rally in the top of the seventh sparked by teammate Alek Southerland’s one-out double to the left-center field gap, Hawley’s senior ace pitched around a leadoff single and a one-out walk in the home half of that inning to close the complete game gem with his 11th strikeout on his 113th pitch of the night. It came around 12:30 a.m., capping a tidy pitcher’s duel that took just two hours to complete.
What impresses Brock baseball coach Koby Page more than the raw power or speed is center fielder Sawyer Strosnider’s mental approach to the sport.
“He just has this continual drive to improve. He’s constantly thinking of ways to fix something or how he can be better,” Page said. “He knows where he wants to be, has a goal set in mind and is definitely driven to get there.”
Strosnider has enjoyed the kind of success you’d expect from a TCU commit during his senior year. He enters the Eagles’ regional finals series against Jacksboro batting .537 with three homers, 49 runs and 46 RBI.
In fact, Strosnider has accumulated more extra-base hits (31) than singles (27) and has reached base an astounding 63 percent of the time. When the 2024 MLB Draft begins in a couple weeks, it’s a decent bet Strosnider has his name called.
Here are the Big Country baseball playoff roundups for this week. Continue reading “BASEBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Four area teams still alive in hunt for state title”
STEPHENVILLE — The Stephenville baseball team has had plenty of bad luck this year during the postseason when it comes to weather delays.
Saturday afternoon, that bad luck continued at James T. Young Field.
As Seminole’s Marco Reyes’ stepped into the batter’s box with his team down 3-2 to start the seventh inning, the lightning alarms went off, leading to a lengthy delay of more three hours.
Once the game resumed, Stephenville saw a bloop single tie the game before Kutter Stone’s walk-off sacrifice fly gave the Yellow Jackets a 4-3 win, clinching their fourth consecutive trip past the Region I-4A semifinals.
CLEBURNE — Facing elimination after dropping the opener of its Region I-5A semifinal series to Argyle 12-0 on Thursday, the Wylie baseball team looked poised to even things up and force a deciding third game Saturday at the Cleburne High School baseball field.
But leading 4-0 after 5½ innings, the Bulldogs saw the wheels fall off in a five-run bottom of the sixth, leaving them on the wrong side of a heart-wrenching 5-4 loss and a two-game sweep at the hands of the Eagles for the second straight season.
The defeat marked the fourth consecutive year that Wylie was eliminated in the fourth round of the Class 5A playoffs, ending another successful campaign at 30-8.
SNYDER — One out away from celebrating a huge Game 1 win over two-time defending region champion New Home, the Stamford baseball team saw a tough break and a clutch Leopard rally extend the game to extra innings Thursday at Moffett Field.
About 40 minutes later, it was the Bulldogs’ hearts that were broken in a 4-1 loss to the Leopards that took nine innings and more than three hours to complete.
After forcing Stamford ace Christian Duran out of the game with a comebacker that resulted in a lower leg injury, New Home rallied on its final out to tie the game off reliever Alex Guzman. And the Leopards used some more two-out magic in the ninth, when Graham Stanford and Brazos Beck drew walks ahead of a three-run blast by Ryder Starkey for what proved to be the winning runs in an epic Region I-2A semifinal matchup.
SEMINOLE — The bad news for Stephenville is that the Yellow Jackets didn’t bring their absolute “A” game to the opener of the Region I-4A semifinal series with Seminole on Thursday.
The good news for the ‘Jackets is … neither did Seminole. And by the end of the evening, Stephenville had notched a 5-1 win to take the early series lead.
Mason Haynes was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Wacey Dill worked five shutout innings to lead Stephenville (27-10-1) which can close the series with a win in Game 2 set for 4 p.m. on Saturday in Stephenville. Game 3 (if needed), will follow 30 minutes after Game 2.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Bangs-Stamford regional quarterfinal baseball series (120 images)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: May-Ira regional semifinal baseball series (77 images)”