Category: Hamlin Pied Pipers

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 61: Chris Joslin talks Coahoma football with Evan, Daniel

After a late arrival at Coahoma, Chris Joslin led the Bulldogs to a 4-7 record in his first season as a head football coach. This year, with most of that squad back, he has his team off to a 2-0 start, through which it has outscored its first two opponents by a combined 78-9 margin.

This week, Joslin took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team and his transition to the head coaching role on the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the most interesting developments of Week 2 of the Big Country football season and take a look at the top matchups of Week 3.

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! 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS Q&A: Hamlin’s Lucas talks about expectations, pressure

HAMLIN — Faced with unusually high expectations, a challenging schedule and a couple of heartbreaking finishes in the last five years, the third-ranked Hamlin Pied Pipers and coach Russell Lucas find themselves in uncharted waters early in the 2019 season. 

They are now in the position of favorites, with powerful teams from Albany and Wellington, Wheeler, Santo and others pursuing them, rather than the other way around. 

How will they handle it? 

Lucas now visits with BigCountryPreps.com’s Evan Ren to talk about the current season and the unusual position in which the Pipers find themselves in a Big Country Preps Q&A. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brady’s Bauer snags the top spot

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 7-2A Division II: Week 2 Report

Albany 28, Dublin 21 — Coach Denney Faith’s Lions raced out to a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter and held off a late Dublin rally in the fourth to earn the win at Robert Nail Stadium and open the season 2-0.

Albany quarterback Ben West threw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns in the win, with 106 yards and one of those scores going to B.J. Morris, who also added a touchdown run.

Dublin meanwhile got 294 passing yards and three scores from Cy Wing and a 100-yard receiving game from Colten Couch (9-124, 2 TDs), scoring twice in the fourth quarter to trim AHS’ lead to one touchdown with just under six minutes remaining in the game.

Albany, which has now avenged two losses from last year, will try to increase that number to three next week when it travels to Eastland. Dublin (1-1), meanwhile, will play a road game at De Leon.

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Cisco, Wall square off in a clash of area powers (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

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. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 60: Evan, Daniel talk Big Country pigskin with Texas Football’s Greg Tepper

As the managing editor of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine and an analyst for Fox Sports Southwest, Greg Tepper is respected statewide for the passion and knowledge he brings to his Texas high school football coverage.

This week, Tepper took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the Big Country football scene and his work for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wenesday Night Podcast. 

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the biggest surprises of high school football’s opening week and preview some of the Big Country’s top matchups in Week 2.

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! 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 7-2A Division II: Week 1 Report

Albany 18, Colorado City 3 — The Lions opened the 2019 season with a comfortable road win and helped coach Denney Faith hit a milestone in the process. The victory marked career win No. 300 for Faith, who has spent his entire coaching career at Albany.

The Lions were limited to just 232 yards of total offense (82 passing, 150 rushing), but they never trailed, holding the C-City offense to a single field goal in the second quarter. After taking a 6-3 lead into halftime, Albany put some separation between itself and the Wolves with six points in each of the final two quarters.

Quarterback Ben West hit on six of 14 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore Robert Bailey led the rushing attack with 97 yards and a score on just 13 attempts.

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by Evan Ren

District 4-3A Division II: Week 1 Report

Bangs 44, Early 7 — Ethan Sanchez rushed for 136 yards and three scores to lead Bangs (1-0) to a big win in its season opener. 

Leading 14-7 after the first quarter, the Dragons blew the game open with 30 straight points through the second and third periods. 

Early (0-1) was limited to 215 yards in total offense. Receiver Timmy Smithson was the top producer for EHS, catching four passes for 66 yards and one score. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Hamlin defense leads Pipers to 27-7 win at Anson

ANSON — A shootout may have been anticipated, but a trench war was what the spectators received Friday when the visiting Hamlin Pied Pipers opened the season with a 27-7 win over Anson at Tiger Stadium. 

Jackson Sepeda rushed for 90 yards and two scores and Braydin Warner rushed for 93 and another score to lead Hamlin (1-0), which never trailed in 2019’s first Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Anson, which was led by Drew Hagler’s 223 yards in total offense and one rushing TD, dropped to 0-1.

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Anson hosts highly touted Hamlin (w/ Evan Ren’s area picks for Week 1)

 

LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000

SEASON TOTAL: 0-0, .000

Fourteen seasons of Big Country football — that’s what 2019 represents for me.

Since 2006, I’ve been cruising the back roads (putting 275,000 miles on my truck) in search of the area’s best high school football games. 

And I must say, it’s been an absolute blast.

We now jump headlong into the new season, beginning with our first Big Country Preps Game of the Week for 2019 — Hamlin at Anson. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

FEATURE: Sustained success puts milestones in reach for Big Country football programs

Anyone who follows high school football in Texas knows that the Big Country has a rich tradition of producing winners on the gridiron.

But just how rich is that history?

Of the top 100 winningest 11-man programs in Texas history (regardless of classification), 11 call the Big Country home.

Brownwood is the standard-bearer with 738 wins in program history, which ranks sixth all-time. The Lions have a winning percentage of .654, which ranks 38th of programs that have a minimum of 500 games played.

The Lions, who have been playing football since 1907, are one of just 12 programs in the state to scale the 700-win plateau. But that number could grow by as many as six teams this fall, with three of those six teams hailing from the Big Country.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 59: Evan, Daniel catch back up with Dublin’s Bob Cervetto

Dublin football coach Bob Cervetto took on one of the biggest challenges in the Big Country when he accepted his first head coaching job at DHS eight years ago. In the time since, he’s turned a moribund athletic program into one that’s competitive year-round.

Earlier this week, Cervetto took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood for his second appearance on the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast. Included in the topics discussed: his thoughts on this year’s Lions team, the state of his program and what motivates him to keep showing up to work every day with his signature positive attitude.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of the top matchups of Week 1 of the high school football season.

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! 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

After a week of highlighting area standouts, we close our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s top gunslingers.

To complete our look at the area’s best players, we’ve ranked our top-10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2019.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff a new season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Running Backs

As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we’ve finally arrived at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.

After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends Monday, we move now to the area’s top running backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2019. Don’t forget to check in Wednesday night when we unveil our top 10 area quarterbacks to conclude this series.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

We’re now approaching the home stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top pass-catchers.

After starting the offensive portion of our series Sunday with the big boys up front, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the edges, ranking our top 10 wide receivers/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2019.

We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen

With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s offensive standouts. And we’ll start where any productive offense begins: on the line.

For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the big boys, ranking the Big Country’s top-10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2019.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters

After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.

We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top five kickers and punters to watch this fall.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2019 season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Backs

After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the secondary to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.

For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we key on the defensive backs, giving our list of the area’s top-10 players and others to look out for in 2019.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Linebackers

After taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen on Wednesday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2019.

Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 58: Evan, Daniel discuss predictions for upcoming football season

With the 2019 high school football season now less than two weeks away, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood have decided to utilize this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast to break down every 11-man district race and dive deeper into their predictions for the upcoming season.

In this episode, Evan and Daniel share who they think will win each district and why, and go into deeper detail why they picked they teams they did to advance to the playoffs.

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! 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen

With football season fast approaching, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest waves in 2019.

For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.

As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Dan make their picks

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. 

So dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today.  Enjoy!  We’ll see you on the road. 
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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: Games worth traveling to in 2019

Got the truck started yet?

Ready to jump on one of those farm-to-market roads to watch high school football into the late hours on a Friday night?

You’re not alone.

And, as tradition would have it, I tip my cap to those of you who will be hitting the trails each week in search of pigskin. My salute: a preseason menu of sorts.

Each week for the next 11 weeks, Big Country Preps will be searching for its Game of the Week, and we’re already looking ahead. We now present our preliminary list of Big Country Games worth traveling for, but keep in mind: the following list is subject to change as surprises and disappointments emerge.

And as we all know … surprises and disappointments always emerge.

So, without further delay, here is our list of Big Country games worth traveling for in 2019.

I’ll see you on the road.

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Hamlin’s Austin “The Beast” Lozano a force to be reckoned with

HAMLIN — To some degree, dunking a basketball is a measure of athletic prowess.  But when you’re 6-foot-1 and weigh 299 pounds, having the ability to “jam” borders on unbelievable. 

Hamlin defensive lineman Austin “The Beast” Lozano realized this, so he had himself videotaped throwing it down. The display encapsulates the amount of explosive power the senior brings to the table — power that the Hamlin coaching staff plans to take full advantage of this season.    

Just where the 17-year-old will line up and how often, is still in the planning stages as the Hamlin staff tries to figure how to minimize the attention he’ll be getting from the opposition. 

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by Evan Ren

HAMLIN TEAM PREVIEW: Lucas’ Pied Pipers are loaded

                  Braydin Warner

HAMLIN — If his 95-39 record through 12 seasons at Hamlin doesn’t say it loud enough, coach Russell Lucas has built one of the most consistent football programs in the Big Country. 

So when chats at the water cooler include the topic of Lucas having his best team ever this year, that’s significant. 

And make no mistake, those preseason conversations are common.  

Why shouldn’t they be?

The Pipers return seven offensive and nine defensive starters among 14 lettermen from a 12-2 team.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 54: Evan, Daniel talk San Saba football with Andreas Aguirre

After serving as the defensive coordinator on coach Jerod Fikac’s staff during San Saba’s breakout 2018 campaign, Andreas Aguirre was hired in February to replace Fikac when the former Armadillo coach left to take over the Georgetown East View football program.

Earlier this week, Aguirre took some time to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood on inheriting a 14-1 team, maintaining last year’s momentum and his vision for the program in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the upcoming football season and their work on the Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview. 

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Hamlin Pied Pipers

Football is fast approaching, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.

We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Friday, Aug. 16. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.

Running through the first day of fall football practice on Aug. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2019 as part of our “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.

After featuring Haskell on Tuesday, we stay in District 7-2A Division II with the Hamlin Pied Pipers. On Thursday, we will take a look at the Albany Lions, followed by the Forsan Buffaloes on Friday.  

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by Evan Ren

BCP BOYS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AND SUPER DOZEN: Yeager claims top spot

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AND SUPER DOZEN: Masonheimer takes top spot

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. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 52: Evan, Daniel take look at ‘Texas Football’ projections

The arrival of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine means the high school football season is just around in the corner.

In this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood break down Texas Football’s projections for Big Country area schools, looking at team rankings, key district races and some local and area individuals honored by the publication. 

by Daniel Youngblood

All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: First-Team Roster

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

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.

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by Evan Ren

2018-19 IN REVIEW: Softball (w/ two photo galleries)

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)” →

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 51: Evan, Daniel discuss Baird’s move to six-man, look back at 2018-19 athletic year

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.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 45: Evan, Daniel talk baseball with Clyde coach Rowley

Clyde baseball coach Colby Rowley has consistently fielded a strong product during his nine years coaching for his alma mater, and things are no different this season. His Bulldogs are currently 24-6 and slated to take on Bowie this weekend in the area round of the Class 3A playoffs.

Earlier this week, Rowley took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team, his time at Clyde and more for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also on this week’s episode, Evan and Daniel recap last week’s baseball and softball playoff action and forecast this week’s slate of games.