Highway 123 Classic
Navarro / Seguin

THURSDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 26, 27

Akins Eagles Baseball 2021       

NOTE: The information on this page may be updated frequently. If your browser is set to cache web pages, you may be looking at a previously saved message. To assure that you're seeing the most current news, click your browser's REFRESH or RELOAD button. rev C  02/28/21  

2021 AKINS EAGLES
Varsity

Schedules are unofficial.
Players are urged to check with Coach Salazar.

 

|  all POOL PLAY schedules [PDF]  |
|  BRACKETS beyond pool play [PDF]  |
|  Tournaments 2021  |  Akins Baseball Main Page |

WHERE: CLICK FOR DRIVING INSTRUCTIONS.
Navarro High School 
       ...  6450 Texas Highway 123, Geronimo, TX 78155

Seguin plays at the Guadalupe County Fairgrounds
       ... Smokey Joe Williams Field, 950 S Austin St, Seguin, TX  78155

Seguin High School (schoolgrounds) (for reference: games NOT played here.)
       ... 1315 E. Cedar St., Seguin, TX  78155

14 TEAMS:
POOL A    1A   Pearsall Mavericks
                  2A   Pleasanton Eagles
                  3A   Seguin Matadors
                  4A   Bandera Buldogs

POOL B     1B   Akins Eagles
                   2B   Cornerstone Christian Warriors
                   3B   St. Mary’s Hall Barons
                   4B   Southwest Legacy Titans

POOL C     1C   Lufkin Panthers
                   2C   SA Christian Lions
                   3C   Uvalde Coyotes

POOL D     1D   Holy Cross Knights
                   2D   SA Wagner Thunderbirds
                   3D   Navarro Panthers

        |  BRACKETS beyond pool play [PDF]  |

ADMISSION CHARGE:

TOURNAMENT STYLE: Pool play, 2-bracket double elimination
              |  BRACKETS beyond pool play [PDF]  |

TOURNAMENT RULES:

Tournament passes will be $25 including Championship Game (Pass can be used at both locations).

Full Concession stands will be available at both Navarro and Seguin.

 

RESULTS & COMMENTARY (Preliminary. Subject to revision.):

GAME 1. The Eagles looked like a poorly running race car engine in the first game this morning. You’ve seen it perform while it’s taking practice laps, and it can be impressive! But today, something wasn’t firing. It might not even have been connected. Offensively, only one Eagle reached base in the first two innings. And in this tournament, the games are severely time limited. You might not get more than four or five innings, so squandering a couple is dangerous.

The Eagles engine briefly roared to life in the 4th inning, but it sputtered in the 5th, and suddenly the game was over. Gattis, Johnson, Garza, Ybarra, Roque, and Overton all got base hits. But except for the 4th inning, they were scattered too far apart to have much impact. A 4th-inning 2-RBI triple from the bat of David Johnson and a 5th-inning RBI ground-out by Gannon Gattis pushed in the three Eagle runs. On the mound, staring RHP Quincy Welch was hampered by dispensing four walks in 22/3 innings. Reliever Mathew Alvear struck out the first two batters he faced, but he became mired in the bottom half of the Cornerstone lineup. Two base hits and a hit batter would have put the winning Cornerstone runs on the board. If the scoreboard had been working properly.

GAME 2. In the second Thursday game, intermittent fine drizzle fell on the disabled scoreboard, and the Eagles performed more like a baseball team. However, they faced a badly overmatched St. Mary’s Hall, so it was tough to get a good measure of the improvement. Gattis, Garza, and Welch each recorded an extra-base hit in the 4-inning contest. Starting Eagle pitcher David Johnson allowed 5 hits, the loudest of which were a 3-bagger and an RBI double. But the stingy Eagle defense held its ground, while the Eagle bats spoke for themselves, and RHP Matt Torres pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

GAME 3. This was an ugly game. Eagles recorded ten hits, including five doubles and a Quincy Welch solo homerun. Yet the Eagles managed to lose the game to a team they should have defeated handily. Was it ineffective pitching? Three Eagle hurlers struggled through the three defensive innings that were the only ones allowed by the severely time-limited tournament. One thing is certain: this is not a format for a team that’s slow to get started. Was it ineffective base-running? Probably so. Fifteen Eagles reached base in their four offensive innings. Six scored. Nine were left on base.

Was it poor defensive play? The statistics suggest so. Of the 8 runs scored by the Southwest Legacy Titans, only two were earned runs.

Eagles finished 3rd in Pool B out of four teams. 1st: Cornerstone, 2nd: Legacy, 3rd: Akins, 4th: St. Mary’s Hall.

Eagles will play Saturday at 10:00 AM in the consolation bracket. Opponent will be the winner of a game on Friday at 4 pm between Wagner (3rd in Pool D) or St. Mary’s Hall (4th in Pool B). More likely: Wagner.

GAME 4. But it was NOT to be the Wagner Thunderbirds, successor to a team the Eagles had faced in last year’s Highway 123 tournament and had defeated 8-1. Instead, the opponent on Friday morning was St. Mary’s Hall, whom the Eagles had beaten 4-0 in last years’s tourney, and had outscored 10-3, just a couple of days ago. On any given day, I suppose it’s possible for any team to defeat another. I’ve been witness to some strange outcomes. But from what I’d seen, it was difficult to imagine that Wagner would lose yesterday to St. Mary’s Hall. Maybe it’s a reminder that my predictions and observations here are worth every penny you’ve paid for them.

The day began with dense fog, which made roadway travel to Geronimo a bit challenging. But by the 3rd inning, the fog had been completely blown away by a stiff wind from the south (blowing in from LF). Temperatures were moderate; it was a good day for some late-winter Texas high school baseball.

Starting Eagle RHP Dominic Costillo allowed four hits in the top of the 1st inning; two of those were for extra bases. The three runs that St. Mary’s scored that inning were half of their eventual total for the game. Eagle batters answered in the bottom of the 1st. In fact, the side batted around, and they racked up 6 of their eventual 14 runs in the contest. However, it should be noted that of the 14 runs Akins would tally in the game, all but two were unearned. In the 1st inning alone, the Eagles enjoyed: an error, a hit batsman, and three walks. Sometimes, there’s wisdom in knowing when not to swing.

In the extremely compressed time allowed for each game in this tournament, the home-team Eagles were given only 3 offensive innings. They recorded 6 base hits, none more rowdy than a single. RHP Anthony Castano relieved in the top of the 4th (and final) inning. He gave up a couple of hits, a walk and a run, but he struck out half of the six batters he faced.

GAME 5. Uvalde was a worthy opponent for the Eagles in this final game of the consolation bracket, but the Eagles didn’t really make it a contest. Each of the first five batters of the Coyotes lineup scored an unearned run. That was more than enough, since the Eagle offense essentially took the afternoon off. Akins leadoff batter Ryan Roque scored an unearned run on a couple of passed balls, and that was it. The Eagles were hitless in this game.

All in all, it may have been a good game for the scoreboard at the Navarro High School field to be turned off. The scoreboard had been dysfunctional from the beginning. By the second game of the tourney, the board was simply unplugged and allowed to remain dark for the remainder of the 3-day event..

Roque was also the Eagles’starting pitcher. Unfortunately, he didn’t last beyond the first dismal inning. Dominic Costilla and Anthony Castana each pitched two innings of relief. Costilla kept the Coyotes off the (non-functioning) scoreboard. Castana gave up two earned runs, the only ones of the game.

------------
It’s early in the season to judge too critically, but it’s already fair to say that Navarro High School has a nice field and a fine baseball facility. And except for the scoreboard, they seem to keep it all maintained pretty well. The folks associated with the tournament seemed accommodating and eager to help. The locals are friendly enough, but for some reason, everyone was wearing a mask and refusing to shake hands. The TASO umpires from the New Braunfels chapter sang mostly on-key, though one seemed prepossessed with his policing of jewelry and sleeves. Balls and strikes? Maybe not so much. And for the second year in a row, players, coaches and spectators had to wait for a tardy umpire.

All in all, it was an enjoyable tournament. If the Eagles return there next year, I might hope that they would focus on scoring early. With the absurdly short time alloted for playing each game, a team can’t afford to wait a couple of innings before putting the machine in gear.


--------------------

             

                                  |  Top  |  Tournaments 2021   |  Akins Baseball Main Page  |

 


WWW.AKINSBASEBALL.ORG   ENTIRE SITE COPYRIGHT © 2021 R.A. MORTON. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced without permission.