THSBCA PLAY- BALL AUGUST, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 3

The official voice of the TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION

WELCOME TO THE THIS ISSUE OF THSBCA PLAY BALL

In BRIEF

The State Tournament was held June 9-13, at Dell Diamond and

Disch-Faulk Field. There were some of these teams who have

been here before, but several for the first time.

In 2A, teams from Booker, Harleton, Crawford, and Flatonia

battled for the state crown with Flatonia defeating Crawford for

the 2A state championship. Flatonia lost in the championship

game in 2014 In class 3A West

defeated Bishop for the state championship.

Edgewood and Littlefield also represented the class

3A in Round Rock. In 4A action, played at Disch-Faulk, teams

from Wylie, El Campo, Argyle, and West Orange Stark. WOS and Argyle played for

the state championship with Argyle winning the

state title. In class 5A, Prosper

Tomball, Georgetown, , and Aledo competed

for the crown with Prosper the final champion. In class 6A the games

were just as exciting as the rest of the tournament with Laredo

Alexander, Arlington Martin, Dallas Jesuit, and Cy Ranch competing

with The Cy Ranch, the eventual champion.

Congratulations to all the teams representing Texas baseball at its finest.

NEW CALENDAR: The

website has a new calendar. Go to the calendar tab, click on

2011 THSBCA tab. You can print each month or the entire calendar. This efficient format while

providing up to date information saves money.

. NEW SPONSOR:

Special Interest Articles

STATE TOURNAMENT

ALL STAR GAMES

NEWS:

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

UIL CALENDAR

ALL-STAR GAMES

NFHS RULE CHANGES

SCHOLARSHIP NEWS

WACO HOTEL INFO

SUNBELT JUNIORS

HALL OF FAME

WEST TEXAS STORIES

2 TYPE TITLE HERE PRESIDENTS LETTER FROM JON RUSTENHAVEN

Coaches, As I sit here composing this letter, watching the temperature continue to rise, the cold and rainy spring of this past season seems a thing of the very distant past. It never ceases to amaze me how our summer “vacations” come and go by so quickly. But time marches on relentlessly and once again we find ourselves facing the start of another football season and an opportunity filled school year. For those of you that attended the coach’s convention in Houston, I hope you had the chance to listen to our scheduled speakers. If you did, you probably walked away from those sessions extremely impressed with the quality of leadership that exists in the state of Texas. After hearing these talks, I know I feel very good about the future of Texas high school baseball. The 2015-16 year will be a very important time for our baseball association. Your officers and directors have been in detailed meetings with a number of different people and groups as they map out a number of possible changes that face our great sport. Items such as pitch count limitations, playoff formats, and the number of games we can schedule will be hot topics of discussion. What we will need from all of our coaches is your input, participation, and support as these issues are brought to our attention for consideration. For those of you involved with football, I wish you well as the season unfolds. Your players and fellow coaches deserve the best effort that you can give them. I know you will more than live up to those expectations. For all of you, it is my hope and prayer that you all have a safe and prosperous school year. Believe it or not, it won’t be too long before we will all be together again in Waco! Take care and God Bless.

ALL STAR PROGRAM ADS

The 2015 All Star program had ads purchased by the following Districts 1. DISTRICT 8-6A 9. DISTRICT 12- 5A 2. DISTRICT 10-6A 10. DISTRICT 14-5A 3. DISTRICT 13-6A 11. DISTRICT 17-5A 4. DISTRICT 15-6A 12. DISTRICT 18-5A 5. DISTRICT 17-6A 13. DISTRICT 31-5A 6. DISTRICT 22-6A 14. DISTRICT 22-3A 7. DISTRICT 23-6A 15. HOUSTON AREA BB COACHES 8. DISTRICT 24-6A 16. TAHSBCA – RETIRED COACHES ASSN. A BIG THANK YOU to all these districts. We need all of these and more Districts participating in ads sales for the All Star program for 2016. It cost the association approximately $35,000 to hold this “special” event. Please start working now to make sure your District purchases an ad for next year

3 2015 ALL STAR GAME_______________ The 2015 All Star games were played at Dell Diamond in June. The 2-4A game was played on Saturday June20 while the 5-6A was on Sunday, June 21 The 2-4A game was exciting as usual with the South coming out on top. We saw outstanding pitching and hitting and some outstanding defensive plays. The 5-6A game was a very competitive game. The pitching was outstanding as was the hitting. All of these young men were a class act during the game as well as at the hotel and practice. Our coaches and parents should be proud of these players. The PRO-LINE player of the year was announced at the 5-6A game and this year’s recipient was: Josh Watson from Arlington Martin. The award was presented by Charlie Harris, representing Pro-Line Caps This year’s ALL STAR coaches were: 2-4A SOUTH: 2-4A NORTH: JEFF SHANK – W. COLUMBIA RICKY GRIFFIN - ARGYLE DEAN FITZNER - JARRELL TIM ARDEN - SUNNYVALE STEVE SEBESTA - TROY JASON ARCHIBALD - MILES 5-6A SOUTH: 5-6A NORTH: SCOTT HOLDER - COLLEGE STATION GREG HARVEY – ROCKWALL-HEATH MARIO GARCIA – LAREDO ALEXANDER GARY HIX – LUBBOCK CORONADO HONORARY COACHES- JACK BARDWELL TIM WHALEN KEN BARRINGTON HERB ESPINOSA

TWO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES: Coaches John Pope, (Cy Ranch), and Rick Carpenter, (Prosper), discuss the finer points of baseball while attending the All Star game at Dell Diamond.

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2015-2016 UIL CALENDAR

Baseball Tournament and Game Limitations

• 0 tournaments and 23 games • 1 tournament and 20 games • 2 tournaments and 17 games • 3 tournaments and 14 games

BASEBALL DATES – 2016

Date Event or Deadline

January 29 First day for practice

February 9 First day for interschool scrimmages

February 23 First day for interschool games

May 3 District certification deadline

May 7 Bi-district deadline

*May 14 *Area deadline

*May 21 Regional quarterfinal deadline

May 28 Regional semi-final deadline

June 4 Regional playoff deadline

June 8-11 State Tournament

Notes on STAAR testing • If any student in the school is taking any test (excluding makeup tests and retest) at any time that day, no

playoff game can be scheduled Monday through Thursday, as required by state law. • Once testing is complete for the week, teams may schedule playoff games beginning the following day,

provided they remain in compliance with UIL rules for scheduling playoff games. • On Friday, when there are timed tests that end at a time certain, with school approval teams could travel

no earlier than 30 minutes after the scheduled end of tests on Friday. • If any test for any student on a team involved in a post-season contest occurs on Friday and is an untimed

test, travel for that team is not permitted until the end of the school day. • If there are conflicts between a playoff series and the state track meet, it is recommended (but not

required) that schools schedule only a one game series.

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UIL NOTES

The following are some of our items of concern that have been voiced to the UIL and discussed at the June meeting. Our thanks to John Carter for representing the association at this meeting. 1. Possibly changing the wording in the rule not allowing baseball to miss school time for a playoff

game prior to Friday 2. We asked to use the volleyball pilot program for baseball and allow there to be a separate 1A-

2A Championship. 3. Continue to do a staff survey on creating a pilot program for 6A to have a double elimination at

the State Tournament. 4. Do a staff study on creating Area tournaments that would be held over the first two weeks of the

playoffs to determine who would move to the Regional round. It was also discussed that being a District champion has no benefit in the current system. We will be looking at ways to make it more beneficial. The UIL CC&R is undergoing a revamping and much discussion was made to make things better for baseball. More information will come this Fall and we will let you know what changes are being made.

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RULE CHANGES FOR 2016

Beginning with the 2016 season, umpires will be required to issue a warning to coaches before restriction to the bench/dugout or ejecting them as part of a new penalty progression to promote preventive officiating.

The revision to Rule 3-3-1 Penalty was one of two changes recommended by the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee at its June 7-9 meeting. Previously, issuing a warning to an offending coach was optional for umpires, who will now restrict to the bench/dugout or eject coaches who commit a violation after previously being warned for a minor offense. However, coaches can still be ejected on a first offense if it is deemed to be major.

Also part of the modification to Rule 3-3-1 Penalty, coaches who receive a written warning (Rule 10-2-3) will be restricted to the bench and/or dugout for the remainder of the game. “The new rule change has initiated a penalty progression, starting with a written warning, restriction to the bench/dugout and subsequent ejection from the contest,” said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS director of sports and student services and liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee. The changes to Rule 3-3-1 Penalty will help to de-escalate contentious situations and allow coaches to dictate their status in the game by their behavior, Hopkins said. “A successful game official practices preventive officiating and this new penalty progression will allow the official to issue penalties that give the coach the opportunity to remain in the game and teach his players.”

The other change approved by the Baseball Rules Committee is an addition to Rule 3-3-1. Article “q” will state that a coach, player, substitute, attendant or other bench personnel shall not “have any physical contact, spitting, kicking of dirt or any other physical action directed toward an umpire.” The addition of article “q” serves to clarify other behaviors that would result in an ejection from the game, Hopkins said. “Bad behavior that is being imitated from other levels has no place in education-based athletics and will not be tolerated,” Hopkins said. “If we are to continue to use sport to teach life lessons, then we have to ensure that appropriate behavior and conduct are modeled from those adults in the role of coach/teacher.”

In addition to the two rules changes, the Baseball Rules Committee approved three Points of Emphasis for the 2016 season. Points of emphasis are developed by NFHS rules committees and should receive special focus and attention by officials, coaches, players, fans and other leaders within the high school setting.

Points of Emphasis developed by the Baseball Rules Committee for the 2016 season are as follows:

1. INTERMEDIATE PENALTIES/RESTRICTION TO THE BENCH/DUGOUT 2. PROPER CATCHER’S EQUIPMENT 3. SPORTSMANSHIP – CELEBRATIONS AROUND OR NEAR THE PLATE AND POST-GAME

EJECTIONS

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GATORADE NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR Luken Baker from Oak Ridge High School has been recognized as the “BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE

YEAR”. At the time of his selection, the 6’5” senior right- handed pitcher and first baseman had led

the War Hawks to a 25-1 record. Baker owned an 11-0 record with a 1.23 ERA and 101 K’s in 68

innings pitched. Offensively he batted .452 with seven HR’s and a .626 on-base percentage.

A 2015 Perfect Game All-American and a 2014 Under Armour All-American, Baker was a member

of USA Baseball’s 18U National Team that won a third consecutive Gold Medal after compiling a

12-0 record at the 2014 Pan American Championship in Mexico last summer. He batted .500 in the

tournament with three HR’s. Baker has maintained a 3.75 GPA in the classroom. Luken

participated in the THSBCA All-Star game at Dell Diamond in June. His high school coach is Mike

Pirtle.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LUKEN BAKER

athletic excllence

THOUGHTS and PRAYERS

Last week Kyle Kilman, head baseball coach from Teague, passed away from cancer. He had battled this for several years. Coach Kilman was an All Star coach in 2013. He continued to coach and set an example for all of us. Our thoughts and prayers extend to his family and friends

8 TYPE TITLE HERE Jana Almendarez, wife of Chris Almendarez General Manager of the Round Rock Express, is undergoing chemo-therapy for cancer. A social media campaign, TEAM JANA, has been started to help support the entire Almendarez family and a “GO FUND ME” has also been started to help offset expenses. Our prayers are with Jana and her family. If you would like to help Chris and Jana financially go to: www.gofundme.com/TeamJana.com

DEALERS and SPONSORS

1. CARDINAL SPORTS 2. ATHLETIC SUPPLY 3. BARCELONA SPORTS 4. EAST TEXAS SPORTS/KAT MAR SPORTS 5. JERRY’S SPORTING GOODS 6. GEORGETOWN SPORTING GOODS

Please support these local Official dealers.

At the

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A  JUNIOR  TEAM  TEXAS  

Team Texas won its second consecutive Jr. Sunbelt title with a 7-3 win over Tennessee in the championship game. The Sunbelt Classic is held in McAlester Oklahoma each year and also includes teams from Oklahoma, Mississippi, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri and Canada. Each team carries a roster of 20 juniors from their region. After pool play is complete, the medal round matches up the top two teams for the championship game. Team Texas reached the championship with a 7-2 record in pool play. Texas pitchers gave up a total of 20 runs in 10 games, while the Texas offense scored a total of 76 runs for the tournament. Texas was led by MVP Jarod Triolo from Lake Travis HS, who went 4-4 in the championship game and played outstanding defense during the week. The Most Valuable Pitcher went to Tate Sanford also from Lake Travis HS. Tate threw 8 innings and compiled a 1.75 ERA with 10 K’s and 1BB. Team Texas all-tournament players were INF Zach Sweet from Langham Creek HS, OF Trace Bucey from Corpus Christi Carroll and OF Austin Todd from Round Rock HS. Coaches for Team Texas are Lou Kosonovich, O.J. Holcombe, Dane Saucier, Dale Westmoreland and Frank Romero. Congratulations Team Texas for a job well done!

   

2016 WACO CONVENTION/ REGISTRATION  

The 2016 Waco Convention will be January 14-16, 2016 Dane Saucier, President –

10 TYPE TITLE HERE Elect, has put together a great group of speakers, many of them are our own Texas coaches with a few from other states. That list of speakers will be posted as soon as all speakers are confirmed. If you have any suggestions for speakers in future clinics, please let us know.

Registration forms are now available on the website: thsbca.com as well as one included in this Newsletter.

2016 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

1. LAINE  COLLENBACK  –  SA  O’CONNOR  HIGH  SCHOOL  2. TYLER  DUDLEY  –  SAGINAW  HIGH  SCHOOL  3. SHELBY  EDWARDS  –  NEW  BRAUNFELS  HIGH  SCHOOL  4. KRISTIN  EIFFERT  –  FM  MARCUS  HIGH  SCHOOL  5. MORGAN  ELLIOTT  –  CYPRESS  CREEK  HIGH  SCHOOL  6. EMMANUEL  GARCIA  –  PALMVIEW  HIGH  SCHOOL  7. JOSEPH  GUTIERREZ  –  EAST  CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL  8. KYLIE  KLAUS  –  ROGERS  HIGH  SCHOOL  9. MEGAN  LAVALLEE  –  JIM  NED  HIGH  SCHOOL  10. HUNTER  LILE  –  BOOKER  HIGH  SCHOOL  11. TAYLOR  POPE  –  CYPRESS  RANCH  HIGH  SCHOOL  12. CALLIE  PRATHER  –  LEANDER  HIGH  SCHOOL  13. RYNE  RANDLE  –  ROCKWALL-­‐HEATH  HIGH  SCHOOL  14. BRIANA  DE  LOS  SANTOS  –  SUGAR  LAND  CLEMENTS  HIGH  SCHOOL  15. MACY  SCHMIDT  –  SECOND  BAPTIST  HIGH  SCHOOL  

Please  continue  to  support  our  sponsors  who  enable  us  to  award  our  scholarships  

HOTELS IN WACO

AMERICAS BEST VALUE INN - $54.99 – 254) 772-9440 CLARION HOTEL - $99.00 – 254) 757- 2000 COMFORT SUITES - $105. – 254) 537- 0413 COMFORT SUITES NORTH - $109. – 254) 799- 7272 COTTON PALACE - $110. – 254) 753- 7294 HAMPTON INN - $119. – 254) 662- 9500 HOLIDAY INN NORTHWEST - $119. - $95. – 254) 799- 9997 HOTEL INDIGO - $109. – 254) 754- 7000 MAGNUSON HOTEL - $59.99 – 254) 537- 0413 QUALITY INN - $99.00 – 254) 296- 0550

SLEEP INN (HEWITT) - $79.95 – 254) 420- 3200 SPENCER HOUSE - $95.00 – 254) 537- 4720 SUPER 8 WACO MALL - $53.95 – 254) 776-3194 SUPER 8 UNIVERSITY - $59.99 – 254) 754-1023 NO PRICES HOMEWOOD SUITES – 254) 644-4663 NO INFO – did not respond BEST WESTERN PLUS; WACO NORTH COURTYARD MARRIOTT DAYS INN( BELLMEAD) HILTON WACO MOTEL 6 (BELLMEAD RED ROOF INN RESIDENCE INN

SPONSORS Please continue to support all of our SPONSORS and official DEALERS as you have done in the past. Your support shows our sponsors that their participation is important to our association. Our hope is that we will continue to award 15 Scholarships a year at $1000 each with our goal of eventually awarding a scholarship to all who apply.

BLUE BELL/ THSBCA HALL of FAME

If you have not had a chance to visit our Hall of Fame in Brenham, you should make your plans today. We now have on display pictures of all Baseball State Champions from the earliest days of the UIL. There are over 600 pictures that will be on display; our thanks to the UIL for helping us with this endeavor. We are now in the process of putting all photos of the past state champions in a kiosk. Jim Long, former head coach in Brenham and past President of THSBCA, is the Chairman and care taker of all the exhibits. Blue Bell is open Monday thru Friday from 9:00- 5:00. As most of you know Blue Bell has not been producing ice cream for several months, but production in Brenham will begin soon, so be looking for it. Many thanks to Blue Bell for their support.

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Five  Dollars  and  Thirty  Cents  Bought  Me  My  Freedom  

Every  Coach  sometime  in  his  career  has  heard  these  phrase  “My  taxes  pay  your  salary  and  remember  this.”  This  is  a  recount  of  a  true  encounter  in  the  weird  world  of  coaching  and  their  fans.  

If  coaching  in  the  Wild  West  Texas  area,  is  not  challenging  enough  with  the  weather  and  dry  landscape;  then  add  the  well-­‐meaning  fans  that  make  every  practice  and  offer  their  sage  advice.    

This  event  happened  after  a  hard  loss  the  previous  Tuesday.  Sam  and  the  rest  of  his  fence  hugging  buddies  are  discussing  the  game.  “The  boys  played  like  they  were  never  coached.  We  never  played  like  this  when  I  coached  them  in  the  pee  wee  district  tournament?”  “Yea,  maybe  the  old  coach  just  cannot  get  the  stuff  out  of  the  boys.  Maybe  we  are  paying  him  too  much  and  remember  our  taxes  pay  his  salary!”  

I  hear  this  and  tried  to  ignore  this  brilliant  statement  and  walk  to  the  dugout.  The  leader  of  the  group  ole  Sam  strolls  into  the  dugout  with  me  and  says  “Coach,  the  boys  and  having  a  hard  time  and  we  need  a  little  more  for  our  money  from  you.  Remember  Coach  our  taxes  pay  your  salary  and  we  are  not  getting  our  money  worth.”    I  turn  and  say”  Sam  could  you  give  me  until  Friday  and  I  think  I  have  an  answer  we  both  can  live  with.”  

The  man  that  worked  in  the  administration  with  finances  was  a  good  friend  of  mine  and  he  disliked  Sam  and  his  buddies  as  much  as  I  did.  I  ask  him  if  he  could  find  me  the  amount  of  their  taxes  really  paid  to  my  salary.  He  stated  it  would  be  difficult  but  he  would  gladly  accept  this  challenge.  Just  give  him  until  Friday  for  the  answer.  

Friday  finally  arrives  and  we  play  a  great  game  and  win.  The  players  are  happy  and  parents  there  for  the  most  part  are  happy.  I  am  happy  for  two  reasons.  We  won  and  I  have  Sam  and  his  buddies  their  answer  that  we  can  both  live  with.  

I  am  raking  the  field  after  the  game  when  I  am  approached  my  Sam  and  the  group.  Sam  speaks  in  his  normally  loud  voice.  “Coach  I  see  our  little  talk  paid  big  results.  You  did  better.”  I  thanked  him  and  asked  him  and  his  buddies  in  the  dugout  so  we  could  talk.    “Sam,  I  have  the  results  you  ask  for  and  I  have  the  answer.  I  have  talked  to  the  administration  finance  office  and  the  amount  you  and  your  buddies  pay  in  taxes  toward  my  salary  is  $5.30.  I  have  the  money  in  these  three  envelopes  and  I  hope  this  squares  my  debt  to  you  guys.  Since  I  have  paid  you  what  I  owe  you,  please  get  the  Hell  off  my  field.    You  no  longer  pay  my  salary.”  

Sam  and  his  buddies  were  angry  and  went  to  the  Superintendent  and  told  him  what  I  had  done.  He  laughed  and  said  “Well  did  you  get  a  receipt  or  will  the  check  do?”  I  never  had  any  more  trouble  from  these  guys.  The  Superintendent  called  me  to  his  office  and  said  “Do  not  do  this  again  but  I  like  your  style.  I  do  not  like  those  guys  either.”    

“Justice  West  Texas  Style.”  JOE  RAY  HALSEY