Amaya, Carr & Alaniz Repeat as Winter Banquet Winners

CORPUS CHRISTI – For a second consecutive year, Albert Amaya and Kevin Carr from London and Sinton’s Adrian Alaniz will be recognized at the South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet, presented by Whataburger.

Astros television reporter Julia Morales is featured speaker of the event, scheduled for January 18 at the American Bank Center’s Henry Garrett Ballroom. Doors open at 6 PM, and reserved seats can be purchased by calling 361-561-HOOK (4665).

Both London and Sinton are eyeing a fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament.

The 3A Pirates marched to a 32-4 record in 2023, including an undefeated 10-game tour through District 30-3A. London’s 20-game winning streak was snapped by the Wall Hawks in the state semifinal.

The Pirates’ postseason exploits featured a sweep of district rival Santa Gertrudis Academy in the regional final, as well as triumphs over Hallettsville, Rio Hondo, IDEA Edinburg College Prep, and Mathis.

Junior Henry Sepulveda, the 30-3A MVP, batted .360 with 38 runs scored and 17 stolen bases, while going 3-0 with 29 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings on the hill. Blayne Lyne, committed to Texas A&M University, went 11-0 with 0.80 ERA in his junior campaign. Lyne managed to strike out 99 in 70 frames.

RJ Olivares enjoyed a breakout sophomore season by hitting .446 with 14 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs en route to first-team Class 3A all-state honors by the Texas Sportswriters Association. The University of Houston commit scored 27 runs while stealing 14 bases. Junior Blake Watters was named to the 3A state all-tournament team.

Carr and Amaya, who led London to a 3A runner-up finish in 2021 before capturing the 2022 state championship, were assisted by Trey Salinas and John Harris last year.

After winning the school’s fourth baseball state championship in 2022, Sinton went 37-4 last year. The Pirates bounced back from their lone regular-season loss – a 5-2 decision vs. Comal Canyon – by winning its next 17 games via a combined score of 191-5.

The Pirates engineered playoff victories over Somerset, rival Calallen, Pleasanton, Comal Davenport, and Boerne before falling to China Spring in a 12-inning 4A state semifinal.

Sinton catcher Blake Mitchell was the Gatorade Texas Baseball Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. The Kansas City Royals made Mitchell the eighth overall pick in last June’s MLB draft. He is the highest MLB drafted player out of the Corpus Christi area since King’s Burt Hooton went second overall in 1971.

Seniors Braden Brown and Jaquae Stewart joined Mitchell as first-team all-state honorees by the TSWA. Brown went 12-0 with a 0.98 ERA and 102 Ks in 78 1/3 innings, while batting .330 with 18 runs scored and 24 RBIs. Stewart, committed to Houston Christian, posted a 1.11 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 63 innings on the way to winning nine of 10 decisions. Offensively, Stewart’s .363 batting average came with 59 walks, 34 RBIs, 32 runs, and 12 extra-base hits.

Andres Alaniz, Isaac Martinez, and Jaime Perez completed the Pirates coaching staff.

Sinton’s 2023 senior class helped the program win nearly 100 games as part of three consecutive runs to the state tournament. The Pirates enter 2024 with 12 state tournament appearances, earning state championships in 1988, 1989, 2002 and 2022.

This is the third South Texas Winter Banquet coaching award for Adrian Alaniz, the 2022 MaxPreps national coach of the year. He was also recognized in 2017 after a state tournament appearance in his second year as Pirates head coach.

Alaniz starred for both Sinton and the University of Texas before coaching at his alma mater. He led the Pirates to a state title as a junior and graduated with a 48-1 record on the mound over four seasons. Alaniz then helped Texas to the 2005 College World Series championship as a redshirt freshman. His contributions that year included a no-hitter vs. Oklahoma.