Baseball: Curiel, Alaniz Take Honors

CORPUS CHRISTI - Moody's Joe Curiel and Adrian Alaniz of Sinton will be recognized at next month's South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet as 2017 High School Baseball Coaches of the Year.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, January 18, at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center. Tickets are on sale at the Whataburger Field Box Office. To order by phone, call 361-561-HOOK (4665).

Curiel took Moody to Round Rock for the second time in five seasons as head coach; it was the school's Coastal Bend-leading 13th state tournament appearance. The Trojans captured the South Zone of District 30-5A with an 8-0 mark before taking two of three from Calallen in the Little Big 12 championship series. From there, Moody dispatched Eagle Pass Winn, Pharr Valley View, Corpus Christi King, Kerrville Tivy, and Corpus Christi Ray to win Region IV-5A.
The Trojans, who fell to Grapevine in the state semifinals, finished 30-3-3. Curiel was named Caller-Times Coach of the Year in June. Four of his seniors - pitcher Marcus Cantu, catcher Nate Medina, third baseman Ramsey Flores, and outfielder Roy Sandoval earned all-state mention.
Curiel was assisted by Richard Diaz, Cody Martinez, and Marco Medina.
In his second year as skipper of the Pirates, Alaniz managed Sinton to the Class 4A state semifinals at Austin's UFCU Disch-Falk Field, where the Region IV-4A champs were defeated by Waco Robinson. After compiling a 13-1 record to win District 31-4A, Sinton pushed past Port Isabel, Pleasanton, Zapata, Boerne, and Robstown to reach the state tournament a ninth time.
Seniors Jonathan Carrillo (OF) and Jordan Martinez (P/SS) were all-state selections for the 30-6-2 Pirates.
Andres Alaniz, Mark Pustejovsky, and Shane Segovia served as assistant coaches.