Yeager, Castillo Take Coaching Honors

CORPUS CHRISTI - Carroll’s Lee Yeager and Steve Castillo of John Paul II will be honored at the South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet January 23, when they receive awards as large and small high school coach-of-the-year, respectively.

Site is the Omni Bayfront Hotel and doors open at 6:30. Tickets are on sale at the Whataburger Field box office. To order by phone, call 361-561-HOOK (4665).

The Hooks’ ninth winter baseball celebration is presented by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and ClearChannel Radio.

Yeager coached Carroll to the 5A state tournament at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock for the third straight year. The Tigers were ranked first nationally by Baseball America and USA Today during the season.

Castillo, five wins shy of 700 career victories, is a 1969 Miller graduate who was head coach at Moody for 23 years before starting the Centurions program from scratch in 2008.

Large School Coach of the Year
Lee Yeager, Carroll High School

• Guided the Tigers to a third consecutive UIL Class 5A state tournament
• Fell 2-1 to A&M Consolidated in the state semifinals
• Carroll is only the second 5A team to reach three straight state tournaments (Fort Bend Elkins)
• Has led the Tigers to a 103-19 record over the last three seasons
• Tigers went 32-5 overall, 10-0 in District 28-5A
• Coached the South Texas large-school squad, comprised of Class 4A and 5A players, in the High School Coaches Association All-Star Game
• Courtney Hawkins, O’Shea Dumes and Michael Cantu made the all-state team
• Corpus Christi Caller-Times Coach of the Year

Small School Coach of the Year
Steve Castillo, John Paul II High School

• Returned the Centurions to the TAPPS 4A state tournament, where they fell to Fort Worth Christian 6-2 in the semifinals
• John Paul II finished 25-11 overall after capturing state championships in 2010 and 2011
• District record was 7-1; 3-4A co-champions
• Seniors Jakob Silva, Dimitri Villanueva, Adrian Silguero, Dominic Lopez and Bobby Puentes earned all-state mention
• Coached the John Paul softball team on an interim basis last year; the Lady Centurions went 26-2 and fell in the state semifinals
• This is Castillo’s second consecutive small school Coach of the Year award; he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011
• Five wins shy of career victory No. 700; overall mark is 695-208-13 in 28 seasons