Hooks, CCISD, City Honor Coles Team June 4

CORPUS CHRISTI - They were a team largely lost to history, a passing reference made to the 1965 Prairie View Interscholastic League (PVIL) champions whenever another Corpus Christi high school won yet another state baseball title.

There have been 24 Texas baseball championships captured by 15 different Coastal Bend schools, but Solomon M. Coles was the first… on June 4, 1965. On that warm, windy Friday at Cabaniss Field, Coles defeated Gilmer Valley View 4-1, completing a two-game sweep of the Tigers.

The Green Hornets will be recognized by the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Corpus Christi Independent School District, and the City of Corpus Christi in pregame ceremonies on Thursday, June 4, at Whataburger Field. The Hooks play host to Northwest Arkansas that night at 7:05. Gates open at 5:30, and all fans receive a 1965 Coles Team Poster. 1965 Coles players will sign autographs on the stadium concourse between 5:30 and 6:30.

During pregame on-field recognition, eight of 10 surviving team members will receive state championship rings - third baseman Jimmy Hall, pitcher Gates Hardeman, equipment manager/statistician Jeff Lloyd, second baseman Thelton Roberts, catcher James Randle, outfielder Preston Randle, outfielder Billy Sayles, and shortstop Thomas Walker. All but Walker, who resides in Atlanta, live in Corpus Christi. Catcher Johnny Elias and outfielder Arnold Scott live out of state and are unable to attend.

Five team members have passed away, including coach John Clay, pitcher Clem Adams, pitcher Eddie Brooks, first baseman Robert Floyd, and outfielder Clarence Jefferson.

Hurricane Alley and Brewster Street Ice House are presenting the June 4 event, which underscores Coles' legacy in the local baseball landscape. The state championship rings are by South Texas Balfour.

"The story of that team is one that should be told time and again," Hooks VP/GM Michael Wood said. "It's one of great triumph through overcoming adversity. It's also a story of justice and redemption, as Coles was reinstated to the state playoffs in '65 because a team that had defeated the Green Hornets was disqualified due to ineligible players."

"It's been a true blessing to work on this project, really the opportunity of a lifetime," Hooks senior communications director Matt Rogers said. "The story of that ball club is about so much more than baseball. Baseball brought those guys together, as it brought the Hooks and Coles together. That's the power of our game. But, think about the backdrop of the spring of '65. Those Coles players came of age as the segregation of African-Americans and Caucasians was coming to an end, yet they still played in a segregated league. As boys and young teens, they'd lived in a separate society.

"The story is also about the tremendous sense of multi-generational pride held in that school by the black community, with a look back at the Washington-Coles business district."

To order tickets for the June 4 Coles state championship recognition, click here.

Follow this link to the 2015 Hooks digital program; the Coles story begins on page 98.