Big School Baseball: Balance
CORPUS CHRISTI - Mike Leal's Carroll Tigers lead the way with three selections to the 2016 South Texas Pre-Season Large School All-Star team announced Thursday, but overall balance is the most striking attribute of the honor squad.
Fellow District 28-6A members King and Ray placed a player each on the team, and from there six District 30-5A schools account for the remaining nine members. Defending champion Calallen and outright runner-up Gregory-Portland are both represented by a pair of players, as is Moody. Single picks from Flour Bluff, Miller, and Victoria East complete the cast.
All 14 members will be honored with their small school counterparts at the 12th South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet on Thursday, January 14, at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center. The event is presented by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and iHeartMEDIA. Tickets are on sale at the Whataburger Field Box Office. To order by phone, call (361) 561-HOOK (4665).
For decades, West Texas high school football has had its Little Southwest Conference with programs from Abilene, Midland, Odessa, and San Angelo. 30-5A baseball could be characterized as today's Little Big 12; five different clubs were state-ranked at some point last season. There are no players from Alice, Tuloso-Midway, and Victoria West among the pre-season all-stars, but the Coyotes and both tribes of Warriors combined to graduate 35 2015 seniors.
The other 30-5A entry for 2016 is newly-minted Veterans Memorial, which will play primarily with underclassmen.
The large school baseball team features just two repeaters from a year ago, and both seniors play for Leal: third baseman Michael Berglund and pitcher Jon Mike Rodriguez. Classmate and designated hitter Trace Bucey is the other Tiger.
All six of the players from Calallen, G-P, and Moody are seniors: second baseman Josh Baltierra, outfielder Nathan Rabe, outfielder Sage Hamon, third baseman Ryan Sturgeon, catcher Angel De La Paz, and first baseman A.J. Hatheway, in that order.
Other players include Ray junior shortstop Nick Loftin, Flour Bluff senior outfielder Anthony Montoya, Miller junior pitcher A.G. Ayala, King junior pitcher Dustin Saenz, and Victoria East senior pitcher Eli Villa.
Berglund, Baltierra, and Hamon were first-team All-South Texas by the Caller-Times last season.
The all-stars were nominated and selected by area Class 5A and 6A coaches.
2015 Honors
Michael Berglund, Carroll, Caller-Times 1st-Team All-South Texas 3B; District 28-6A Utility Player of the Year; Academic All-District
Trace Bucey, Carroll, 2nd-Team All-District 28-6A OF; Academic All-District
Jon Mike Rodriguez, Carroll, 1st-Team All-District 28-6A P
Josh Baltierra, Calallen, Caller-Times 1st-Team All-South Texas 2B; 1st-Team all-state 2B by Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association; 3rd-Team all-state 2B by Texas Sportswriters Association; 1st-Team All-District 30-5A 2B
Nathan Rabe, Calallen, Caller-Times 2nd-Team All-South Texas OF; 1st-Team All-District 30-5A OF; HM all-state OF by Texas Sportswriters Association
Sage Hamon, Gregory-Portland, Caller-Times 1st-Team All-South Texas OF; 1st-Team All-District 30-5A OF; Academic All-District
Ryan Sturgeon, Gregory-Portland, Wildcats' starting catcher as a junior in 2015; shifts to 3B for senior season
Angel De La Paz, Moody, District 30-5A Utility Player of the Year; Academic All-District
A.J. Hatheway, Moody, 2nd-Team All-District 30-5A 1B; Academic All-District
Anthony Montoya, Flour Bluff, Caller-Times 3rd-Team All-South Texas OF; 1st-Team All-District 30-5A P; 3rd-Team all-state OF by Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association; HM all-state OF by Texas Sportswriters Association
Dustin Saenz, King, 1st-Team All-District 28-6A P; Academic All-District
A.G. Ayala, Miller, Caller-Times 3rd-Team All-South Texas P; District 30-5A Newcomer of the Year; Academic All-District
Nick Loftin, Ray, Caller-Times 3rd-Team All-South Texas SS; 1st-Team All-District 28-6A SS; Academic All-District
Eli Villa, Victoria East, 2nd-Team All-District 30-5A P
Also receiving votes -
Alice (3): Rene Abrigo, Manuel Garcia, Kevin Hill
Calallen (2): Reece Barrett, Kale Emshoff
Carroll (1): Ryan Flores
Flour Bluff (3): Samien Alaniz, Matt Chen, Hunter Christopher
Gregory-Portland (2): Steven Rowland, Luke Taggart
King (3): Dillon Delgadillo, Anthony Handel, Ricky Ruiz
Miller (3): Ray Guerra, Benito Tapia, Arturo Vallejo
Moody (2): Marcus Cantu, Alec Martinez
Port Lavaca Calhoun (2): Walker Canales, Andrew Holsey
Ray (1): Javier Camacho
Victoria East (3): Trent Brown, Zac Leigh, Brennan Smith
Victoria West (4): Gunner Harrison, Blake Henneke, Jonathan Jimenez, Grant McDaniel