Calallen’s Tress Vasquez hit an RBI triple in the top of the 7th of Game 3 to give Calallen a 2-1 lead and Brayden Sprencel shut down Boerne in the bottom of the 7th to give Calallen the victory and a rematch with Sinton in this year’s Region IV Finals. The win also gave Calallen Head Baseball Coach Steve Chapman his 1,116 win making Chapman the winningest high school baseball coach in Texas history.
Chapman’s win eclipsed the 1,115 wins held by Bobby Moegle of Lubbock Monterey. Moegle held that spot for almost 30 years. Moegle coached from 1960-1999, all at Lubbock Monterey. He took his teams to the state tournament 13 times, winning the state championship in ’72, ’74, ’81 and ’96.
Coach Chapman got his first and only head coaching stint at Calallen in 1983 and is in his 40th year there. Chapman’s Calallen teams have won 3 State Championships (2000, 2005, 2008) and have been to the State Tournament 12 times. Calallen has been to the playoffs 31 straight seasons (not counting 2020 CoVid shutdown season). They have been to the playoffs 33 of Chapman’s 40 seasons there. They have won or shared 27 District Championships.
There were only 20 baseball players in the program when Chapman first came to Calallen in 1983. Now, 75-80 come out to make one of the three teams for the 4A school. Baseball is big in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend area and the Calallen program has been well supported by local fans. Robstown and Calallen district matchups have drawn close to 4,000 in attendance over the years. In 2007, Calallen played Corpus Christi Moody in the Area Round of the playoffs at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. Attendance was over 8,000 for the first two games of the series and over 9.000 for the Game 3 matchup.
Last year’s Regional Final game vs Sinton was scheduled for a one-game playoff at Whataburger Field. With both teams ranked #1 and #2 in the state, a large attendance was expected for the one-game playoff. Rain forced the series to Laredo, a game which Sinton won 2-1 in 8 innings.
Chapman’s record-breaking win last Saturday gives Calallen a rematch with Sinton in the 2022 Region IV Finals. This year, Sinton is ranked #1 and Calallen is ranked #3 in the latest Diamond Pro/THSB 4A Top 25. They will play in a 1 game playoff at Whataburger Field on Thursday, June 2. It will undoubtedly be a huge event!
– by Tim Baugh
Photos courtesy of Blake Purcell
.
The Rangers Area Code Team loses to the Athletics Area Code Team 4-3 on Day…
3 pitchers combined for a shut out and the offense scored 6 runs as the…
The Rangers Area Code Team came back to tie the game at 3-3 in the…
Rangers AC 6 Royals AC 1 Leadoff hitter Connor Comeau (Austin Anderson) had 2 hits…
Rangers AC 3 White Sox AC 2 Easton Autrey (Corsicana) hit a 2-run home run…
