Top 25 Stories from the 2022 Texas High School Baseball Season

 admin  |    Jun 28th, 2022

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1. Calallen’s Steve Chapman Takes Over as Winningest High School Baseball Coach in Texas

Calallen Head Baseball Coach Steve Chapman tied and passed Bobby Moegle of Lubbock Monterey in Calallen’s last two wins of the year to become the Texas all-time coaching wins leader. Chapman finished the season with 1,116 wins. Chapman is in his 40th year at Calallen (his only head coaching job) and his teams have won 3 state championships (2000, 2005, 2008).

2. Sinton’s Blake Mitchell Named Texas Gatorade Player of the Year

Blake Mitchell, a 6-2, 200 junior C/SS/RHP from 4A Sinton was named the Gatorade Texas Baseball Player of the year. Mitchell hit .465 with 17 doubles, 7 home runs, 49 runs scored and 52 RBIs. On the mound, he was 6-0 with an 0.40 ERA and 67 Ks in 35.1 innings. His team Sinton won the 4A State Championship with a 37-1 record. Mitchell has maintained a 4.43 GPA in the classroom. He has made a verbal commitment to play baseball on scholarship at Louisiana State University beginning in the fall of 2023.

3. Southlake Carroll Wins 3rd 6A State Championship in Last 4 Seasons

Southlake Carroll marched through playoffs without losing a game to capture their 3rd State Championship in the last 4 seasons. It was Southlake Carroll’s 5th baseball state championship overall and their 10th state tournament appearance. Carroll was 10-0 in playoff games this year. They beat Ft. Bend Ridge Point 6-1 in the State Semifinal Game and beat San Antonio Reagan 8-5 in the 6A State Championship Game. Carroll gave up only 7 runs in the 10 games and had 7 shutouts during the playoff run.

4. Sinton Dominates 4A Classification

Sinton was the Diamond Pro/THSB #1 team in the 4A Preseason poll and they held on to that spot all season long going 36-1 and capturing the 2022 4A State Championship. Sinton dominated at the 4A State Tournament beating Celina 9-0 in the 4A State Semifinal game and beating Argyle 9-0 in the State Championship Game. Sinton was 3-0 against 5A teams and 4-0 against 6A teams. They were ranked the #2 team in Texas in the Final THSB All-Texas Baseball Poll.

5. Calallen’s Justin Lamkin Strikes Out 21 Batters in a Game

Calallen Sr LHP Justin Lamkin struck out 21 batters in a 7-inning game March 10. Playing in the Kerrville ISD tournament against 5A Kerrville Tivy, Lamkin had a perfect game going into the 6th inning and all of the Tivy outs had come by strikeout. With two outs in the 6th, a Tivy batter hit a ground ball to the infield and reached base on an error. Ironically enough, if the batter had been thrown out at first, Lamkin would have only gotten 20 Ks. Lamkin struck out the next batter to end the inning and then struck out all 3 batters in the 7th to record all 21 outs by strikeout. Lamkin did not walk a batter. 11 of the strikeouts were strikeouts looking and 10 were strikeouts swinging.

6. Georgetown Wins 5A State Championship, 1st State Title

Georgetown claimed their first 5A Baseball State Championship with a hard fought 2-1 win over Friendswood. Georgetown made it to the State Tournament in 2015 and 2019 and made it to the State Championship Game both times only to fall to Prosper in 2015 and to Colleyville Heritage in 2019. In this year’s tournament, they beat Frisco Wakeland 5-4 in the state semifinal game to meet Friendswood in the Championship Game. Landon Hyle had an RBI single and Logan Smith had a solo HR while Jacob Hadden held Friendswood to just one run to give Georgetown their first ever baseball state title.

7. Corpus Christi London Wins First State Title in Wild 3A Championship Game

After just missing out on the 3A title in a crazy game in 2021, Corpus Christi London beat Brock 16-13 in another crazy game to take the 2022 3A State Championship Title. The 29 runs broke a record for the most runs scored in a 3A State Championship Game. It was Corpus Christi London’s first baseball state championship. The game had 24 hits, 9 extra base hits and 13 walks.

8. Katy’s Tom McPherson Retires 4th on the All-Time Texas High School Baseball Coaching Career Wins List

Katy Head Baseball Coach Tom McPherson announced in early April that he would be retiring from coaching baseball after the end of the season. It was his 34th year as Head Baseball Coach at Katy. Before he retired, McPherson moved into the 4th spot on the All-Time Texas High School Baseball Coaching Wins list with a district win over Katy Morton Ranch, picking up his 884th career win. He finished the season with 890 wins. McPherson also had head coaching jobs at Johnson City and Canyon. He led Katy to a State Championship Runner-Up in 2006

9. Southlake Carroll’s Griffin Herring Has 47 Consecutive Scoreless Inning Streak

Southlake Carroll’s Sr LHP Griffin Herring went 47 consecutive innings without giving up a run. Herring gave up a run in the top of the 7th on April 14th against Northwest Eaton (their first run of the game) and didn’t give up a run another run until the 7th inning of the State Tournament Semifinal game against Ft. Bend Ridge Point. The Texas state record is 55 innings. The streak covered 8 consecutive games, including 6 playoff games. Herring finished the season with a 13-1 record, 145 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.24.

10. Valley Mills Wins First Baseball State Championship in 30 Years

Valley Mills reached the state tournament for the fourth time in the last 20 years but it had been 30 years since they last won a baseball state championship. They defeated New Home 4-3 in the first 2A State Semifinal game but most were focused on #1 Garrison vs #3 Shiner in the other semifinal game. Shiner beat Garrison in that big matchup to face Valley Mills in the 2A State Championship Game. But Valley Mills was up for the task and beat Shiner 4-2, capturing the 2A State Baseball Championship, their first in 30 years.

11. Game Ending Triple Play Gives Weatherford Christian 3rd TAPPS State Championship

Weatherford Christian clinched their 3rd consecutive State Championship with a game ending triple play, holding off Shiner St Paul by a score of 3-2. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and no outs in the top of the 7th inning, the St. Paul batter hit a soft liner that appeared to be going over the head of Weatherford Christian shortstop Clay Dukes. But Dukes was able to run down the ball and make the diving catch for the out. The St. Paul runner on 2nd was already down the line and Dukes threw to 2B Carter Guynes to double up the runner. The St. Paul runner on 3rd dashed home on the throw to 2B in hopes of tying the game but Guynes was alert and his throw home was on target allowing C Jaxon Foland to make the tag at home for the 3rd out, completing the triple play and giving Weatherford Christian the Division 5 State Championship.

12. Sinton/Calallen Playoff Regional Final Playoff Game Draws 7,892 in Attendance

The much anticipated Regional Final rematch between Sinton and Calallen actually came about as both teams marched through the playoffs to meet again in the Regional Finals in a one-game playoff at Whataburger Field. Sinton was ranked #1 at the end of the regular season and Calallen was ranked #3. Sinton won last year’s battle 2-1 in 8 innings. 7,892 attended this rivalry playoff game, thought to be one of the Top 5 attended games in Texas High School Baseball History. Sinton won the game 3-1 to advance to the State Tournament.

13. Prestonwood Christian Shuts Outs Opponents for 2nd Ever Baseball State Title

Prestonwood Christian did not give up a run in the postseason including a 5-0 win over San Antonio Central Catholic in TAPPS Division I Championship Game, handing Prestonwood their 2nd ever TAPPS Baseball Title. In the Semifinal game, Trenton Shaw pitched 6.2 innings of no-hit ball and Prestonwood scored on an attempted squeeze bunt play when the ball got away from the catcher in the bottom of the 8th. Bennett Seal pitched the complete game shutout in the championship game. Prestonwood Christian captures the title in James Vilade’s first year as Prestonwood Head Baseball Coach.

14. Cornerstone Christian’s Ivan Hoyt Wins Texas High School Baseball HR Title

San Antonio Cornerstone Christian 3B/RHP Ivan Hoyt led all Texas High School Baseball players with 12 Home Runs. Hoyt had a big offensive year hitting .541 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs, 54 RBI and 64 runs scored as well as 39 stolen bases. He hit 6 home runs in the first 8 games of the year. His 10th home run on March 31 moved him past North Shore’s Joseph Sanchez and Hoyt stayed on top of the Home Run list for the rest of the season.

15. Calallen’s Justin Lamkin Is Texas High School Baseball Strikeout Leader

Calallen Sr LHP Justin Lamkin led all Texas High School Baseball players in strikeouts with 162. Lamkin was 11-2 for Calallen and got his 162 K’s in only 76.2 innings, an average of 2.12 strikeouts per inning. He had 8 games of 10 or more strikeouts and had games of 21 and 19 Ks. He also had one no-hitter game. Lamkin is expected to be drafted in this year’s MLB Draft.

16. Rockwall-Heath’s Jett Williams Expected to be Drafted in the First Round of MLB Draft

The 2022 MLB Draft will begin on July 17 and many conversations around the MLB Draft has Rockwall Heath’s SS Jett Williams as the highest drafted player out of Texas High School Baseball, likely in the first round. MLB.Com has ranked Williams at #26 while the latest ESPN mock draft has Williams at #11 and Baseball America has him at #14. Williams is considered a legit 5-tool player – hitting for average, hitting for power, speed, defense and strong arm.

17. Lake Travis’ Mike Rogers Retires after Picking Up 800th Career Win

Lake Travis Head Baseball Coach Mike Rogers retired after 40 years and finished his career with 800 wins. He spent the last 9 years with Lake Travis. Coach Rogers picked up his 800th win on June 3rd when Lake Travis evened up the series with San Antonio Reagan in the Regional Finals. Reagan went on to win Game 3 and end Lake Travis’ season. Rogers was 266-43 in his 9 years at Lake Travis. In those 9 years, they went to the Regional Quarterfinals 5 times, the Regional Semifinals once, the Regional Finals once and the State Semifinals one year.

18. Houston Second Baptist Wins Sixth TAPPS Baseball Title

Houston Second Baptist breezed through the TAPPS Division II State Tournament beating Lutheran South 10-5 and Brook Hill 11-5 to capture the 2022 Division II Championship. It was their sixth baseball title overall and their first since 2016. The Eagles finished the season at 24-6. They scored 42 runs in their 4 postseason games.

19. D’Hanis Wins 1A State Championship

The D’Hanis Cowboys captured the 1A State Championship with impressive wins in the State Tournament. In the State Semifinal game, D’Hanis needed just 4 ½ innings to take care of Abbott, winning 16-0. Daelyn Gonzalez pitched the 5-inning shutout giving up only 2 hits while striking out 7. He finished the season with a perfect record of 11-0. In the State Championship Game, D’Hanis got another shutout from Ryan Hendry, winning 4-0. Hendry gave up only 3 hits while striking out 6. This was D’Hanis’ 3rd baseball state championship.

20. Midland Classical Comebacks Help Them Repeat as TAPPS Division IV State Champion

Midland Classical became the comeback kids in the TAPPS State Tournament to secure their 2nd consecutive TAPPS Division IV State Championship. In the state semifinal game, Midland Classical got down 8-4 early against Temple Christian but scored 8 runs in the last two innings to win 12-8. In the championship game, Midland Classical got down 5-0 against Central Texas Christian. But Midland Classical scored 8 runs in the 3rd and went on to win 13-6 for the TAPPS Division IV State Championship.

21. Bay Area Christian Wins Second Consecutive TAPPS Division III Title

The 28-13 Bay Area Christian Broncos didn’t have the same record as last year’s 28-4 Bay Area Christian team but the results were the same. The Broncos held off Northland Christian 7-5 in the TAPPS Division III Semifinal Game and then held off Lake Country Christian 5-3 in the championship game to capture their second consecutive TAPPS Division III State Championship.

22. Kinkaid School Wins Fourth SPC Baseball Championship

Kinkaid School defeated Bellaire Episcopal 5-3 to win the Southwest Preparatory Conference Baseball Championship. It is Kinkaid’s fourth baseball championship since the conference began in 2000. Kinkaid got a bye in SPC tournament after winning the South Zone district with a 6-0 record. They beat Cistercian Preparatory School 4-0 in the 2nd round and St. John’s School 5-1 in the 3rd round to reach the championship game versus Episcopal.

23. Falfurrias Coach David Salinas Retires after 34 Years as School’s Head Baseball Coach

Falfurrias Head Baseball Coach David Salinas is retiring after 34 years as the school’s head baseball coach. His only head baseball coaching job, Salinas finishes with a career record of 709-269-6. Salinas’ team made it to the state tournament 3 times, winning the 3A State Championship in 1990. His teams won or shared 19 district championships and made 27 playoff appearances.

24. Nolan Ryan, Sinton’s Gene Kaspryzk, Andrews’ Rodney Gardner Inducted into THSBCA Hall of Fame

2022 inductees into the THSBCA Hall of Fame include Nolan Ryan, a MLB Hall of Fame pitcher who was 19-3 with 211 strikeouts in his senior season at Alvin High School, Gene Kasprzyk, longtime Sinton baseball coach who won 777 career games and three state championships, and Rodney Gardner, who won 723 games at Lubbock Estacado, Abernathy and Andrews and made the playoffs each year in his last 20 years.

25. Region IV Makes Big Showing at State Tournament

Region IV dominated in the State Tournament in 2022 capturing 4 of the 6 State Championships. Georgetown (5A), Sinton (4A), Corpus Christi London (3A) and D’Hanis (1A) all won titles as Region IV representatives. The other two Region IV representatives, San Antonio Reagan (6A) and Shiner (2A) won their semifinal game and were State Runner-ups.

-Tim Baugh

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