Corpus Christi = Championships

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

It was great for this high school football nut to learn about how big the sport of baseball is in the Lone Star State, especially the in the Corpus Christi area.

If you missed yesterday's show, Carroll High School baseball coach Lee Yeager did a great job of describing how the costal city in South Texas loves the National Pastime when other cities may have moved-on to other sports.  Last year, MaxPreps.com called Corpus Christi one of the America's best high school sports cities.



Earlier this year when Yeager's defending 5-A champs opened the season against against cross-town rival Moody 4,200 fans showed-up to watch the Tigers pick-up a 7-4 victory.  Counting Carroll's state title last year, three Corpus Christi schools (Calallen, Carroll and Moody),  have combined to win six state titles since 2000. As you can see below, all three are highly ranked in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches' Pre-Season Poll.

This year Calallen and Moody are in the same district (31-4A) for the first time ever, which will take this incredible rivalry to a new level.  Since 2007 when Moody was re-classified from 5A to 4A, Calallen and Moody have played six post-season games at Whataburger Field before an average crowd of 5,551 fans.

The two will meet in regular season games on March 22nd and April 15th.

The championship city's midas touch doesn't stop with its public schools.   Aside from the three aforementioned schools, John Paul II, which opened four years ago, won the 2010 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools' (TAPPS) Class 4A title.

Texas High School Coaches Association Poll
Pre-Season as of January 27, 2011

5A

1. CORPUS CHRISTI CARROLL
2. FT. BEND CLEMENTS
3. TYLER LEE
4. COPPELL
5. SPRING BRANCH MEMORIAL
6. KLEIN COLLINS
7. SOUTH LAKE CARROLL
8. BELLAIRE
9. THE WOODLANDS
10. SAN ANTONIO CHURCHILL

4A

1. BRENHAM
2. CORPUS CHRISTI CALALLEN
3. CORPUS CHRISTI MOODY
4. ROCKWALL HEATH
5. CANYON RANDALL
6. LAKE TRAVIS
7. FRIENDSWOOD
8. FRISCO WAKELAND
9. PORT NECHES GROVES
10. WICHITA FALLS RIDER

3A

1. WEST
2. ROBINSON
3. ROBSTOWN
4. LUCAS LOVEJOY
5. PLEASANT GROVE
6. ARGYLE
7. CARTHAGE
8. ROCKPORT
9. SINTON
10. LLANO

2A

1. BROCK
2. CENTRAL HEIGHTS
3. FALFURRIAS
4. CROCKETT
5. ROGERS
6. SUNNYVALLE
7. WEIMAR
8. COMFORT
9. BUSHLAND
10. FRANKLIN

1A

1. EVADALE
2. WINDTHORST
3. CAYUGA
4. SHELBYVILLE
5. BLUE RIDGE
6. LAPRYOR
7. STAMFORD
8. MERIDAN
9. MART
10. LOVELADY

Baseball America Pre-Season Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
Host, NHSCA Sports Hour

Excited to talk with Lee Yeager of Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas on tomorrow's NHSCA Sports Hour.

Last year Carroll won its first-ever Texas baseball championship.  The 5A champs are off to a bit of a slow start after going 1-3 over the last three days in the Woodlands Tournament.  However, with eight  starters returning from last season, the Tigers may have a shot at becoming the first Texas team since 2002 (Elkins HS) to win back-to-back state titles.

In order to get his team focused and not paying attention to being ranked #1 by Baseball America in its pre-season poll, Yeager has made the team put away all memorabilia from last year's championship run.

Here's a look at Baseball America's pre-season poll...

Baseball America
Pre-Season Poll

1. Carroll (TX) 38-7
2. Farragut (TN) 42-6
3. St. Francis (CA) 26-6
4. Jesuit (FL) 29-4
5. Klein-Collins (TX) 29-15
6. Mountain Point (AZ) 22-12
7. Archbishop McCarty (FL) 27-5
8. Mission Viejo (CA) 18-10
9. Owasso (OK) 32-7
10. Bishop Gorman (NV) 36-4
11. Chaminade College Prep (CA) 25-7
12. Hamilton (AZ) 28-5
13. Parkview (GA) 25-5
14. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 18-3
15. Gulliver Prep (FL) 26-6
16. Archbishop Mitty (CA) 31-3
17. Broken Arrow (OK) 32-8
18. Rockwall-Heath (TX) 39-3
19. Bishop Amat (CA) 27-4
20. West Boca (FL) 26-6
21. Columbus (GA) 32-5
22. Catholic (LA) 33-7
23. Edison (CA) 18-9
24. Sumrall (MS) 36-1
25. Petal (MS) 30-4