3/2/2011 3:41:11 PM
Several high profile teams from the state of Texas will be in action at tournaments throughout the state starting tomorrow. Here is a look at a few of them:
52nd Annual Ewell Jackson Tournament (Houston)
An impressive 32 team field played at seven different schools throughout the Houston area.
The field is highlighted by several very strong teams. Traditional powerhouse Bellaire is always a contender and are led by LHP
Toller Boardman (Texas commit) and scouts will be keeping an eye on sophomore
Cameron Miller over the next couple of years.
Defending TAPPS state champ St. Thomas Catholic comes in at 6-0 and feature a strong core of players in SS/RHP
Patrick Leonard (Georgia commit), C
Hunter Kopycinski and 2B/OF
Conor Biggio (Notre Dame commit, son of head coach Craig).
Fort Bend Clements is also a very interesting team to watch in this tournament, as they began the season ranked #2 in the state for 5A by THSBCA and are coming off a championship in last week's Pearland Tournament and sit at 5-0.
2009 state champion St. Pius X are coming off a sweep of the Anglewood tournament last week and enter the tournament undefeated.
Check back for updates throughout the tournament.
Miras Tournament (Corpus Christi)
Sixteen team field is highlighted by defending 5A state champion Carroll. The Tigers will be one of four host schools and are in Bracket 2. Arguably their top competition in the bracket is Robstown, who was ranked #3 in class 3A by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association (THSBCA) preseason poll. The Cotton Pickers are led by LHP
Mike Velasquez, a Texas A&M Corpus Christi commit who went 9-2 last year while also batting .440.
Moody (Corpus Christi) will host Bracket 1. The Trojans will look to get back on track after a very disappointing start to the season. Moody was ranked #3 in the state in 4A by the THSBCA, so a 1-3 comes as something of a surprise. Sinton looks like they may be the favorites in the bracket at 5-1-1, with their only loss coming to perennial power Calallen in the season opener.
An interesting team to watch in Bracket 3 is Sharyland. The Rattlers were not really on the radar as one of the top teams in the state, but the start they've had thus far may change all that. Now sitting at 6-0, they've allowed 1 run or less in 4 of their games and the two closest games they've played thus far are their 11-8 win over Calallen and a 6-0 victory in the opener against Weslaco. This tournament will be a good opportunity for them to prove they are for real.
2011 Burleson Classic
The big name in this tournament is Rockwall Heath. The Hawks started the year ranked 31st in the PG
National Top 50 and have a chance to climb higher with a strong performance this weekend. At 4-0 (combined score of 28-4) things have been going well and perhaps the biggest negative for this powerhouse is that junior
Jovan Hernandez's record tying hit streak came to an end at 42 games last week.
Host Burleson looked to be Heath's top competition in this event heading into the season, but after being ranked #10 in the 4A preseason coaches poll the Elks have stumbled to a 2-3 start. They'll get a crack at Heath on Friday and an upset could prove to be a huge momentum boost to get their season back on track.
The Joshua Owls will look to ride their early season momentum into the tournament, at 7-0 things have gone well thus far. They'll open the tournament against undefeated Watherford. The Kangaroos have had a monster start from SS
Kevin Cornelius (TCU commit) who already has 4 HRs and 17 RBIs and 2-way contributer Collin Sefcik (3 HRs, 1.40 ERA). San Angelo Central's lone slipup, a 5-4 loss at Reagan is all that stands between them and an undefeated start as well.