After losing just three seniors from last season's playoff team, Texas High is aiming for bigger things in 2018 on the baseball diamond.
The Tigers have already got off to a good start with a 6-0 win over Liberty-Eylau but-like the vast majority of teams-suffered from wet field conditions and saw the first weekend of tournament play wash away by inclement weather.
Texas High has rescheduled a doubleheader for today at Whitehouse against Henderson (3 p.m.) and Whitehouse (7 p.m.) with the Lions and Wildcats playing at 5 o'clock.
Experience will be a key for the Tigers, who return six starters and a few more who saw significant playing time off last season's 14-15 team that placed fourth in District 16-5A.
"Last year we wanted to just get in the playoffs, and we did. This year that bar and the expectations are set a bit higher," Tiger veteran coach John McClure said. "We've got a good amount of experience back. What we're still looking for is catcher; we graduated two seniors who played back there last season.
"And we've got a quantity of (pitching) arms, we've just to find those quality guys. Those are two of the most important positions."
Through spring training, three scrimmages and the one game, McClure has seen maturation already.
"We've been real pleased with everybody," he said. "Pitching-wise, there's not a drop off in any of them, and I feel confident in putting any of those guys out there at any time. We're looking for some guys to pull ahead a little bit in these tournaments, find that No. 2 starter, a long relief guy and a closer, things like that."
Walker Davis returns as the No. 1 pitcher in the rotation. There are 12 other options at pitcher for McClure and his staff to sort through before District 16-5A play begins March 13 against Marshall.
Caden Dickson and Carson Wood, both juniors, are looking to occupy the catcher position for THS.
Davis can also play first base, as can seniors Dakota Turner and Logan Arndt and junior Cameron Radney. Arndt and Radney also pitch.
At second base, Jakob Hearne returns, and at shortstop Chris Sutton is back. Hearne and Sutton also help pitch.
Cole Christen plays third and can help at shortstop and on the mound as well. Senior Chris Cowan pitches and plays third, and sophomore Michael Sikorski can play on the left side of the infield and help on the mound. Senior Bailey Cline will help in the infield.
"I think we'll really hang our hat on playing the heck out of defense and being opportunistic, offensively," McClure said. "We're real fast; seven of our nine starters, and a couple of guys off the bench, can really run. That can present problems for our opposition, putting pressure on defenses and getting runners started early.
"That's going to be a big-plus for us, and we've got a lot of depth, too. We've got five good outfielders who we can mix and match at any position. Infield-wise, we've got several options as well. We've just got to solidify our catching and find one or two more pitchers, and that's going to be our recipe for success."
In the outfield senior Adam Quinn rotates around, junior Chris Lyles returns in center field, and junior Conner Allred is back in right field. Helping in the outfield will be senior Blaine Cline, freshman Rian Cellers, senior Austin Flippen and junior Cole Jean. Allred, Cellers, and Jean could also help on the mound.
Senior southpaw Trevor Toppings and junior righty Carter McPherson will also help the pitching staff.
Texas High has nine seniors on its roster, 10 juniors, a sophomore and pair of freshmen.
"We're really a junior-led team, and what I mean by that is we'll have two or three seniors starting and a lot of them will be juniors," McClure said. "That's a bit of an unusual team chemistry, but in our last scrimmage and then our game, the dugout atmosphere was a lot of excitement and team-building."
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2018 TIGER BASEBALL
Date=Site-Opponent=Time
Feb. 23=y-at Whitehouse round-robin=3 p.m.
Feb. 27=Longview=6 p.m.
March 1-3=at Lindale tournament=TBA
March 8-10=at Airline tournament=TBA
March 13=x-Marshall=7 p.m.
March 16=at North Lamar=1 p.m.
March 20=x-at Sulphur Springs=7 p.m.
March 23=x-Mount Pleasant=7 p.m.
March 27=x-at Greenville=7 p.m.
March 29=x-Hallsville=7 p.m.
April 3=x-Pine Tree=7 p.m.
April 6=x-at Marshall=7 p.m.
April 13=x-Sulphur Springs=7 p.m.
April 17=x-at Mount Pleasant=7 p.m.
April 20=x-Greenville=7 p.m.
April 24=x-at Hallsville=7 p.m.
April 27=x-Pine Tree=7 p.m.
x-District 16-5A game. y-3 p.m. game vs. Henderson, 7 p.m. vs. Whitehouse