2022 Regional Finals Preview
June 1, 2022
TEXAS - The field has significantly narrowed down after four rounds in the lone star state. We move into the Regional Finals, with 8 teams left in each class. With a bid to the State Tournament on the line this week, we except another week of great baseball. At this point in the Postseason, the atmosphere is electric at every matchup across the state. Today, our scouting staff takes a look at their most anticipated matchups for this year's Regional Finals.
Big congrats to Calallen head coach Steve Chapman on becoming the winningest head coach in Texas high school baseball history with his 1,116th win of his career.
Keller vs. Southlake Carroll
One of the most anticipated matchups of the year, gets a part 2. Last year, Keller beat Carroll to advance to state and this year during the regular season, Keller took both games to claim the district title. Carroll, who won state in 2018 and 2019, has looked like a team on a mission during these playoffs. Keller took down FM Marcus last week in an exciting 3 game set while Southlake was dominant in their sweep of Coppell. Keller has a deep stable of arms they can rely on headlined by the big 4 of RHP Keever Vincent, RHP Nick Robb, LHP Zach Erdman (Texas Tech), and LHP Ty Zahradnik. Southlake rolls into the regional finals with arguably the best 1, 2 punch in the state. LHP Owen Proksch (Duke) and LHP Griffin Herring (LSU) have been dominant all season and they turned it up a notch in the postseason. After them, RHP Tyler White (Texas A&M Football) has been the relief specialist so far. He is an elite strike thrower, whose velocity continues to climb. Offensively, Ben Tryon (DBU) has been swinging a hot bat for the Dragons.
The two regional finals comprising DFW teams in 6A are the 2 best rivalries going in North Texas. Southlake, on paper, is the favorite, but this Keller squad knows how to win and they have shown they are ready for the Dragons.
Rockwall vs. Rockwall Heath
The other Regional Final is another rematch from last year. Heath took down Rockwall in 3 games in this same round last year, on the way to a state title. This year, both teams have had tough series throughout the playoffs and come into this week battle tested. Rockwall took down a very talented Woodlands team last weekend. They lost game 1, but took the next 2 to advance. RHP Mac Rose and LHP Cade Crossland (Ouachita Baptist) have been the two primary starters all year, but RHP Charlie Giese stepped up big last week in Gm. 3 to help secure the Series. At the plate, they are led by 2023 SS Brayden Randle (Texas Commit), Rose, INF/OF Andrew Tellia (Weatherford JC), and 2024 Pearson Riebock. Heath comes into this week after a dominant performance over Oak Ridge. The pitching staff is led by Senior Righties Baylor Baumann (Houston Baptist), Jonny Lowe (Mclennan), Cade Sharp (Texas Tech) and Junior RHP Trevor Tranberg. Offensively, Jett Williams (Mississippi State) leads the Hawks offense. Lowe and 2024 INF Caleb Hoover have both had big hits throughout the playoffs as well.
This series should be a great one. Cross town rivals who both have deep rosters and our well coached. But teams play hard and the intensity should be off the charts.
Ft. Bend Ridge Point vs. Strake Jesuit
Ridge Point continues to stay hot. After a big series win over Katy Tompkins, Ridge Point battled Pearland in 3 games. The starting pitching for Ridge Point (‘23 uncommitted RHP Kellen Gradisar, ‘22 Frontier College commit Hunter Nichols, and ‘25 Texas commit LHP Jack McKernan covered 20.1 IP of the 21 innings in the series. ‘23 uncommitted 1B Travis Vlasek led the offense with 6 RBI in the series including 5 in Game 1 while Vlasek, ‘23 uncommitted OF’s Carter Groen and Owen Farris all had RBI in the pivotal Game 3. Strake Jesuit is led by two Rice commits, ‘22 RHP Garrett Stratton and ‘22 OF Trey Duffield. Stratton threw a CG 1-hitter last week in Game 1 allowing 1 unearned run with 5 strikeouts. Duffield had a double and HR in Game 2 of the series while ‘22 Washington U (St. Louis) commit 3B Shane Pellegrino and ‘22 Texas Wesleyan commit 1B/RHP Kade Baron both had multi-hit games against Katy with Baron throwing a CG to win Game 3.
SA Reagan vs. Lake Travis
The playoff matchup between the Central Texas powerhouses is finally upon us. Lake Travis finished the regular season ranked 5th, and San Antonio Reagan ranked 6th in the PBR Texas Power 30. These two teams met twice during the tournament portion of the season resulting in a 5-2 Reagan win and a 5-5 tie. Reagan got coin flipped for a 1 game playoff and found a way to come back with a 4 run 5th inning to win 8-7 against a scrappy Eagle Pass Team. Billy Baehr (St. Marys) got the win going 3 innings, giving up 3 hits, and striking out 4. Britton Moore was the offensive hero on the day getting the 2 run single to put the Rattlers up by 1. San Antonio Regan is battle tested and shows the guts it takes to win close games, evident in their last 4 wins, which have all been by 1 run. Lake Travis went 2-0 last round against La Joya. The Cavaliers threw back to back shutouts as well as hammered out 16 runs on 19 hits. Offensively Lake Travis had 6 different players record multi-hit games and showed their balanced lineup once again. The Cavs may have lost their ace, Luke Jackson (Texas A&M), at the end of the regular season but Ethan Calder (Baylor) and OJ Gonzalez (Uncommitted) have answered the bell and done the heavy lifting this postseason. Lake Travis has twirled 6 shutouts in their 9 playoff games but will have their hands full with a gritty and tough Regan lineup.
Mansfield Legacy vs. Aledo
Mansfield Legacy and Aledo enter this round getting here by two different paths. Legacy has had multiple Game 3’s and Aledo is yet to lose a game in the playoffs. Legacy has a deep pitching staff led by RHP Blake Julius (Oklahoma State), RHP Kayden Voelkel (Weatherford JC), RHP Parker Ibrahimi and LHP Drake Dowd (Navarro). Offensively, OF Dylan Schlaegel (DBU) and Voelkel continue to lead the charge. Aledo enters this round without being tested much in the postseason. On the mound they have been lead by RHP Ethan Jaques (Western Texas College) and RHP Hunter Rudel (Vernon College). Offensively, they are led by the sweet swinging lefty Max Belyeu (University of Texas), Soph. Ryan Jones (Baylor), Jaques, Rudel and Adrian Guzman (Grayson County).
Both teams are led by veterans in their program and know what it takes to win. I think this series comes down to who plays the cleanest baseball. Both teams matchup well, it should be a good one.
Frisco Wakeland vs. Forney
Frisco Wakeland may be the surprise of the 5A/6A Playoffs. They won games 2 and 3 last week against Lufkin to come back and win the series. They are a team that has had a lot of different players step up and help them on this run. On the mound they have a lot of arms they will deploy, led by Carson Priebe, Sam Friedman, Jacob Koczo and Holden Yaksic. Offensively, they’ve had many contributors on this run. They are led by Jackson Dillingham, Conner Cassano, Priebe and Addison Brown. Forney has taken down some big arms the last few weeks. They come into this round with a lot of confidence. Their Super Soph. RHP Aiden Sims delivered one of the better performances of the year last round. He threw a CG shutout and hit a 3 run HR to help his team win 3-0. They also have LHP/1B Jake White (Tyler JC) and RHP Ryan Dickey (Odessa) on the mound to give them a lethal trio.
Lake Creek vs. Friendswood
The expected matchup for the Regional Final happened with the top two teams in the region. Game 1 pitching matchup on Wednesday night will be a fantastic matchup with ‘22 Texas Tech commit Jacob Rogers going for Friendswood against ‘22 Texas A&M commit LHP Shane Sdao going for Lake Creek. Both teams have had to use the full depth of their pitching staffs during these playoffs, and don’t be surprised to see all of those pitchers make appearances in this series. Friendswood was led by ‘22 Texas Tech commit C Dylan Maxcey and ‘23 Texas A&M commit 1B Boots Landry in the previous series. Lake Creek’s lineup has gotten production from throughout the lineup during the playoffs, including ‘24 Arkansas commit OF Sam Lee, ‘23 uncommitted OF James Kennedy (who had 5 RBI in Game 1 against Milby last week), and ‘22 uncommitted DH Ethan Davis.
Georgetown vs. Sharyland Pioneer
Georgetown faced off against a talented Corpus Christi Ray team and won the first game 4-2 in 10 innings and second game 7-2. The Eagles continue to play fundamentally sound baseball and don't beat themselves. There is nothing flashy about the way Georgetown plays but they know how to play together and they do it really well. Georgetown truly counts on 12 players each game for various roles but each player seems to understand that and play their role to perfection. From Zack Zavala (Houston) only pinch running due to a wrist injury earlier this year to Wade Denton (UT Tyler) coming out of the pen seemingly every game to throw in high stress situations. Their lineup is also one that can beat you with any of the 9 guys in it. They aren’t afraid to small ball you to death and wait for you to make the mistake, they also aren’t afraid to get the bat head out and do damage in a hitters count. Sharyland went the full 3 games against Buda Johnson and it took 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to complete the comeback. In game 1 Pioneer came out with the bats hot, scoring 11 runs on 9 hits including a grand slam by Oscar Serna and a 2 run shot by Ryan Garza. The Diamondback have the ability to win low scoring games as well as offensive shootouts, lets see what type of series we get in the Region IV - 5A final.
Sinton vs. Calallen
With a one game playoff in front of a packed house at Whataburger Field between two of the top programs in not just the city of Corpus Christi but the entire state, the atmosphere is going to be electric. This is also a rematch of the 2021 Region final game which saw Sinton walk away the victor. Sinton avenged their only loss on the year with an emphatic 11-0 victory over Tuloso-Midway in their 1 game playoff. Blake Mitchell (LSU) took the ball and went 4 shutout frames then handed the ball to Jaquae Stewart (HBU) for another 2 shutout frames to complete the victory. Offensively you have to pick your poison with the Sinton lineup and the heart of their order did most of the damage. Stewart and Mitchell both hit home runs in the contest as well as a double each by Rylan Galvan (Texas) and Rene Galvan (Tyler JC). Calallen went the full 3 games against another highly touted Boerne team. With their last victory, Head Coach Steve Chapman became the winningest head coach in Texas high school baseball history with 1,116 total. All of those wins are at Calallen, which is just as impressive. Calallen won game 1 by a score of 12-6 and game 3 by a score of 2-1. Calallen has one of the best pitchers in the entire state on their roster in Justin Lamkin (Texas A&M). Lamkin threw 110 pitches on Saturday and has thrown over 70 innings on the season, so let's see if he is his normal self on short rest if that's what Coach Chapman decides to do.
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