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...............June 9, 2007- News Flash…..............
Rogers Eagle - Texas 2007 State Baseball Champions
Various newspaper articles from around the World:
Temple Daily Telegram:
http://www.temple-telegram.com/
Picture borrowed from Temple Telegram http://www.temple-telegram.com/
Beat Hooks 8-4 to win it’s First State Championship at
Dell Stadium in Round Rock
It´s
official:
Senior
Brenek (9-0) was voted Most Valuable Player of the Championship Game after he
allowed only two hits and had five strikeouts. Taylor, Jungmann, Marcus Psencik,
and Kory Michaalka had two hits each, and Psencik drove in two runs.
Austin's American-Statesman staff:
Rogers designated hitter Marcus Psencik celebrates the team's 8-4 victory in the Class 2A state championship by attempting to soak coach Craig Coheley. The Eagles (36-2) scored five runs in the third to secure a lead over Hooks for the remainder of the game - pitcher Ricky Brenek allowed just two Hooks hits in the rest of the championship.
Rogers champions Braxton Byers, from left, Kris Janke, Chance Drake and Marshall Coots wrap up the school's first Class 2A Texas title.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
American-Statesman staff
Sunday, June 10, 2007
ROUND ROCK — It appeared the entire town of Rogers was behind the visiting team's dugout to witness the first team championship in school history.
Screaming support on every pitch in the seventh inning, the large group that made the 55-mile trip to the UIL state baseball tournament cheered proudly for Rogers relief pitcher Ricky Brenek, who held Hooks scoreless after entering the game in the second inning.
Brenek struck out five, and designated hitter Marcus Psencik drove in a pair of runs, as Rogers held on for an 8-4 victory, claiming the Class 2A championship on Saturday afternoon before 4,127 fans at muggy Dell Diamond.
The Eagles (36-2) rallied from a 4-1 deficit, helped by the 10 walks issued by Hooks pitchers.
Rogers scored five runs in the pivotal third inning, taking advantage of three walks, two errors and run-scoring hits by first baseman Cameron Doskocil, Psencik and third baseman Kory Michalka.
Blessed with a 5-4 lead, Brenek took care of the rest by giving up just two hits, and Rogers made a heads-up defensive play to end the game. Hooks third baseman Brandon Choate stroked a two-out double to right in the seventh, but slid past second base. He was tagged out by shortstop Braxton Byers after Byers received a relay throw from second baseman Taylor Jungmann.
Brenek "came in and put the fire out," Rogers coach Craig Coheley said.
All-state pitcher Jungmann, the winner of Friday's semifinal, was prepared to pitch one inning if Brenek ran into trouble.
Brenek, wearing a black jersey, laughed when a bystander suggested the 90-degree temperature must have been a challenge.
"I'm a country boy living on a farm," he said. "My dad's put me through some work" in similar conditions.
Among the Eagles who were draped with a gold medal was senior Alan Valenzuela, an undefeated pitcher who missed the state tournament after breaking his ankle in a recent playoff game.
When the Eagles were presented the team championship trophy, they handed it to Valenzuela who held it aloft. He also posed for team photos about 30 minutes after the final out, supported by crutches.
Rogers reached the state tournament for the first time last season, losing in the semis. The Eagles, perhaps helped by that experience, were not going to let another opportunity slip by.
Coheley said he "dodged questions" all season when fans asked whether the Eagles were worthy of a state championship.
"I didn't want to put that pressure on them," he said. "But really, the only way this team could achieve success was by winning state."
Rogers finished the playoffs with a 10-0 record, giving up a total of 12 runs along the way.
rcantu@statesman.com; 445-3953
Waco Tribe Herald:
http://www.wacotrib.com/prep/content/sports/highschools/stories/2007/06/10/06102007wacrogers.html
131 Slide Show ONLINE Photos at WACO TRIBE HERALD
http://www.wacotrib.com/photos/content/sports/slideshows/06082007_uilbaseball/index.html
Rogers reigns
Sunday, June 10, 2007
By Brice Cherry
Tribune-Herald youth sports editor
ROUND ROCK — As the members of the Rogers baseball team gathered together for an end-of-season photograph, they each slowly began to raise their index fingers, signifying that they were No. 1.
They didn’t need to be told to do it. They already knew.
And everyone else in the stadium did, too.
Ranked No. 1 in Class 2A since the preseason, the Eagles solidified their place atop that lofty perch by rallying past Hooks, 8-4, in the 2A state championship game Saturday at Dell Diamond.
“Being a head coach for 17 years, this is something you always think about, and it’s what you work for,” said Rogers coach Craig Coheley, whose team lost in the state semifinals last year. “Not everyone gets a chance to do something like this. I’m proud to be a coach in Texas high school baseball, I’m proud to be a Rogers Eagle, and I’m proud to be a state champion today.”
The state title is the first in any sport for Rogers (36-2), which didn’t lose to a 2A opponent all season. Hooks, making its fourth state tournament appearance, ends the year at 29-9.
Rogers senior Ricky Brenek pitched one inning in Friday’s 9-2 semifinal win over Blanco and turned in a rocky outing, so Coheley opted for senior Chris Joshlin to start the state final. Yet though Brenek didn’t start the game, he finished it beautifully, pitching 51/3 scoreless innings in relief of Joshlin, allowing just two hits while striking out five to earn the championship game MVP award. Brenek finishes the year with a 9-0 record, completing a perfect season by Rogers’ top three pitchers, along with Taylor Jungmann (13-0) and Alan Valenzuela (10-0).
Brenek, who started the game at catcher, said he was fired up and ready to take the mound whenever the call came.
“Last night, Coach didn’t know who he wanted to pitch, but either way, I knew Joshlin would go out there and give a great outing,” Brenek said. “I knew I was behind him if I had to be. Today, that’s just what I did. I came out and backed him up.”
Anxious moments early
Under another blazing sun at Dell Diamond, both teams got off to hot starts at the plate. Rogers seized an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Marshall Coots looped in a single to right to plate courtesy runner Kenny Watson.
Hooks bounced back in the bottom of the frame, as the Hornets stung Joshlin for three runs on three hits, the biggest coming on a two-run single to left from first baseman Kyle Fisher.
“It wasn’t my day,” said Joshlin, who was 2-1 on the season entering the game, including a win in the finale of Rogers’ regional final series. “I was throwing the ball pretty well, but they were just hitting it.”
Hooks chased Joshlin from the game in the second, upping its lead to 4-1 on Brandon Choate’s solid single to left that sent Trey Simmons plateward.
Coheley then handed the ball to Brenek, and the senior allowed the Eagles to breathe a sigh of relief. Changing speeds with more effectiveness than an impatient interstate driver on a high-traffic day, Brenek quieted the Hornet bats, only once allowing a Hooks hitter to reach third base.
“I knew that when Ricky came in, he would pitch well,” Coheley said. “What I was trying to do was get two or three innings out of Joshlin, turn it over to Brenek and then I had Taylor (Jungmann) to close. I wanted to give Hooks two or three different looks of pitchers. I saw them yesterday, and I just felt like if we did that, the game would play into our hands if we got the lead.”
Rogers took care of that in the third inning, erupting for five runs off three different Hooks pitchers. The Eagles mounted the rally being more selective than aggressive, as they worked four walks in the inning on their way to 10 in the game, including three with the bases loaded.
The Eagles said it helped knowing what to look for — even if that meant just standing and watching.
“The umps here, they’re squeezing a lot of people,” Joshlin said. “They’re tight.”
“We knew that from last year, with Taylor pitching,” Brenek said. “He’d always say, ‘Man, they’re tight. They’re so tight.’ This year we came in and we were like, ‘Guys, we just have to be patient.’ That comes from experience.”
After the Eagles’ third-inning explosion, they seemed at ease. “We came up with the big inning at the right time, and after that, our confidence just grew and grew,” Coheley said. “As the game went on, with the way Ricky was throwing, we could sense it over here (in the dugout) in about the fifth inning.”
Let the celebration begin
Hooks actually closed the game on a hit, as Choate tagged a clean two-out double in the seventh, but overslid the bag and was tagged out by Rogers shortstop Braxton Byers, who had received the relay throw. Upon seeing the umpire make the call, Byers raced toward the pitcher’s mound before being engulfed by the entire flock of dogpiling Eagles.
“I’m just so proud for my players,” Coheley said. “I think I’m more happy for them than I am me, because they’re the ones that played and they’re the ones that put in the hard work.”
Rogers’ nine-hole hitter Kory Michalka certainly wore his hard hat, as he banged out two more singles Saturday and finished the tournament at 5-for-8.
Brenek was equally brilliant on the hill, as the only big hitter the senior didn’t have an answer for was the hard-hitting question of how the Eagles planned to celebrate their victory.
“I don’t know yet,” he said, smiling. “We’re going to wing it.”
bcherry@wacotrib.com
757-5714
ROUND ROCK – Taylor Jungmann went 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI as Rogers beat Hooks 8-4 to win the Class 2A state championship game on Saturday.
Eagles pitcher Ricky Brenek (9-0), who earned MVP honors, struck out five and gave up no runs on two hits while Hooks pitcher Trey Simmons (13-2) took the loss giving up six runs on five hits.
Rogers (36-2) scored its first run of the game in the top of the first inning when pinch runner Kenny Watson scored on an RBI single by clean-up batter Marshall Coots.
Hooks (29-9) scored three runs in that same inning when Matt Riddle scored on an RBI single by Brandon Choate. Jon Phillips and Choate scored later in the inning on a single by Kyle Fisher.
The Hornets added another run in the second inning when Simmons scored on a Choate single to left field. But the Eagles took the lead for good after scoring five runs in the third inning.
Chris Joshlin scored when Cameron Doskocil singled to left field as Jungmann was walked in later in the inning. Doskocil was brought in by a Kory Michalka single as both Marcus Psencik and Marek scored on two consecutive walks by Simmons' reliever Josh Stevens.
Rogers tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning as Braxton Byers was walked in. Watson scored on a Psencik single to right field later in the inning.
Texarkana Gazzette:
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/localsports/2007/06/10/sports2.php
| By: Johnny Green - Sports Director - | Published: 06/10/2007 |
Then one play caused a reversal in roles for the Hornets.
A key error led to five unearned runs in the third inning, springboarding top-ranked Rogers to an 8-4 victory over Hooks at Dell Diamond. It marked the third time the Hornets had reached the finals in four state tournament appearances, and the third time they have come up short.
This one looked like it might be different. Hooks (29-9) jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two innings, but Ricky Brenek (9-0) allowed the Hornets just two hits and no runs over 5 1/3 innings of relief, allowing last year’s semifinalists to rally.
They had plenty of help. Hooks pitchers walked 10 batters, and the defense committed four errors, none bigger than the one with one out in the third inning that, thanks to Brenek’s pitching, was the difference in the game.
The next batter flied to center, but Hooks left-hander Trey Simmons walked Taylor Jungman before yielding run-scoring singles to Cameron Doskocil and Drake Chancee. Another walk loaded the bases, and ninth-place hitter Kory Michalka singled past second base to tie the game.
Junior Willis, who had pitched only 1 1/3 innings in the playoffs, was summoned to the mound, but walked the only two batters he faced, and Hornets coach Michael Ruth had to go to Friday’s pitcher, Josh Stevens, to get the final out.
“Trey had struggled early in the past, but he’s always been able to work himself out of trouble,” Ruth said. “We kept thinking he would come out of it, but he never did.”
Stevens, who threw 132 pitches in his semifinals route-going performance, held the Eagles scoreless until the sixth when another error started a two-run rally that effectively put the game out of reach for the Hornets.
Stevens, who will join the American Legion Indians next week, threw 200 pitches over the two-day period. He allowed Rogers only three hits, two runs (one earned), struck out three and walked three over 4 1/3 innings.
“Josh has a ton of heart,” Ruth said. “It really says a lot about him that he was willing to come back in there today and keep us in the game.”
With No. 2 starter Alan Valenzuela out with a broken leg, Rogers (36-2) started right-hander Chris Joshlin, but the Hornets got to him early, wiping out a 1-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Matt Riddle doubled over the third-base bag, Jon Phillips walked and Brandon Choate stroked the first of his run-scoring singles to left to tie the game. Both runners advanced when the left fielder bobbled the ball and, one out later, Kyle Fisher singled to left, plating Phillips and courtesy runner Charlie Browning.
Joshlin managed to get out of the inning without further damage, but walked Simmons to open the second. After a sacrifice bunt attempt failed and Riddle flied to center, Phillips and Choate delivered back-to-back singles to make it 4-1.
But that was it for the Hornets, who managed only a fourth-inning single by Fisher and a seventh-inning double by Choate off Brenek the rest of the way. Fisher was wiped out on a double play, Choate was tagged out after oversliding the bag for the game’s final out.
A leadoff walk, a sacrifice and Marshall Coot’s RBI single put Rogers ahead in the top of the first, but the Hornets appeared to be in control before their third-inning breakdown.
“We came ready to play, and we had our chances,” Ruth said. “We had the one bad inning, and it cost us. But you can’t walk 10 batters and make four errors and expect to win a state championship game.
“I don’t mind getting beat by somebody better than us, but I don’t think that was the case today. This team came a long way, and I’m proud of all of the kids. And we had our opportunities to win today. It just didn’t work out.”
Choate, a Panola College signee, led Hooks at the plate with three hits in four at-bats and two runs batted in. Fisher had two hits and two RBIs, and Riddle a double.
Rogers 105 002 0 — 8 8 1
Hooks 310 000 0 — 4 8 4
Chris Joshlin, Ricky Brenek (2) and Brenek, Joshlin (2); Trey Simmons, Junior Willis (3), Josh Stevens (3) and Brandon Choate. WP-Brenek (9-0). LP-Simmons (13-2).
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