Spring break ushers in district baseball competition

It is spring break week around Texas, and that means high school baseball season is about to enter the district season. One district has already begun.

The weather should be cooperative, so the games should have started on Tuesday. District 6-5A began with Grapevine playing Hurst L.D. Bell and Colleyville Heritage playing Euless Trinity. Both those teams will play each other Friday at Grapevine.

Grapevine is off to 9-6-1 start, while Colleyville Heritage is at 6-7-1. Grapevine’s start is pretty close to what coach Tim McCune expected. He thought this team had a chance to be pretty good. It held its own in the Midland and Highland Park tournaments.

We’re so used to seeing Colleyville Heritage off to fast starts with eye-popping records. However, coach Alan McDougal probably felt this might happen given that he was trying to find some quality arms this year.

As for District 4-5A, Carroll is 12-2-1 and 1-0 because of the return of left-hander Tyler Alexander, this team is ready to make another deep playoff run. The Dragons should be district favorites as they opened the home schedule Tuesday against Keller Timber Creek.

In fact, Tuesday marked a groundbreaking event for Carroll baseball. After years of being restrained by city ordinances to playing home games at 4 p.m., the Dragons can now start playing night games. The first game was Tuesday against the Falcons. It began at 7 p.m.

The good thing about this is that it gives more fans a chance to come out and watch. Carroll attendance has never really been a problem. However, it’s nice when more people have the opportunity to watch a team play.

Carroll and Keller were the only teams to win their district openers last week. Keller Central, Fossil Ridge, Justin Northwest and Keller Timber Creek all lost.

District ranked high

I repeatedly mention that Northeast Tarrant County always produces great baseball. The Texas Baseball Coaches Association unveiled its latest Class 5A rankings on March 4.

The organization ranked Carroll third behind The Woodlands and Klein. Keller Fossil Ridge came in ranked No. 11.

You never know what to make of these rankings, but they are fun to check out every now and then. Sometimes, really good teams get beat up during the non-district season because of the tournaments.

But once the district season starts, the coaches have usually found two good starters for Tuesday and Friday and then have two other arms for closing or serving in long relief.

Recruiting update

Here’ a little recruiting news regarding some 2014 players:

Carroll offensive lineman Evan Brown recently picked up his first Division I offer from Tulsa.

Keller defensive end Sione Teuhema has picked up offers from TCU and Oregon State.

Keller Fossil Ridge’s Anthony Villalobos has an offer from SMU.

Northwest Byron Nelson offensive lineman Anders Huizenga doesn’t have an offer yet, but Minnesota is seriously looking at him. What coaches need to see on film is Huizenga dominating at the line of scrimmage. At 6-5, 305, the frame is there. Coaches just need to see him impose his will on the other guy. He was a little inconsistent there.

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