THSB releases preseason baseball predictions

This past weekend, TxHighSchoolBaseball.com released their fourth annual preseason baseball magazine.  The publication, which is similar to a Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine for football, features stories, rankings, top players, and predictions for every district across the state. 

THSB has the Yoemen pegged for second place in 20-3A - the same spot they finished in their 19-15 area finalist season a year ago. 

Rogers, with six starters returning from a 19-15 regional quarterfinalist team, is predicted to win the district.  Franklin, with seven returning starters, and Jarrell, with nine returning starters, are predicted to finish in third and fourth respectively. 

Cameron had two players named to the 3A region III top 35 players to watch.  Jordan Young and Caden Harris - both returning seniors - were named to the list.  Harris is committed to St. Edward’s University for baseball.  Both players were first team all-district selections last season. 

Drew Fannin of Franklin and Garrett Kennedy of Rogers were other players from district 20-3A honored.

Coming off a three-round deep playoff run in 2016, the Thorndale Bulldogs are expected to be one of the top teams in the state.  THSB has the Bulldogs ranked third in 2A to begin the season.  Despite the lofty ranking, Thorndale is third in the region as Weimar (1) and Refugio (2) are both included in a deep region IV. 

The Bulldogs have a total of eight players returning from last year’s 22-8-1 regional quarterfinalist squad.  This includes Ashton Albert and Scott Guzman, who were both honorable mention all-state a season ago.  Both were selected as top players to watch in region IV by the magazine. 

Other players from 27-2A honored are Wyatt Messex and Abraham Reyna of Granger, Tucker Burton and Max Stroud of Holland and Chris Luna of Bartlett. 

Thorndale is predicted to win 27-2A, with Granger, Thrall and Holland predicted to finish in the second through fourth spots.  

The preseason rankings have Lago Vista at the number one spot in the state for 3A.  The Vikings are returning eight starters from a 23-13 Regional Semifinalist team.

West - the two-time defending state champs in 3A - comes in at number five.  Rogers is mentioned as a team to watch in the top 30. 

Other local teams ranked include Lake Travis (10) in 6A, College Station (2) and Bryan (11) in 5A, Robinson (5) and China Spring (20) in 4A, Troy (4), West (5) and Groesbeck (13) in 3A, and Mart (19) and Burton (20) in 2A. 

The magazine is available for purchase online at TxHighSchoolBaseball.com.