GC Baseball: 399 and counting ... Tigers win, inch a game closer to Autrey's 400th victory
Feb. 26—MESQUITE — Oh so close.
Corsicana's legendary baseball coach Heath Autrey won the 399th game of his storied career Saturday when his Tigers shut down Farmersville 4-1 in their final game of the Mesquite ISD Tournament.
It could be a long week for Tiger fans because Autrey's boys don't play again until Thursday when they face Marshall in the Lindale Tournament (how ironic would it be for Autrey to get No. 500 against Lindale?) and don't play at home again until March 15 when they host Crandall in their district opener.
When Autrey returns home Corsicana will celebrate No. 500 with him. He is cherished as a baseball coach and more in Navarro County, where he has taught countless young men how to win — and win the right way — while helping them and guiding them off the field with lessons about life and the true meaning of success.
Autrey is in his 11th season at Corsicana and 20th overall and he has won with every lineup imaginable — talented teams, veteran teams, young teams and teams that have reached the state tournament.
His baseball program is the diamond of the athletic program at CISD, and when his Tigers reached the state tournament in 2019 cars lined up to send the team off before every round of the playoffs.
He has a real young team this season, but you wouldn't have known it Saturday when the Tigers shut down a real strong Farmersville, 4-1, behind one of the big surprises of the early season.
Connor Perkins, who had never started a varsity game, looked and felt like he belonged on the mound for the Tigers, going the seven-inning distance, slamming the door on Farmersville, which could manage just four singles and one run.
Perkins was in control, striking out three and walking just one and the Tiger bats and a growing and surprising defense were there at every turn to get the W.
Adrian Baston, one of the best leadoff men anywhere, went 2-for-4, stole a base, scored and drove in two runs. And, one more thing, Baston ripped his first triple of the season. He was literally a triple threat on both the football field and the diamond a year ago when Adrian was played quarterback for the Tigers and set a Corsicana record last spring, hitting a head-shaking nine triples.
Dylan Anderton went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs, and Josh Portillo came through with a big day, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a sac fly. He scored a run and drove in two runs to give Perkins all the breathing room he needed.
It was a big day for a team that seems to make strides every day in a season that has just begun, and a big step for Autrey, who has seen hundreds of days like Saturday — well, at least 399 of them ...
