Huntsville's 14U all-stars place fifth at state

Jul. 7—KILGORE — Baseball has continued to be on the rise in Huntsville and the Huntsville Baseball League (HBL) has reaped the benefits from it.

HBL's 14U all-star team was the start of that as it switched things up this year and changed the way things were run. Instead of playing the same handful of teams, the three teams of 14-year-olds took on a style of travel ball.

"I think it helped us get to where we did at state," 14U head coach Clayton Colley said. "We were playing teams like Willis, Lovelady, Trinity, and Onalaska in regular league ball. We felt like it would prepare the kids a little better."

The 14U teams started to travel around and play local area teams in tournament-style play after making the switch from the Pony Baseball league to Dixie Baseball. The change also allowed the new play for the 14U team.

Moving to the tournament-style play not only alleviated the stress from playing on school nights but gave the players an opportunity to see more competition each weekend.

"When I came into it, they were already playing games with other communities in the area. We did that and it was like regular weekday games. Our times getting home were pretty late and the feedback from that was tough," Colley said. "This year, I tried to do it differently. We played a complete tournament on the road and they would come to us."

The three squads set up tournaments with Willis, Trinity and Onalaska and just about doubled the games played from it.

Huntsville's season lasted 23 games before they moved to an all-star team where they added another 19 games before the state tournament.

From there, the 14U team grabbed 11 players on its roster. The members of the team were Will Colley, Mason Douglas, Colton Duncan, Landon Fisher, Ryen Kemmer, Jacob LeBlanc, Cotton Pool, Erik Sellars, Kaden Trevino, Otto Weinland and Joel Williams.

These players were also subjected to strong development as the team was subjected to pitching rules. A majority of the players had to be used on the mound since Dixie Baseball's rules state you can not throw more than two days in a row or 95 pitches in a day.

In the first game at state, Pool got the start and the rules got the best of the outing. After completing all but two outs of the game, Pool had to be removed for Trevino who got the next two outs and finished the game.

But with those rules, it allowed Huntsville's team to realize that it doesn't always have to be the top guy that can get outs. Trevino was not the typical closer but was able to come in and throw strikes and get guys off their timing.

"We made it run like a select ball set up," C. Colley said. "It really made us develop our pitchers. If you don't have kids that can pitch, you aren't going to go far. That's what allowed us to be competitive at these tournaments."

The team also saw strong offensive performances throughout the season with six batters hitting for over a .500 average.

Fisher led the team with a .548 average in 41 at-bats at the lead-off spot. His speed set things up well for a contact hitter in Trevino. Fisher finished with 23 stolen bases throughout the 19 total games.

The other players that batted over .500 were W. Colley, Douglas, LeBlanc, Trevino and Williams.

Defensive accolades came from W. Colley as he caught every game at the state tournament, the only kid to do so.

"I have been coaching for several years but I have never coached a better group of kids," C. Colley said. "You never know how emotions are going to run."

In order to get to the state tournament, Huntsville's team had to come in first or second at the district events that were held in Livingston. The 14U squad was bracketed on the tougher side and had to open the tournament against Diboll.

Diboll went on to win that game and sent Huntsville into the losers' bracket where they battled back to play in the semifinals game to advance to the state meet.

Huntsville had to square off against host team Livingston where the game was competitive for most of the game. Huntsville's 14U team scored several runs on a two-out rally to expand the lead as Huntsville grabbed the win to advance to the championship and state tournament.

The Huntsville squad was one of 16 teams from across Texas to advance that far.

"It came down to us and Livingston for the final spot and our kids left it completely on the field," C. Colley said. "It was a tight game for about four innings and then our kids had a two-out rally. We were the new kids and we came in and got the opportunity to go to state."

As the squad finished fifth in the state, they will now disband as they will age out and head to their respective high schools. Huntsville High School will be getting a majority of the players with New Waverly getting Will and Weinland and Richards getting Pool.

Huntsville youth baseball will look to keep this format with its 14U team after this year and will look to expand the ways to the 12U team next year.