'The little things': How Bishop baseball's focus on fundamentals is driving its playoff run
The expectations for the Bishop baseball team entering the season were to possibly make the playoffs in the rugged District 31-4A. But reach the fourth of the postseason? That was not expected.
Yet the Badgers, one of the area’s most successful and tradition-ladened programs, have found their way to the regional semifinals for the first time since they moved to Class 4A, and they’ve done it using tried and tested characteristics — fundamental baseball.
The Badgers (21-13-2) don’t have a roster with multiple high-end college or draft prospects that scouts are coming out to see consistently. What they do have is a collection of talented players that have taken to the lessons coach Mike Medina and his staff have imparted on them, and use them throughout the course of this season and especially in the playoffs.
What it’s produced is a team that has become hard to beat. Bishop will face off with regional power Boerne in a best-of-three regional semifinal series, beginning Thursday in Jourdanton.
“We are just getting better at our fundaments, we just keep doing everything the same,” said senior Rylan Rendon. “We haven’t really changed anything, we keep progressing on the little things and make sure we preach the little things we have to do right.”
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Finding an identity
Badgers coach Mike Medina was not quite sure of what the identity was of his squad when the season began. The Badgers were returning six starters from a playoff team in 2023 that lost in the bi-district round, and was seeing an infusion of some freshman talent that could make a difference.
The squad was tested during a tournament season that included games against Class 5A and 6A playoff teams such as Mission Veterans Memorial (5A), Laredo United South (6A), Weslaco (6A) and current regional semifinalist in Class 6A La Joya.
During district play, the Badgers started 0-2, then won three of our four, including a win against current regional semifinalist Calallen and topped Robstown in a key game in mid-April to help clinch the final postseason spot.
Bishop was in the postseason, but still was working to find out how good they were.
“We took our lumps (in tournament play) but it’s a way to prepare your team for district play,” Medina said. “Even more so this year, our district play is some of the toughest district play in the state. We ended up with a 5-5 record, decided by an error or a timely hit that we did not come up with. With those ingredients you have a team that starts to play better baseball in the playoffs and then you get a run like this.”
Knocking off district champions
The Badgers started the playoffs with a sweep of Hidalgo, the District 32-4A champion, and followed with a series against Pleasanton, a team many had tabbed a potential squad to compete for the regional title.
Last week, again, the Badgers' work paid the most dividends. Bishop lost in walk-off fashion to District 31-4A champ Tuloso-Midway in Game 1. It was a heartbreaking loss, but it did not seem to phase the Badgers, who responded with a 5-0 win on Friday, which included a four-hit shutout by freshman pitcher JT Benitez, and a 5-3 extra-inning win on Saturday to clinch the series. After allowing seven runs in Game 1, Bishop’s staff gave up three the next two games.
“The season has been … chaos ... we had our ups and we obviously had our downs,” said senior Noah Jasso. “What I feel like is best with us is we don’t let the lows get too low and the highs get too high. We just stay on a level line and just keep playing Badger baseball.”
Next steps
Bishop is back in the regional semifinals for the first time since 2022, when they were in Class 3A and lost to district rival London in a three-game regional final. The Badgers will return to Class 3A in 2025 in a district with London, and for now are hoping to continue their surprising run in Class 4A doing the thing that’s pushed them this far — keep playing fundamental baseball.
“Falling down is not the end all, it’s how well you are going to respond and what are you going to do the next day,” Medina said. “You are only as good as you are going to play tomorrow, and I think we’ve illustrated that this year.”
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: How Bishop baseball's focus on fundamentals is driving its playoff run
