Tylie Biggs

Following through his swing, senior Logan Hedges hits to right field for a base hit in a scrimmage against Vandegrift on Feb. 3. Hedges said the team has big goals this year including making it to the State Tournament. “It’s definitely interesting considering that if we play super far playoff baseball we’ll be playing after we graduate,” Hedges said. “Just the thought of being able to go that far with the guys that we’ve been playing with for years now is just, it’s kind of inspiring. It’s what motivates me, just to think that you know there’s a chance to be out of high school still playing ball with my friends, so just one game at a time. One win at a time. Just figuring out who’s going to do it for us.”

The silence hangs heavy over the dugout as they watch the opposing team celebrate. It was within reach, but simply slipped through their fingers as one run turned into three, which then turned into nine. A hug goodbye to the seniors, a hug to comfort the ones taking over, the ones that are coming back. As the 2023 season came to an end, they knew the battle would start again, the battle against third round games.

With varsity baseball tryouts wrapped up and upcoming scrimmages kicking off the season, the team looks to win district for the fourth year in a row and make it past the third round. The team currently has 16 seniors all of which are returning to the team after playing last year. 

“Whenever you have 80-to-90% of your guys returning, you feel really confident,” assistant baseball coach J Stout said. “I think a lot of people doubted us last year and I think we kind of proved them wrong. I think with everybody coming back, the experience they had along with the heartbreak of the last couple of years in the third round is something that we’re striving towards; to kind of break that curse and get through it this year.” 

Even though the team’s goal is to be playing in May, senior shortstop Logan Hedges said the team is taking it one game and practice at a time as tournament season approaches in the upcoming weeks.

“I would say I feel pretty optimistic about what we have going on,” Hedges said. “I feel like normally on our first week of practice it has looked a lot different in the past, but this year it has been really fluid and we are looking like a team that’s been at it for weeks now.”

Last season, the team finished with a 25-23-2 overall record and an 11-4 record, earning another district title. After two playoff wins against Tivy High School and Medina Valley High School, the T-Wolves lost to their cross-town rivals, Rouse High School, in a 9-8 battle at Concordia University in round three.

“I would say when it came to the playoffs we were playing near-perfect baseball until probably the last three innings [of the Rouse game],” Hedges said. “I think if you’re looking distinctly at the game we lost it was a matter of being complacent. We had a huge lead in that game and there were just a couple of instances where we kind of just let the game slip a little bit, which in baseball that’s all it takes. One run can turn into three and a couple innings of that can flip a game on its head.”

Along with playoff revenge, senior pitcher and second baseman, Parker Greene said the team is looking forward to going back to Mira’s Bayfront Bash Tournament Feb. 29-March 2, a tournament they went to last year and lost 1-11 to Lake Travis in the championship game.

“It’s exciting that we’re getting to be seniors now and instead of having to sit back and watch stuff like that fall apart, we get to take it in our own hands a little bit and have a bigger role to play this year,” Greene said. “We can encourage the younger guys to get loud in the dugout and that kind of helps to not fall apart.”

Both Greene and Hedges said the senior class is trying to instill a culture on the team where the freshmen are not scared to ask the seniors for help, and one where even if you aren’t playing, you still have a position on the team during a game.

“We are definitely seniors that I wish I had [as a freshman] because I would feel much more confident in my mind in my abilities if I had seniors looking at me saying ‘hey you’re doing a great job,’” Hedges said. “That is something that we find super important because hopefully they will become the seniors we are.  I feel like for me, as far as from a leadership standpoint, it’s about keeping everybody invested no matter the score.”
The end goal for the team is reaching the State Championship at Dell Diamond, but they are still taking the season one practice, game and tournament at a time.
“It’s definitely interesting considering that if we play super far playoff baseball we’ll be playing after we graduate,” Hedges said. “Just the thought of being able to go that far with the guys that we’ve been playing with for years now is just, it’s kind of inspiring. It’s what motivates me, just to think that you know there’s a chance to be out of high school still playing ball with my friends, so just one game at a time. One win at a time. Just figuring out who’s going to do it for us.”

You can access the schedule for the team here.