By the end of this week, however, the Tigers could have some company.
Top-ranked Rogers is two wins away from capturing the 2A state title, and the 34-2 Eagles are favored to do just that because they’re back at Round Rock’s Dell Diamond for a second straight year and haven’t lost to a 2A opponent.
With a win against Blanco (27-8) on Friday and a victory over Hooks (28-8) or Pottsboro (27-7-2) on Saturday, Rogers would claim its school’s first state title and also stand along with Belton as the best baseball teams in our area’s history.
The 1994 Tigers (35-6) and the 2007 Eagles have several similarities:
- Both reached the state tournament after making a school-record playoff run one season earlier.
David Tidwell’s 1993 Belton team advanced to the 4A Region IV semifinals before it lost 4-1 to Corpus Christi Calallen. Craig Coheley’s 2006 Rogers squad seized the Region IV title and its first-ever state berth, then lost 5-3 to eventual champion Brock in a semifinal.
- Both entered the playoffs carrying a No. 1 state ranking. The Tigers took over 4A’s top spot from Calallen late in the regular season. The Eagles paced the 2A preseason rankings, dropped out briefly in late April when they lost a non-district game, and regained the No. 1 spot before postseason play.
- Both featured a couple of ace pitchers and supported them with effective complementary arms.
Belton rode senior right-handers Jason Regan (15-2) and Brock Rumfield (12-3) through the regular season and then especially during the playoffs. No. 3 starter Michael Jones and reliever Alex Cortes also proved very valuable.
Rogers has gotten maximum results from junior Taylor Jungmann (12-0, 0.44 earned-run average, 136 strikeouts) and senior Alan Valenzuela (10-0, 0.76, 116), though Valenzuela has been lost for the season because of a broken ankle. Ricky Brenek is 8-0 with a 0.67 ERA as the No. 3 starter, and fellow senior right-hander Chris Joshlin - the Eagles’ star catcher - pitched 4 1/3 innings to beat No. 2 Trinity 3-2 for the regional crown.
- Both put forth dangerous, deep lineups on offense.
Regan and Rumfield were .400-plus batters and consistent home runs hitters, and Belton also got big-time production from first baseman David Stroud, center fielder Darren Brinkley and catcher Brad Turner, among others.
Rogers has six starters batting .350 or better (Brenek, Joshlin, Valenzuela, Jungmann, center fielder Marshall Coots, shortstop Braxton Byers), and sophomore first baseman Cameron Doskocil has driven in 41 runs to lead a group of six players with 31 or more.
For all of their similarities, however, there is at least one department in which Belton owns an advantage over Rogers - dramatic moments. Whereas the Eagles have outscored opponents 68-8 in their eight straight playoff wins, the Tigers made a habit out of producing storybook victories in high-pressure situations.
Belton ripped Austin Travis in its playoff opener, but the Tigers had to go the distance to win best-of-three series the next three rounds.
In the area round Belton overcame Austin Westlake’s walkoff homer in Game 2 by rallying for a 5-4 win in Game 3. In a long-awaited rematch with No. 2 Calallen in the regional semifinals, the Tigers rebounded from an opening 6-2 defeat to post 8-6 and 6-4 victories and advance. And against perennial power Robstown, workhorse Regan was masterful in winning Games 1 and 3.
That set the stage for Belton’s state semifinal with Carthage at Disch-Falk Field, where Regan hit a solo homer with two outs in the seventh to force extra innings and blasted a walkoff grand slam in the eighth for a stirring 9-5 victory. Rumfield fired a four-hitter the next day as the Tigers beat Big Spring 4-0 for the state championship - still the only one an area baseball team has won.
What Belton accomplished in 1994 is the stuff of legend. Rogers might be too good in 2007 to need similar drama, but the Eagles will be just as legendary if they complete their mission.
gwille@temple-telegram.com
