Fifteen years flew by for head coach Bryan Webb but none of them started like this one.
San Marcos opened their regular season 4-1 after defeating multiple state ranked teams including Tivy, who’s projected to finish first in its district, and Victoria East, a top-20 team in 5A. The Rattlers capped off the final two games of the tournament by falling to Smithson Valley, 6-2, and defeating San Antonio Warren, 11-9.
Webb isn’t so caught up in the team’s record. As long as the kids grow as players, they’ll be prepared when the games really count in district play.
“Most teams come into these tournaments and they’re about wins. I’m about development, I’m about getting our guys ready. I just told them, ‘Everybody in this dugout has been in a meaningful situation during this tournament. Not just mop up duty or junk work, it’s been meaningful,’” Webb said. “You gotta know what you’re doing when you come in and when you’re going to do it. We’re about developing and if you’re a backup, you’re one pitch away from being the starter. And that’s what I saw coming out of this weekend.”
At some point this weekend, everyone made meaningful plays. Whether it was sophomore pitcher Stephan Wilder hitting a three-RBI double to left field for the first hit of the game, freshman shortstop Kutter Gage Webb hitting a two-run RBI triple to take the lead from Victoria East at the bottom of the sixth or even pitcher Johnny Pardo putting a halt to Warren’s eight-run comeback in the seventh inning. All meaningful plays.
Offensively, the team had a good weekend, averaging 7.4 runs per game while limiting their opponents to five runs and every starter in the lineup got a hit at some point during the weekend.
“They understand their approaches at the plate, they’re understanding their roles. They understand baseball, you gotta runner at third you got to get the ball the right side. They’re understanding the concepts of how to be a good baseball team and an unselfish player,” Bryan said. “You always hear me say family first and they’re willing to sacrifice themselves as an out to get that run in or get him over and that’s what I like to see from this team.”
As the tournament progressed you could tell that the Rattlers were picking up confidence and that played into the hands of the identity they started to adopt. In four games, San Marcos trailed at some point, but rallied back in three of them to steal a win. They had a fighting spirit even through injuries. Freshman third basemen Reagan Chomel busted his lip earlier in the day, came back in and hit an RBI double to extend San Marcos’ lead. Sophomore right fielder Major Pellien had blood dripping from his nose but was all smiles after the win. Even after winning four of five, the team still found a way to get better the same day.
“We go to the weight room and do what we do because we think we’re tougher than everybody else and we’re going to finish ballgames, Bryan said. “So we’re going to start next week today by getting in the weight room and getting ready to go win some more next weekend.”
San Marcos (4-1) hits the road on Thursday to take on former district opponent New Braunfels Canyon (2-0) at 11 a.m. in the first game of the tournament hosted by the Cougars. Senior catcher Selvin Anderson thinks his team worked together well and they are looking to build on that this week in practice before heading down I-35.
“I think communication-wise, we excelled a lot in that and a lot of effort and hustle. That was amazing this weekend,” Anderson said. “Some things that we can tweak, we’re going to work on that Monday in practice and we’re going to be ready to go to Canyon for the tournament.”
