JOURNAL SPORTS
The stakes are high on Thursday and Friday nights in prep football as postseason plans are determined this time of year.
Legacies are being defined in big league baseball. The MLB playoffs are in the League Championship Series phase, with only four of the 32 teams still standing. Do local high school football coaches notice?
Their focus is undeniable and it has nothing to do with the pitching rotations. But several coaches are admittedly MLB fans, although Byrd’s Stacy Ballew and Chase Thompson are representative of those who aren’t buying into baseball.
“I don’t watch any baseball,” said Thompson. “I don’t keep up with it,” said Ballew.
There is, however, a counterbalance.
MATTHEW SEWELL, Haughton: “I love Major League Baseball and always have.
“I have a big affinity for the Texas Rangers and have since I was a little kid. It was a pretty disappointing season for them. They led the league in ERA for the first time in franchise history and had the best team fielding percentage ever in MLB l and still finished six games out of the wild card.
“I do have some great memories with high school football and the MLB playoffs. I’ll never forget October 27th, 2023. We were down 14-0 to Natchitoches Central, playing at NSU, and we came back. We went on a 80-yard drive and scored on the last play of the game and had a successful walk off two-point conversion to win the game. It was actually caught by a guy with a broken hand.
“After the game me and coach (Jason) Brotherton watched the end of Game 1 of the World Series. We saw Corey Seager hit a 2-run homer in the ninth to tie it and Adolis Garcia hit a walk off homer in the 11th to win it. That was a great night. I actually attended Game 2 the next day — the only game they lost in the Series.
“I have another not-so-great high school football/MLB playoffs memory.
“My Rangers lost Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. They had a 2-run lead and were one out away from beating the Cardinals in the 9th and 10th and winning it all. David Freese tied it in the 9th and Lance Berkman in the 10th. Then of course Freese walked it off in the 11th.
“That was a Thursday night. We played Parkway the next night and we were an underdog and won that game. But I distinctly remember looking up at my buddy John in the student section throughout the game for updates on Game 7 and every time I looked up there, he’d be just shaking his head.”
GARY SMITH, Bossier: “I was a big Braves fan growing up but have lost interest since ever since I started coaching football. I still follow MLB a little bit. I like to see the Rangers do well.”
JUSTIN SCOGIN, Airline: “When I was growing up I was really big into baseball and kept up with everything. For a long time I really kind of lost track until my oldest son got into playing and fell in love with baseball.
“Now we play Xbox baseball and watch it on TV so we are really connected at this point. I’ve always been a really big Cubs fan because of the WGN days but I really like the Orioles because of their young nucleus.”
COY BROTHERTON, Parkway: “I love baseball. I grew up a Twins fan and Kirby Puckett fan. I got to enjoy a couple Word Series and playoff runs, but they have been a disappointment in my adult life. I’ve always gone to Rangers games and followed them during their playoff runs.
“This year, I don’t really have a favorite, but I do like the Brewers’ youth and energy. I’m pulling for them.”
AUSTIN BROWN, Northwood: “I grew up in a baseball family! My grandfather signed with the Yankees out of high school in 1959.
“They didn’t have a draft back then so they recruited like colleges do. It is pretty cool to read those recruiting letters. We’ve got a bat and glove of my grandfather’s. The bat has his name on it — Oscar ‘Socks’ Pickering.
“But I don’t follow MLB like I used to!”
STEPHEN DENNIS, Benton: “I don’t really follow the baseball playoffs that much now, but I was a huge Mariners fan growing up, the era with Ken Griffey Jr, Joey Cora, Randy Johnson, all of those guys!! Loved watching them play!!”
JOHN SELLA, Loyola: “Baseball is still going on??? The fantasy league I’m in ends around August so that’s usually when I check out. As a kid I would just be a fan of whatever MLB team my Little League team was named after.”