It took a three-game winning streak on Thursday and Friday to get the Rockdale Astros into the Texas Teenage Baseball 8-and-Under Coach Pitch State Tournament in Temple next week.
“It was a long, hard fight,” said Chelsey Tindle, an Astro parent. “But our boys are really looking forward to state.”
The boys got off to a fast start in tourney play winning their first two games over the Rogers Pirates and the Black Sox on Monday evening.
Rockdale’s top coach pitch team then got their first loss 8-7 to the Rogers Rippers, who went on to become District 5 champions.
Facing elimination, the Astros played in a doubleheader on the fourth of July, beating the Cameron Braves 19-14 and defeating the Rogers Pirates 22-14.
The Astros then had to face the Cameron Dodgers on their home field to see who went to state. In a close game that was tied at 12 going into the fourth inning, Rockdale went on to win 19-14 to clinch a berth at state. They faced the Rippers again for a chance at the district crown but lost 14-9.
“The boys were excited, the coaches were excited and the parents were super excited,” said Chelsey Tindle, an Astros team parent. “Our fans were doing so many cheers that other teams asked if we had been practicing.”
The Astros play at state July 15-19, in Temple.
The 8U Rockdale Rangers also played in Cameron last week but were ousted after losing 20-16 to the Dodgers and 14-4 to the Pirates. The Rangers finished their season second in the 8U division with a record of 6-4.
T-BALL—The RYBA was also host to nine teams this past week for the Texas Teenage Baseball’s District 5 T-Ball Tournament.
The tournament had 313 spectators on the opening day and had more than a thousand spectators over the course of the week.
Rockdale’s Rangers lost 24-14 to the Rosebud Sting Rays and were eliminated by Milano. It was the third time they lost to the Eagles this season.
According to coach Chris Flores, players Adrian Avila, Liam Flores, Alex Robinson and Kaleb Breithaupt all had outstanding performances.
Before beating the Rangers in their first game of the loser’s bracket, Milano lost to county neighbors Cameron Nationals 24-11 on Wednesday. Milano’s season ended on a 21-4 loss to the Holland, the eventual second place team.
The tournament champions were the Bartlett Bulldogs who beat Holland in a 26-25 nail-biter on Saturday morning.
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