THORNDALE—It’s hard to believe that it’s been eight years since Thorndale has made a trip to the state tournament.
To further add to the frustration, the Bulldogs were one step away from playing at Dell Diamond last year, before being swept out by Big Sandy in the regional finals.
Thorndale (25-3-1) enters the post season with the No. 1 bullseye on its back, but of course, that doesn’t mean squat if you can’t back it up.
The Bulldogs knocked off the No. 1 team in the state in Refugio last season to reach the regional finals, so they are well aware of how tenuous the top ranking is.
“It doesn’t really mean anything to us as a team because we never really talk about it,” said Thorn-dale Coach Kelly Kuhl, who has guided the Bulldogs to 244 wins in 12 years. “Our opponents may put that target on our back but we are only interested in ourselves.
“We tell our kids every day we take the field that it’s not about who is on the other side, it’s about doing what we do. When A&M hired Jimbo Fisher he made a statement that I really liked and we preach it to our kids everyday.
“He said, ‘Let your actions speak so loud I can’t hear what you are saying.’ That’s exactly what we want out of each of our players.”
Ganada (5-12-1) enters the post season on a three game losing streak and has dropped seven of its last eight.
The Indians are led by Logan Hurt with a .419 batting average and sophomore Ethan Guerra, who sports a .383 batting average with 16 RBI and 11 stolen bases.
Thorndale spreads the wealth on offense.
Ashton Albert is the Bulldogs’ top hitter at .491 with two home runs and 13 stolen bases, followed closely by Mason Fisher at .489 and Coleby Driver at .481.
Albert and Driver are also the top run producers with 32 runs batted in apiece. Fisher has collected 24 RBI.
Driver also tops the list on the mound with seven wins on the strength of 60 strikeouts with a 1.47 earned run average.
Big senior righthander Logan Fisher has logged five wins and has fanned 41 batters with a nearly invisible 0.23 earned run average.
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