2008 Snyder baseball state champs still a big hit

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Anniversaries of significant events sometimes sneak up on us.
The summer is under way and a new school athletic year will start in two months, but today is a time to remember the Snyder Tigers winning the Class 3A state baseball championship 10 years ago.
I could write a book about those two days in Austin.
The 2008 team was a special group, with talented players up and down the roster. They believed in the team concept and every player was important, even the backups sitting in the dugout.
Snyder won its first baseball championship in 1983. 
No one knows for sure, but Charles Bollinger, who was head coach in 2008, and his son, Brent, might be the only father-son duo to win state championships in the same sport. Charles Bollinger was a sophomore and the winning pitcher in the Class 4A state finals in 1983.
Two familiar names were on the 2008 coaching staff — David Tate and Cory Mandrell. Tate was Bollinger’s longtime varsity assistant coach and Mandrell coached the JV team and helped with the varsity. Tate now is an assistant principal at the high school and Mandrell is the district’s athletic director and head football coach.
Snyder had an opportunity of possibly winning back-to-back state championships. The Tigers were 26-6 in 2007 and lost to Lubbock Cooper in the regional semifinals. Snyder won Game 1 of the best-of-three series before Cooper swept a doubleheader on the next day.
I can remember the 2008 lineup like they played yesterday — catcher Jesse Conner, pitchers-shortstop Brent Bollinger and Lance Day, second baseman Dustin Murdock, third baseman Chad Franks, outfielders Brooks Gafford, Clint Wall and Ryan Claxton and designated hitter Jake Crenwelge.
Snyder never lost during the postseason, starting with series sweeps of Presido, Levelland and Canyon. The Tigers met Cooper in the regional final.
I remember the drive to Austin and pulled into the parking lot of the same hotel where the team was staying. I walked into the lobby and a group of players saw me and said, “Where have you been all day?”
Later, I met fans from Pleasant Grove, which, led by Randy Wacha, defeated Medina Valley. Wacha now pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Snyder played the second semifinal game, but I remember watching Wacha shutting down Medina Valley.
One characteristic of that year’s Tiger team was nothing came easy. Snyder scored five runs against Hutto in the first inning and led 7-2 going into the final inning. Hutto made it interesting by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Today’s rules would not have allowed Wacha to pitch after he threw a complete game against Medina Valley. Wacha didn’t start, but he entered the championship game in the fifth inning after Snyder took a 1-0 lead.
Pleasant Grove tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, setting the stage for extra innings. 
Snyder scored two runs in the eighth. Chad Franks, who batted eighth in the lineup, hit a single to right field for the go-ahead run, and the Tigers added another run on an error for the 3-1 lead.
Pleasant Grove scored in the bottom of the inning and had the tying run on second base with one out before Bollinger, who pitched a 3-hitter, retired the next two batters.
I never will forget returning to Snyder, especially with fans lining both sides of 37th Street, from College Ave. to the school administration building.
A few days later, the team was honored at a ceremony downtown.
Most of the players live elsewhere these days, but when I run into them from time to time, they always talk about the 2008 season.
Special moments create memories.

Larry McCarty is the sports editor of the Snyder Daily News. He may be contacted at mccarty@snyderdailynews.com. Results of local teams and breaking news will be posted on the Snyder Daily News Facebook page.