The Hot Corner
Well I was wrong.
I never made my pick for all to see by publishing it in the Snyder Daily News, but I picked the San Francisco 49ers and their stout defense to slow down and topple the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
I was wrong and I learned a valuable lesson.
Do not bet against Patrick Mahomes.
The gunslinger from Texas Tech proved once again that he is a different kind of competitor and at 24 years old, led his team to a come from behind Super Bowl Victory.
I could write about how well Mahomes played and how special he is all day long, but the Super Bowl was significant to me in a completely different way.
It means baseball season has finally, officially arrived.
It’s the best time of the year. On any given day, you can get in your car and drive around with the windows down and hear the beautiful sound of a baseball making contact with the sweet spot.
We have already seen the early stages of baseball season kick in right here in Snyder.
Snyder head coach Shane Stewart and the Tigers’ baseball team have already begun pre-season practice. The Snyder softball team played its first scrimmage last weekend and will travel to Levelland on Thursday for another scrimmage.
While in college, I covered a lot of college baseball. My love for Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros aren’t secrets to readers, but there is something unique about high school and college baseball. It is baseball in its purest form. There’s no money involved. No cameras, no replay systems, just athletes who love the sport they are playing.
At Texas State University, I also got the opportunity to cover one of the best pitchers in collegiate softball. Randi Rupp, a perennial All-American, trained under softball legend Cat Osterman at Texas State (or SWT) and became a dominant figure in the collegiate softball landscape. Her performance made her a first round pick in the National Pro FastPitch (NPF) draft. Yes, professional softball is a thing.
Last weekend, I covered my first Western Texas College baseball game and came away impressed with head coach Kenneth Jackson’s team.
Freshman Keegan Turner is a formidable looking first baseman with a big bat. Infielders Elliot Ranson and Marshal Jones look to be solid top of the lineup bats. The question for me will be how the Westerners’ pitching holds up. Freshman Andrew Delgadillo impressed in his collegiate debut Saturday and I look forward to seeing how that group performs going forward.
I have yet to see the WTC softball team play, but I hope to catch them this Thursday when they host Otero College.
If I seem abnormally chipper over the next few months, just know it is because I am back at the baseball and softball field. Baseball is a sport fans of all ages can really appreciate.
The ins and outs of the game can be hard to understand and my high school baseball coach commonly referred to it as “a bunch of little games inside one big game.”
When I first saw Moffett Field, I was ecstatic that I would get to spend time there.
Both Moffett and Dale Cates are unique diamonds and they match the Scurry County personality in a fantastic way.
It will be an exciting year for baseball and softball in Scurry County and I cannot wait for this part of the year to hit full swing.