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Close but no cigar: Bobcats finish on edge of long postseason run
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
After entering the postseason as the top seed from District 10-3A, the Celina baseball team had aspirations of a run to state.
The Bobcats started the playoffs the right way by winning a 6-1 game against Farmersville in the first of a best-of-3 set.
However, Farmersville came back with a 1-0 victory in Game 2 before taking the series on a 14-3 run-rule win.
For the series, the Bobcats struck out only 10 times despite managing only three runs over the final two games.
Since the area-round victory, Farmersville beat Sanger in the regional quarterfinals and advanced past Crandall the following week to earn a spot in the regional finals.
If they were victorious against Texarkana Pleasant Grove, the Farmers – a team Celina put on the brink of elimination – would have traveled to Round Rock for the state finals.
“I thought we had a great year,” Evans said. “Obviously I wish we were still playing, but I think we were right there with [Farmersville] and could be where they are now.”
The Bobcats entered the postseason as the top seed from their district after defeating Bonham (4-0) in an April 26 game to determine the top two spots from 10-3A.
To get to that point, Celina had to win its final five games after dropping a March 30 game to Bonham for the team’s first district loss.
“We wanted to make something good of it and just went from there,” Evans said.
Victories over Bonham, Van Alstyne, Anna and two against Commerce achieved that feat and gave Celina and Bonham a share of the district championship.
“This was definitely one of the most improved teams I’ve been a part of in my last 19 years here,” Evans said. “As a coach, it makes your job easy.”
Celina ended the season with a 16-9 mark and a 7-1 record against district counterparts. With consecutive district titles, Evans said the team has begun a pattern it will strive to continue next season.
“That’s something we want to keep up,” he said. “We want to keep that tradition going.”
Matters will be made tougher with the graduation of several key seniors, including No. 1 and 2 starting pitchers Colin Firmin and Mike Richardson.
“Losing your one and two pitchers is never easy,” Evans said. “They’re going to be hard to replace.”
Firmin earned district MVP honors after the season while Richardson was named the co-pitcher of the year with Bonham’s Ryan Woodruff.
Likely replacements include junior Andrew Bilienski, sophomore Tanner Davis and a few other candidates.
“There are always guys that step up,” Evans said.
The Bobcats will also have to find someone to fill the shoes of first baseman Austin Hambrick, who was named the district’s offensive player of the year this season.
However, Evans and his staff will have a junior varsity team that went 18-2 during the season to find depth.
“We’re excited,” he said. “We definitely didn’t want this year to end, but we’re excited about the next few years here in Celina.”
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