TLCA Baseball Two Wins Away from Historic Milestone

Sitting on a 15-12 overall record (6-7) in the district, TLCA currently shares 4th place in one of the most competitive districts in all of 3A with the Coahoma Bulldogs. The Eagles play one more game on their regular season schedule against the Merkel Badgers on Friday, which will decide their playoff fate. If TLCA wins on Friday, they travel to Forsan on Monday, May 1, to play Coahoma in a winner-take-all play-in game. 

However, to even get to that point, the Eagles must take care of the Badgers on Friday. Merkel played TLCA extremely tough the first time around on Tuesday, April 25. It took a heroic effort by TLCA to come back and beat the Badgers 14-13. They walked off Merkel in the bottom of the 7th inning. If the Eagles take care of business on Friday, they set the stage for a playoff run.

The play-in game will be another difficult challenge. The Eagles split with Coahoma this year, and the game they won came in extra innings. However,  Head Coach Matt Jones says his boys are ready. “We’ve been in playoff mode for a while now. If we had dropped a game against Coahoma before, or even against Merkel, we would be done,” he said.

If TLCA beats the odds and sneaks into the playoffs as a 4-seed, their lives do not get any easier. They will match up with a 1-seed from another district, and Coach Jones thinks they will play the Blanco Panthers. While Blanco still needs to lock up their district championship against Johnson City this weekend, Jones thinks the Panthers will get it done. 

If and when this matchup occurs, Jones thinks TLCA has a shot at winning a playoff series. He said that because their district is so tough, all the top teams in the district can play with anybody else in the state.