State Title Loss Fuels No. 11 Wall's Focus in 2018 Playoffs

WALL, TX—Taking second place in any Texas State Tournament is a feat that should be smiled on.

While the no. 11-ranked Wall Hawks fondly remember their first trip to the State Tournament a year ago, their 10-0 loss to Nacogdoches Central Heights still fuels their focus to make a run back to the Dell Diamond in Round Rock this year.

“We were satisfied with being number two in the state last year,” Wall head coach Jason Schneirs said. “There aren’t many teams who get to say they had the opportunity to play for a State Championship. There were a lot of firsts last year as a program, but they weren’t satisfied. You could tell deep down they wanted more.

“Every kid’s dream is to get to hold that State Championship trophy at the end of the year. We were so close and just didn’t get it done. Going into this season everybody was talking, ‘We’re going to get back and we’re going to do it.’ That’s kind of been their fuel to finish what didn’t get finished last year. We’ve kind of had some setbacks this year and our kids have done a great job of battling whoever it is.”

Last year the State Runner-Up moniker helped Wall High School win their first-ever Lone Star Cup which is given out to a team in each of the UIL’s six classifications with points divvied out based athletic performance by each school.

The State Championship appearance has also put a target on the back of the Hawks with teams from around the state wanting a piece of the State Runner-Ups.

“You have a target on your back the whole year and you’ve just got to keep focused because it takes work to get back to State with the target on our backs,” senior Brock Rosenquist said. “We’ve got to be ready to work every day.”

More so, the experience helped the Hawks grow to be prepared for a deep playoff run in 2018.

“The biggest thing you can always say is the amount of experience,” Schneirs said. “Anytime you have experience in something new, it’s no longer new. You’ve been there. You’ve done that. I think it helps you relax a little bit more. You’re still going to have jitters early on, but you’ve been in those situations. You’ve played in big games. That helps you focus a little more. I think it helps you play calm.”

The Hawks  return eight of the 10 guys who participated in the State Championship in 2018.

Brock Rosenquist, Dryden Virden, Mitch Horton, Gage Weishuhn, Will Brown, Tanner Seider, Caleb Heuertz and Colton Saverance each saw time in the Hawks first-ever State Championship.  Saverance was the only one of the eight not to start in the game for the Hawks.

“I think experience helps a lot in any situation,” said senior Brock Rosenquist. “Making that deep playoff run with a lot of the same dudes is a fun experience. We had a lot of young guys last year that made a lot of contributions. They’re only going to get better moving forward. Us seniors have to be leaders when we get into these games now that we have that experience. A lot of teams don’t have that experience of going to the state tournament and thank goodness we do.”

The Hawks have seen their share of ups and downs this season, however, with an injury taking out the Hawks’ ace Ryan Gully for the season.

“We’ve kind of had some setbacks this year and our kids have done a great job of battling whoever it is,” Schneirs said. “We’ve had injuries, but our kids have done a really good job rallying behind that and one another.”

But ever since their March 28 loss to Reagan County in Big Lake, the only blemish on Wall’s 9-1 District 4-3A record, the Hawks have renewed their focus on the 2018.

“We weren’t really focused, or to the level I feel we should’ve been,” Schneirs said of the loss. “They beat us which, in hindsight, I think that woke us up. We’ve been playing really well since that point.”

“We had a lack of focus and I think we had a bad day,” Rosenquist said. “Sometimes that happens in baseball. I think that set a tone for us, though. It made us realize that we have to work every single day. We can’t take any plays off. We took a couple of plays off in that game [against Reagan County] and that’s what cost us the game. We’ve just got to be focused every single play. I think we really realized that after that game.”

Since the loss to the Owls, the Hawks have won their last eight games and, despite the high expectations, their focus remains on the task at hand: the Kermit Yellow Jackets.

“It’s easy to look ahead,” Schneirs said. “You’ve always got to re-emphasize to your kids that if you don’t take everyone seriously and you don’t focus on your opponent that day, there’s a very good possibility that they could beat you. It’s the playoffs. Everybody is fighting for their season. You’ve got to go in and respect everyone that you’re playing whether they’re the winner of their district or the fourth-place team. It doesn’t matter. Everyone is out to accomplish the same thing. I think our kids are focused.”

For the first time in history, the Hawks will play a playoff game at Foster Field at First Community Federal Credit Union Stadium on the campus of Angelo State University.

“I think we’re ready to go play what you could call a home game at Angelo State,” Schneirs smiled. “It’ll be a great atmosphere and I think our kids will be ready for that.”

First pitch for the Hawks’ Bi-District game with Kermit is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 3.