By Gene Schallenberg and Tom Waddill
The Huntsville Item
HUNTSVILLE —
All-Star teams from the Huntsville Boys Baseball Association are working overtime in preparation for upcoming summer tournaments. Two teams will be hosting tournaments here in Huntsville starting late next week.
The Bronco and Mustang league all-stars from HBBA will roll out the red carpet for district tournaments at Kate Barr Ross Park starting July 1. This weekend, those two Huntsville teams will tune up for next week’s double-elimination tournament at smaller, round robin events.
The Huntsville Bronco All-Stars will head to Stafford and Missouri City this weekend to play in a warm-up tournament. The Mustang League All-Stars are going to Conroe to play in a small director’s tournament Saturday.
“I’m probably going to play my guys in a bunch of different positions to prepare for next week’s tournament,” coach Greg McGill said Wednesday during a break in his Mustang League team’s workout. “We’ve got three pitchers, and since we’re allowed to pitch only a certain number of innings in tournaments, we’ll probably take a look at some of our other guys on the mound, too.”
Bronco League coach Butch Gibson says he’s liked what he’s seen from his team during workouts in the past week or so. With the tournament in Huntsville only a few days off, Gibson likes his team’s chances.
“I’d say that our strength is our hitting,” the coach said. “We’ve got some big kids and we’ve got some small kids. Overall, we’re a pretty strong team. Our infield is usually pretty strong. We’ve also got a lot of speed.
“We’ve got a lot of infielders that made our team as all-stars. So, we’ve had to put those kids into the outfield. They’re not used to playing in the outfield, so if we have a weak point that would probably be it.”
McGill said his team doesn’t have a lot of power hitters, but they make up for their lack of pop with speed and spunk.
“We’re a small and scrappy team,” said McGill, who played college baseball at Sam Houston State. “These kids have always been scrappy. We have a lot of speed, too. When we get on the bases, I love it because we can hit and run, bunt and run or even steal home sometimes.
“We’re going to put pressure on opposing teams.”
Gibson and assistant coach Larry Carlson have been putting their Bronco Stars (11- and 12-year-olds) through some productive practices to get them ready for next week.
“We’ve been working on everything — hitting, pitching, catching,” Gibson said Tuesday. “We don’t really have to work as much because the kids are all-stars. In a few years, some of these kids will be playing for Huntsville High. The things you have to work on, though, is the basics like signs and baserunning.
“I’m really looking forward to our tournament. We’ve got a lot of talented players, so we’re hoping for the best.”
Joining Huntsville in the upcoming Bronco tournament are teams from Conroe, Tarkington, Katy and Kingwood, all of which are trying to win the tournament and earn an automatic berth to the regional tournament.
The Mustang League All-Stars will be competing with teams from North Forest, Tarkington and Katy (two teams). Huntsville plays the winner of the Katy No. 4-North Forest game at 1 p.m. on July 3. The tournament’s second- and third-place teams advance to a sectional tournament in Kingwood starting July 8. The district champion moves on to the regional tournament in Conroe, which kicks off July 16.
“We’ve had some really good workouts,” McGill said of his team. “I’m shocked about it really because we’ve been doing this for quite a few years. We practice probably more than anybody. We’ve also had about six scrimmages in the past few weeks. There’s nothing better than game-type stuff to get these kids prepared for big tournaments like the ones we’ve got coming up.”
