State Champs
June 12, 2010
Joe De Santos, Sr.
Round Rock, Texas – – The Corpus Christi Carroll High School baseball team proved that they are the best as they took it all this afternoon in the Class 5A baseball championship game at Dell Diamond Field in Round Rock, Texas. Coach Lee Yeager’s Tigers beat Klein 5-2, a team that was ranked number one in the nation by Baseball America. With two outs and two Klein runners on base in the bottom of the 7th inning, Evan Rutter smashed a thundering fly ball into deep center field at which time senior center fielder Mark Blackmar got on his horse and made a sensational over the shoulder running catch for the third out, preventing 2 RBI’s. Sophomore Tiger starting pitcher, Courtney Hawkins, who pitched an outstanding game, was named the game’s MVP. Some were heard commenting that if Blackmar had not made that catch and the ball had gone through, Rutter might have had a chance for an inside the park homer. We’ll never know.
The game was tied 1-1 in the fourth inning with two outs when Chris Cano and Malcolm Cepeda singled and an error placed runners at second and third. Adam Hinojosa came through when he beat a short chopper to shortstop and Cano scored, giving the Tigers the lead they never gave up. Carroll scored three more runs in the fifth inning with two outs and the bases loaded when Jason Franco brought in two runners with a single and Cano followed with an RBI single to left field giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead. The Carroll defense was outstanding, producing two double plays in the game. Photo courtesy of Frank Rodriguez.