1997 Longhorn Fall World Series News
The Longhorn Fall World Series has come and gone. Orange won the first two games and White took the final game. I'm reproducing the articles from the Texan here because they don't seem to provide any means for outsiders to link to their stuff for more than a week. Otherwise, I'd just add direct links to their articles. As for the stuff from the Statesman, I couldn't find any sign of their <sarcasm on> incredibly in-depth coverage <sarcasm off> on the Hook 'Em site so...<shrug>
From the Daily Texan, 24-Oct-1997:
Orange team outfielder Artie Johnson fouls off a pitch in Game 1 of the Fall World Series. [Photo by Wonsup Song]
Orange squad takes Game 1
by Stephen Becker
Daily Texan StaffFreshman Rodney Guerrero took the bull by the horns Thursday by driving in fellow freshman Tim Meadows with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Orange team a 4-3 victory over the White squad in Game 1 of the annual Fall World Series.
The Orange team entered the inning down by a run, but Mark Cridland, one of the few remaining lettermen from last year's team, started the rally with a single to left and was bunted over to second.
Tim Meadows followed by doubling off the wall to score Cridland and moved to second on a dropped third strike, setting the stage for Guerrero's game-winning RBI.
"That was a clutch base hit, it was real clutch," said Texas head coach Augie Garrido. "Two strikes, one ball ... it was really nice to see that happen for him."
Junior transfer Frank Halter got the win for the Orange squad after relieving starter Beau Hale in the sixth, while freshman Mike Kolbach took the loss after replacing starter Phillip Seibel for the White.
Each team had only one error on the day, a sign that defense has been a high priority for Garrido during fall practice.
Though the '97 Horns were a suspect defensive team, the new faces and extra work have already begun to show in the field.
"We've spent more time on defense than we have on offense so far, and I think it showed up in the game. We were pretty consistent defensively," Garrido said.
Highlighting the Horns' emphasis on solid defense was an outstanding diving catch by freshman right fielder Matt Rosenberg to rob Brian Ivy of a base hit in the fourth inning.
"That was terrific. I was looking for the center fielder to see if he was going to catch it. When I realized he wasn't going to, I thought it was going to fall in for sure, but he [Rosenberg] came out of nowhere. It was a great play," Garrido said.
The White team jumped out early in the top of the first inning when Jason Moore scored from third while Matt Simpson was caught in a rundown between second and third.
After the Orange went quietly in the bottom of the first, the White team struck again when Jason Cox scored from third on a Carlos Sepulveda single up the middle to make the score 2-0.
The Orange made its first dent in the bottom half of the second on the virtues of well-executed hitting.
Cridland led off the inning with a walk and was able to advance to third with the hit-and-run on. Ivy then came to the plate and knocked in Cridland from third on a grounder to the second baseman.
But with a man on third and one out, Seibel was able to settle down and get out of the inning by book-ending a walk with a ground out and a fly out to right.
Both teams went quietly in the third, but each team put a run on the board in the fourth to make the score 3-2, which is where the score would remain until the seventh.
Garrido's assessment of his team was positive after the group's first 18 days of fall practice, and the emphasis will be placed firmly on fundamentals for the remainder of the Fall Series.
"What I am pleased with so far is what they have had a chance to work on, they've retained, and they've learned, and they've improved," Garrido said. "And if that holds true, that'll give us a chance to be competitive."
The White squad will look to get back at their Orange counterparts Friday when the squads meet again for Game 2 of the Fall World Series, which is free to the public and begins at 3:15 p.m. at Disch-Falk Field.
From the Austin American-Statesman, 24-Oct-1997:
Meadows keys orange for fall series opener
[no by-line]Freshman Tim Meadows hit a game-tying double and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh and final inning to lead the Texas ornage baseball team to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory in the first game of the fall world series at Disch-Falk Field.
After Meadows drove in Mark Cridland with one out, freshman Rodney Guerrero hit a two-out single to drive in the winning run.
Frank Halter got the win, giving up one hit in two innings in relief of starter Beau Hale. Mike Kolbach, who pitched two innings of relief, got the loss.
From the Austin American-Statesman, 25-Oct-1997:
Orange topples white in fall series
[no by-line]Junier Brett Loeffler of Round Rock and freshman Tim Meadows each connected on first-inning home runs to help stake the Texas orange squad to an early 5-0 lead in an 8-4 triumph over the white in game two of the fall world series. The orange team is up 2-0.
Loeffler went two for three with three runs scored and two RBIs. Freshman Kade Johnson also helped the orange by going two for three with a run scored.
Freshman Matt Rosenberg paced the white team with two hits in two at bats and two RBI's.
Jim Munroe picked up the win with five innings, six hits, two earned runs and four strikeouts.
From the Daily Texan, 27-Oct-1997:
White team starter Curt Kautsch pitched seven strong innings, giving up only three runs in the 12-3 win. [Photo by Jon Pattillo]
Orange wins series, White squad claims Game 3, 12-3
by Stephen Becker
Daily Texan StaffGame 3 of the Fall World Series was a game of momentum.
The White team had it, the Orange team didn't.
Though the Orange squad had already claimed the title of Fall Classic Champions, the White team showed Sunday it belonged on the same field when it blew the game open in the eighth inning and blew out its Orange counterpart, 12-3.
"They [White team] played hard. They got the momentum in the second and they never let go of it until the ninth," Augie Garrido said.
Already down 6-3 entering the eighth, Orange team pitcher Frank Halter continued a day he would probably rather forget by walking himself into a jam. The junior transfer issued free passes to three of the first five hitters he faced in the inning to load the bases.
Following the barrage of walks was Chris Edelstein, whose single to right drove in Jason Moore and Matt Simpson to make the score 8-3. Dan Roth continued the scoring by doubling off the wall in left to plate catcher Jason Cox and Edelstein.
The White squad went on to send 10 men to the plate as Orange team pitcher Nick Webb was brought in to stop the bleeding, recording the final out after six runs had crossed the plate.
"I think that as Halter becomes more consistent in all that he's doing, he'll be more consistent on the mound," Garrido said. "He's about where he should be right now, I think."
Halter replaced Orange team starter Scott Dunn in the seventh inning with the score tied at three and runners on first and second and one out. After getting Roth on a fly ball, Halter hit Carlos Sepulveda in the leg to load the bases, beginning his control problem for the day.
Following Sepulveda was a bases-loaded walk to Matt Rosenberg to score Mike Kolbach from third and a sacrifice fly by Bradley Wells that was deep enough to score two runs. Halter finally got out of the inning by striking out Jason Aspito, but the damage had already been done. The White squad scored three times in the inning, making the score 6-3 and setting up the scoring barrage that followed in the eighth.
Pitcher Curt Keutsch went seven strong innings, allowing only three runs to earn the win for the White while Dunn took the loss for the Orange.
Sepulveda tied the score at two in the third inning with a long home run to right field with a man on. Sepulveda is battling with junior Corey Richardson for playing time in center field, and the freshman's play over the three game series has caught his coach's eye.
"He put on a great show of hustle, desire and skill, Garrido said. "He was good, he was really good in all three games, and I'm real excited about that."
In addition to Sepulveda's play, Garrido also credited his pitching staff with becoming more consistent over the fall practices.
"It appears to me that we're getting more consistency out of the pitching staff than we were able to get out of them last year at the same time," he said.
The Horns roster sports 18 freshmen, but Garrido said the team is coming together and learning at a good pace.
"We're a long way away from being an efficient team, but we're a lot closer to it now, because I feel like when the players on this team understand what's expected of them. Once they get a clear understanding, they learned from that ... and they never go backwards," Garrido said.
From the Austin American-Statesman, 27-Oct-1997:
Sports Briefs: UT baseball
[no by-line]The White team beat the Orange 12-3 to salvage one win out of three in the University of Texas' intrasquad Fall World Series. The game marked the end of fall practice. The Orange team won games on Thursday and Friday.
Brief editorial about the state of sports coverage at the Austin American-Statesman: is it any wonder I dropped my subscription to that rag? The above three snippets from the Statesman are the sum total of what they had to say about the baseball team's Fall series. Did they even bother to send someone to Sunday's game? The three sentences they managed to come up with lead one to believe they didn't. Okay, I realize it's football season and football is the be-all and end-all for some people and the team lost an oh-so-crucial conference game against Colorado this weekend but, please. Give the rest of us a break. This coverage stinks. I bet good money the Orange/White football scrimmage next spring (smack dab in the middle of baseball season, doncha know?) will warrant days and days of coverage and commentary. Grumble grumble grumble...
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Joanna L. Castillo
Email: joanna@joanna.org