Abilene Wylie juniors helping baseball team’s run to Region I-5A semifinals – Abilene Reporter-News
The Wylie baseball team is full of talented seniors, but don’t overlook the juniors who are helping fuel this year’s run to the Region I-5A semifinals.
Landon Williams, J.T. Thompson, Garrett Graham and Brooks Gay are a big reason the Bulldogs still ae playing. Beyond the starters, Wylie also can call on Dante Cano, Grayson Bearden and Jaxon Rutledge in relief on the mound.
“They add to us. Whether it’s from a defensive spot or at the plate or on the mound, behind the plate, they’re a huge part of what we’re doing,” Wylie coach Grant Martin said. “We’re blessed and lucky to have them as a part of it.”
When the Bulldogs take the field against Aledo in the region semifinals, beginning 5 p.m. Thursday at The Depot in Cleburne, it will take everyone to win the best-of-three series.
There’s also a little extra motivation.
The final game of the 2020 season before the shutdown was a 3-2 loss against Wylie’s former district foe. The Bulldogs haven’t forgotten.
“Really just looking forward to the game this week,” Williams said. “Looking to get revenge from last year’s 3-2 loss, I still remember that … I’m ready.”
Making up for lost time
There’s an extra emphasis on making this year count. With a big senior class and last year mostly put on hold, the Bulldogs came out with an added sense of urgency.
“I think we’re fortunate that we’re juniors right now,” Graham said. “Last year they were juniors and had almost their whole season canceled. We still have one more year and it’s good because you can tell everyone is striving to do their best because it’s (the seniors’) last year and we didn’t have last year.”
The 2020 season would have been a good chance for the juniors to get playing time. With just three seniors after a large 2019 senior class, there were opportunities to get in the lineup. Without those games, they have made the most of each game this season.
“Last year was tough on everybody, it would have been a great year for them to get more games,” Martin said. “The great thing about it, they did see time early on, success early on and that’s a big deal. And the ability to play so many games this year will only help those guys moving forward, whether it’s in the playoffs or for them next year. They’ve done an outstanding job.”
Players such as Thompson stepped into new roles. His work at second base in tandem with shortstop Balin Valentine and wherever he’s placed in the lineup has been a big part of the team’s success.
Thompson had three hits, scored a run and drove in five as the Bulldogs finished off the Region I-5A quarterfinal sweep of Canyon Randall from the No. 2 spot in the batting order.
“He’s very versatile in both places, at the plate and in the field,” Martin said. “He’s a tremendous defensive player, but his ability to hit it to different parts of the park is huge, too. He does a great job of hitting it where it’s thrown and has done a wonderful job of buying in. Having him up the middle, he’s made a lot of good plays and plays where maybe it’s not a diving stop, but it’s a play where you know it’s a hard play and a good play.”
Learning experience
Graham and Gay were regulars in the lineup as freshmen, getting a chance to play from the start.
Williams and Thompson would have gotten chances last year if it weren’t for the shutdown.
But even the little bit they did get a chance to be in the varsity dugout was big.
“It helped so much, even just sitting on the rail getting mental reps from watching Balin (Valentine) and Tyler Martin,” Thompson said. “It helped me learn the game a lot more and I was thankful for the experience.”
This is the third senior class Graham has gotten to work with and learn from. Each one has helped build him as a player and will help him be a leader when his senior year comes.
“Having the experience when you’re younger really helps,” Graham said. “You know how things are done and you can teach others how to do it on varsity. It’s good to learn from the older kids and then be able to pass it on to younger kids.”
If Gay is on the mound, Wylie has six seniors and four juniors in the starting lineup. And though they are a grade-level younger, they have played together for a long time. That includes Graham and Williams being on the Wylie Little League’s Junior League World Series team with a lot of the seniors.
“Those guys have done an exceptional job for us,” Martin said. “It’s a great mix. Those kids have played together for a long time. Those are guys, too, that have spent a lot of time together. We’ve talked about the seniors spending a lot of time together, but these guys in the junior class, too, have played a lot of games and the combination of the two have been great for us.”
Coach behind the plate
A lot has been made of the senior class’ college plans, but the junior class isn’t without collegiate talent.
For one, Williams is committed to Louisiana Lafayette. He is the latest in a line of Wylie catchers to play a big role for the team that includes state champions Lane Bourland and Caleb Munton.
“Landon does an exceptional job behind the plate for us,” Martin said. “His ability to throw the ball and control the run game is huge, but he does much more than that. He’s a great receiver of the baseball, he knows our pitching staff very well. We put a lot on him and, from that position, how important that is. He handles it well.”
Williams also puts a lot into working on his craft. He maximizes his time in the offseason to get the most out of the off-field work to be at his best on the field.
“So much work goes into the offseason,” Williams said. “Being a one-sport guy, I take a lot of pride in working out, eating a lot, trying to gain good weight. Then putting in time behind the plate, working on throw downs, long tossing, strengthening the arm and then leg work to be quick behind the plate.”
That work and trust has made him a vital part of the Wylie pitching staff without throwing a pitch. He is the go-between for the pitchers and Coach Martin.
“There’s times when he goes out and visits and I don’t have to come out of the dugout,” Martin said. “Then his ability to communicate with me when he comes back to the dugout. He knows the way I want to pitch, the way the kids want to pitch, and his total understanding of the situation has been huge for us.”
Whether it’s working with Gay or Dash Albus at the beginning of the game or a reliever when they come in, the relationship and trust is there between pitcher and catcher to get the most out of every pitch.
“We’ve played together for such a long time, I kind of know what they like to pitch in certain situations or what they don’t like to throw,” Williams said. “Being able to work with them every single day and in the offseason … it’s so much fun. We have so many guys who can come in and shut it down. It’s a lot of fun to catch them.”
Finishing strong
There is a lot of experience and leadership the juniors will be able to take with them into next season.
“It’s easy to learn from these guys,” Williams said. “They’ll talk to you and let you know what to do, what not to do. Next year it’s going to be great to be in that leadership role and lead those younger guys.”
But they aren’t ready for that to happen just yet.
“This Friday coming back to our hometown, playing in front of our home crowd,” Thompson said. “I think it’s going to be really exciting.”
The Bulldogs are in the region semifinals because of the way the team has come together.
“The great thing about this is, everybody is pulling together, everybody is rooting for each other,” Martin said. “Our seniors have done a great job passing down what they’ve learned. Our juniors, next year as seniors, will do the same thing. That’s a huge deal, to get the opportunity to play early is awesome and great, but the reason they’re playing is because they’ve bought in to what we’ve been trying to preach to them. … Those guys have been constants and they’ll be better for it in the future and we’ll be better for it.”
Jordan Hofeditz covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jhofeditz. If you appreciate locally drive news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.