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Ryan freshman pitcher released from hospital

After being hit in the head with a line drive on Friday, Ryan freshman pitcher Josh Mears has been released from the hospital and is back home, his father said on Monday.

Rob Mears said his 15-year old son was released from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on Sunday. Josh Mears was originally supposed to have a CT Scan done on Sunday but doctors opted against it and any other tests.

Josh Mears suffered a fractured right orbital bone after being hit with a line drive in Ryan’s freshman game against Coppell on Friday.

The elder Mears said it will take at least six weeks for his son’s orbital bones to recover. Doctors have asked the Ryan freshman to avoid physical activity for at least the rest of the school year.

State softball polls: 5-4A, 5-5A well represented

In this week’s version of the Texas Girls Coaches Association state softball polls, three area teams earned Top 25 spots.

In Class 4A, Guyer checks in at No. 21. Sanger is holding on to the No. 10 spot in Class 3A and Pilot Point is the No.1 team in Class 2A (Oh, and the Lady Cats defeated Leonard 18-0 on Friday).

Take a closer look at District 5-4A and 5-5A and you’ll see how competitive things are in both of those districts.

District 5-4A currently has four teams in the Top 25. Fort Worth Brewer (15), Wichita Falls Rider (19), Trophy Club Nelson (20) and Guyer (21) are all up there. There’s no other district in the state with as many ranked teams in there, however Forney is apparently good enough to be ranked twice (17 and 22, respectively).

District 5-5A, Ryan’s district, might trump Guyer’s district. There are three teams in the Top 20 — Flower Mound (12), Flower Mound Marcus (13) and Lewisville (19). The only other district in the state with three Top 25 teams is 4-5A (Richland, Southlake Carroll, Keller).

Keep in mind that nobody take all rankings with a couple spoonfuls of salt, as it’s far from an exact science.

 

Ryan freshman pitcher appears OK after line drive to the head

Ryan freshman pitcher Josh Mears is in guarded condition at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on Saturday after being hit in the head by a line drive.

Mears was pitching for Ryan’s freshman team against Coppell on Friday night when a line drive hit Mears just above his right eye, Ryan head freshman baseball coach Tim Rainey said.

Rob Mears, Josh’s father, said on Saturday his son suffered a fractured right orbital bone and his eye is swollen shut.

“It wasn’t until I walked up on him that I realized how bad it was,” Rob Mears said. “It was bad. He looks like Rocky Balboa after the fight.”

Mears said his son will most likely stay in intensive care at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth at least until Sunday but things should turn out OK.

Guarded condition is somewhere between stable condition and serious condition, according to those at the hospital.

The game was delayed for about 20 minutes in the top of the third inning. Rainey said the paramedics arrived about five minutes after the emergency call was made and a stretcher took Mears off the field and to the hospital.

Rainey said it appeared Mears slightly deflected the ball with his glove before it hit him in the head. However, Rob Mears said he didn’t think the glove deflected the hit because the seams of the baseball is indented under his eye.

“[It was] just a scary situation, all the way around,” Rainey said. “Any time that happens, whatever the injury is, you’re lucky to be able to get up and walk away from it.”

The varsity team was the only one to play at Ryan, while the JV and varsity teams were at Coppell on Friday.

It’s  scary stuff, and it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. In 2007, Mike Coolbaugh was coaching the AA Tulsa Drillers when he was killed by a line drive in the first-base coaches box. 

Based on what Josh’s dad said on Saturday, it seems like everything will be fine from here on out. He was conversing fine today and they took him out of his bed and placed him in a chair. He’ll stay in intensive care at least until Sunday before he gets moved to a room.

We’ll be keeping up with Josh and his condition, and we’ll have more about it in Sunday’s paper.

Class 3A’s Argyle ranked No.4 in state polls

After losing to Frisco Lone Star 2-1 on March 26, the Argyle Eagles have quickly rinsed the taste of the lone district defeat from its mouths with back-to-back drubbings of Aubrey and Celina.

In the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association polls, Argyle is ranked No.4 in Class 3A, the lone area team to earn a ranking in any classification. The Eagles outscored its last two opponents by a combined score of 19-0.

In Class 5A, Flower Mound is ranked No.8. The Jaguars are still undefeated in District 5-5A, a district filled with some of the top talent in the state. Unfortunately for Ryan and the rest of 5-5A, the Jags have opened up a three-game lead over Flower Mound Marcus and Coppell.

Ryan plays Lewisville and hopes not to fall eight games back from the top spot in district play and three games back of the final playoff spot. While Lewisville is only slightly above Ryan in the cellar, it’s going to be a difficult task for the Raiders.

 

Baseball Polls: Argyle at No.5 in Class 3A

In the Texas HS Baseball Coaches Association poll that was released today, the Argyle Eagles landed a spot in the middle of the Class 3A Rankings.

The Eagles are slotted No. 5 in 3A in the latest poll. Lake Dallas received some votes for the Class 4A poll but couldn’t crack the Top 10.

Flower Mound Marcus, the team that rolled through Ryan on Tuesday night, is ranked No.3 in Class 5A. Marcus (15-1) had Ryan overmatched on Tuesday night. Right-handed pitcher Conner Dotson pitched a no-hitter against Ryan. The Raiders were luckily to get a bat on the ball against Dotson, who will probably inflict the same anguish on the rest of District 5-5A that he did against Ryan.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, they will still have to face Marcus two more times this season.

Looking at the rankings, there weren’t any other local teams in the Top 10 in their respective classes. If you want to peek at them yourself, here’s where the state polls can be found. Just click on the small “polls” link on the left side.

 

Class 3A girls basketball state semis: Krum-Mexia Live Blog

It’s a final. Mexia knocks out Krum with a 50-41 victory and advances to the Class 3A state final.

Fourth quarter:

Degelia calls a quick timeout after Rachel Wallace puts a bucket in with 1:47 left. May be too late for a comeback. Krum trails 46-41 and Mexia has the ball.

Mexia head coach Randy Barger calls a full timeout with the ball and his team up 42-37 with 3:20 left. Krum now with 27 turnovers.

Degelia calls a full timeout with Krum trailing 40-35 with 5:56 left. Krum’s opened the quarter with four turnovers and one field goal. It’s nearly impossible to overcome this many turnovers and win, but there’s a sliver of hope. Mexia’s only shooting 34 percent and their leading scorer, Brechelle Breachum, has four fouls.

Third quarter: 

Rachel Wallace drains a 3-pointer right before the buzzer, giving Krum something to cheer about in the 3rd. Mexia leads 36-33. Krum has committed 20 turnovers and still looks really tense.

Mexia leads 33-28 with 2:40 left. Krum’s Callie Craddock went sliding into the Mexia bench for a loose ball and she gingerly walked off the court holding her right abdomen.

Krum head coach Lana Degelia quickly calls timeout after a turnover that leads to a Mexia bucket to tie the game 24-24 with 6:20 left. Krum now with 14 turnovers and counting.

Second quarter: 

Halftime: Krum’s pulled ahead 24-22 behind Julia Schmaltz’s 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Mexia really struggled to score in the second quarter, and Krum used that to jump ahead. Rachell Wallace has six points on 2-of-6 shooting. Krum’s committed 12 turnovers in the first half and must cut down on those in the second half.

Mexia’s done a great job of running the floor and leaking people out on the fastbreak.

Mexia head coach Randy Barger calls timeout with 4:57 left in the first half and Krum ahead 14-13. Caylee Thomas snuck behind Mexia’s defense off an in-bounds play and banked in a short shot in the paint to put Krum ahead. Krum currently led by eight points by Julia Schmaltz.

First quarter:

Krum’s getting the benefit of a lot of calls here, but the Lady Cats have only hit two of six free throws while committing seven turnovers. Not a good recipe.

End of the 1st: Krum commits seven turnovers in 1st quarter, trail Mexia 13-10. Mexia already with 7 team fouls.

Krum’s got five turnovers so far and the Lady Cats trail 8-4 with 3:03 left. Krum making a conscious effort to get the ball inside to Julia Schmaltz against an undersized Mexia squad.

Pregame

We just finished the national anthem and the Krum was just introduced to a strong ovation. The Mexia Ladycats, in white jerseys with black lettering across the chest and red and black down the sides of the shorts, are being introduced.

Hey everybody, I’m here at Texas’ Frank Erwin Center for the Class 3A state semifinal between Krum (29-6) and Mexia (34-3). The winner moves on to face either Smithville or Kennedale. We’ve got about 10 minutes left before the game begins.

Both fan bases have traveled well, but Mexia, the closer school, seems to have brought the better crowd. The Krum fans and the Mexia fans are sitting diagonally across from each other in the middle tier of the building.

Potential requirements to buy state final tickets include having your skin or hair died your school’s color. Great idea, UIL.

Friday’s Playoff Preview

Denton and Guyer play in a doubleheader Friday night, and if both teams win, they will square off next week at UNT's Super Pit. (David Minton/Denton Record-Chronicle) (David Minton/Denton Record-Chronicle)

The amount of area teams left in the basketball postseason has trickled down to six, with five teams on the boys side and two on the girls side.

In Class 2A boys action, Ponder and Sunnyvale tipped off at 7 p.m., with the winner going on to face either Whitesboro or Peaster. But with the exception of that contest, there’s four very interesting contests going on tomorrow: a Denton-Guyer doubleheader, a rematch between Argyle and Dallas Wilmer-Hutchins,  Krum girls in the 3A regional tournament and both Liberty teams in action.

Here’s a closer look at tomorrow night’s games.

 

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The clock is now ticking on DISD AD Ken Purcell

Denton ISD AD Ken Purcell, pictured here in 2004, said on Monday he's planning to retire at the end of the year. (DRC file photo)

In today’s paper, we wrote a story on Denton ISD assistant athletic director Russ Reeves was named as the new athletic director at Rockwall. Former Rockwall ADs include Mickey Florence, the father of Ryan head football coach Joey Florence.

At the end of the story there were a couple of quotes from current Denton ISD athletic director Ken Purcell. From what I understand, Purcell has hinted at hanging up his wide-brimmed hat for a very, very long time now.

Purcell, 65, said yesterday he’s planning on retiring after the 2013 football season. Well, here’s exactly what he said:

“My plan is to retire next December after football season,” Purcell said. “When we get out for the Christmas holidays, I’ll probably be through. And whoever takes my place should, I feel, be able to hire his own assistant.

“For me to hire an assistant that works for me for seven months, I just don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Now, it’s been no secret around town that Purcell’s departure has been imminent. He’s held the position for 16 years seen the district’s athletic programs take giant steps. But with Buck Smith holding only an interim title, it’s seems like a concrete step has been made, that this time Purcell will be ready to call it quits and have somebody else take over where he left off.

Personally, the odds of Purcell changing his mind, staying another year and naming Smith the permanent assistant athletic director are pretty slim. Purcell said Smith acknowledged he was basically coming in for a finite period of time that’s been predetermined.

So when Purcell retires and his place is taken, it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out and what the trickle effect ends up becoming once the 65-year-old finally hangs up that wide-brimmed hat.

District 5-4A playoff scenarios

Tonight’s slate of basketball games closes out the boys regular season. It will also close out one this season’s most exciting district battle.

In 5-4A action, Guyer plays Fort Worth Brewer tonight with a shot at the school’s first ever district title. Denton plays on the road at Trophy Club Nelson.

All three teams have already clinched a playoff berth. The following should help clear things up.

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Boys Basketball Power Rankings

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Jerrod Heard (left) and the Guyer Wildcats hold down the top spot in the rankings after Friday's win against Denton. (David Minton/Denton Record-Chronicle)

When  a game is hyped to be something extraordinary, most of the time the game fails to live up to its lofty expectations. Denton and Guyer’s boys basketball game on Friday night failed to disappoint.

Guyer’s gym was was absolutely packed. The lower sections of each set of the bleachers was completely full, and Guyer had to open the top sections on both sides. Guyer’s band was rocking, both crowds chanting and screaming on every made basket down the stretch. Here’s what fellow DRC writer Adam Boedeker tweeted out the morning after Guyer’s 55-51 win on Friday night.

 


So with that being said, here’s where the teams in the area rank.

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