WAKE UP! on ETBLITZ | A day away from Overton-Collinsville; Great Texas Balloon Race is next week; and it’s not Saturday, but an ’80s classic rock hit
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! on a Wednesday, the day before the big state title game for the Overton High School baseball Mustangs. Hopefully, they’ll have better weather in Round Rock tomorrow morning than we have here in East Texas today, as it’s storming a bit as we’re putting Wake Up! together. Thanks to Cozy Coffee Station, as always, for presenting Wake Up!, and you can see more about CCS online here, Home | Cozy Coffee Station, and on their socials on Facebook and Instagram. Find them at 110 Midtown Plaza in Kilgore, and at 755 Highway 271 North in Gilmer.
Overton baseball
This first item is a bit of a rerun, so to speak, but it’s the top item on our agenda for the next 48 hours, and it’s what most everyone locally seems to be talking about.
Our preview will hit today at noon, and it’ll have all of this again, but also the actual preview, with numbers, all sorts of things that we think you’ll wanna read.
Overton will play Collinsville on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at Dell Diamond in Round Rock for the UIL Class 2A, Division II state baseball championship. Family members, friends and fans were to have a send-off this morning at 8 a.m., as the team was headed on down. A lot of people, ETBlitz staff included, will make their way down later today, and maybe some even tomorrow morning in time for the game.
Anyone who can’t go has a few options.
Hear it live, brand-spankin’ new, as it happens through the call of our friend Mark McLain on KWRD 1470/98.5 radio, and that’ll be streaming live on KWRD AM / FM or on Network1sports.com; just go here, Network1sports.com-Overton vs. Collinsville, and click the “Listen live” button.
For streaming video, the UIL offers one outlet, and it’s NFHSNetwork.com. I’ll be honest: often, before the deep playoff games, this can be hit and miss. This deep into the playoffs, though, it’s normally reliable. But there is a subscription fee of like $12.99 a month, and you can cancel at any time, but that first payment is made when you subscribe, so there’s that.
If you want to give it a shot, here’s the link: NFHS Network – Overton vs. Collinsville, UIL 2A-DI State Championship.
For anyone who’s going, here’s the run-down.
Here’s the link to the UIL baseball state tournament website: Baseball State Tournament — University Interscholastic League (UIL).
A ticket that allows you in for an entire day (either Thursday, Friday or Saturday) is $16. An all-tournament ticket, allowing you in to all games, is $40. Kids two and under are free.
Here’s a link for ticket purchases for Thursday, for Overton-Collinsville: UIL HS State Baseball Tournament Tickets – Thursday.
Parking is $10.
Dell Diamond has a clear-bag policy (what a shock), and a noisemaker policy.
We said this over the weekend, and I guess it bears repeating: there are other East Texas programs playing for state titles this week.
Liberty-Eylau plays Thursday night, in fact, the last game of the day, a 7 p.m. first pitch against Corpus Christi London for the 3A, Division I state championship. Spring Hill plays Wimberley on Friday morning at 9 a.m. for the 4A-DII title, and Pleasant Grove faces Corpus Christi Calallen at noon Friday for the 4A-DII championship.
Great Texas Balloon Race
The balloon race, which is based in Longview and is quite an event, if you’ve never experienced it, begins Monday with practice flights, and let me say this: it is a surreal feeling to walk outside – for those of us in the path of those practice flights – and look up and see several dozen hot-air balloons cruising a couple of hundred yards over your roof.
For the public, the race culminates next weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Longview Convention Complex at 1123 Jaycee Drive.
Technically, it’s the BFA U.S. Nationals Hot Air Balloon Championship Practice Flight (whew, a mouthful) over Longview, and it begins at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
On Tuesday, now, it also starts at 6:30 a.m., but it obviously counts; it’s listed as a competition flight.
Wednesday through Friday, June 13, same thing, same time, and on Friday, the special events for the public begin. Gates will open at the Longview convention complex at 4 p.m., and there’ll be a concert at 6:30.
The public is free to walk around and see the balloons and visit until 8:30, and that also includes the tethered balloon rides (those are $25 per person, and can only be cash payments).
Opening ceremonies are at 8:45 p.m., and then the Bill Bussey Balloon Glow starts just after that. Gates close up at midnight.
The whole thing begins again at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, and then the public activities at the same times, with the tethered rides also starting at 7the balloon glow at 8:50, and gates closing at midnight.
Here’s a link to the Great Texas Balloon Race site, and you can purchase tickets to the concerts at the bottom of this page: Schedule of Events – The Great Texas Balloon Race
Tickets to get into the event, though, should be purchased at the gate, or right here at this link: Buy Tickets – The Great Texas Balloon Race. Tickets are $20 Friday night, $25 on Saturday night, or $40 for both nights. Kids 12 and under are admitted free.
I’ve hit the highlights here, and you may have all kinds of questions about the balloon race. Someone has graciously tried to answer those on their website, which has a “frequently asked questions” page, and here it is: Frequently Asked Questions – The Great Texas Balloon Race. I had a few, too, and most of them were answered right there.
Can’t resist, had to do this
Have a song stuck in my head, and if it’s stuck in mine, I’m passing it on, so it can be stuck in yours, too. Leaving you with this on a cloudy Wednesday, but hope you have a great one. And you Overton guys on the bus: you guys rock. Can’t wait to see you guys go win this tomorrow!
