WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | Friday edition; Overton baseball coaches & fans should be proud: their season will NEVER end
EDITOR’S NOTE: Some computer difficulties this morning for ETBlitz, and it’s late. But here’s the Friday edition of Wake Up! On ETBlitz.com, the final day of the work week, presented by Cozy Coffee Station. You can find the best, not only coffee, tea, and sodas, but also sandwiches and baked goods that’ll have you coming back for more. There’s only two locations in East Texas to do so: at 110 Midtown Plaza in Kilgore, and at 755 Highway 271 North in Gilmer. But don’t take my word for it. Both of those locations have social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, and CCS has an elaborate website right here: Home | Cozy Coffee Station.
Overton’s season
As we know now, the Mustangs had a rough first inning, with Collinsville getting four runs, and had a difficult time getting the offense going, something not normally a problem over the course of the season.
The wheels came off in the seventh inning, and things got away from Overton. The game was over, and Collinsville had won its second straight state title.
So at the end of the day, there wasn’t a trophy moment for coach Chris Cook and his team. There wasn’t a hit-the-field celebration.
But when the dust settles, when the disappointment of the title-game loss wanes a bit… when time heals it, as it tends to, there will be enough “remember when”’s to last a lifetime.
And it won’t be exclusive to the players on the team. Parents, grandmas and granddads, family, friends, even members of the media like me who can think back on special moments that happened over the course of the season, and as long as that happens, it’ll live on.
So congratulations to coach Cook and coach Scotty Laymance, to manager Nic Santana, for the hard work they put in. Thanks to freshman Nolan Hill; to sophomores Gabe Miller and Jacob Osburn; to juniors Brody Brown, Sterling Galvan, Landon Hill, and Rylan Holleman; and to seniors Bryson Bobbitt, Jayden Edwards, Braxton Harper, Mason Rowe, Bryce Still, and Joey Zalman, for taking all of us on this ride, a ride we’ll all never forget.
Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz Team of The Year
So, with the official completion of the 2024-2025 athletic school year, the announcement of the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz Team of the Year will be this Sunday, June 8, here on ETBlitz.com.
The panel will do their voting and the story will hit Sunday – the winner will be announced, along with the rest of the top five nominees.
This school year, we added the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week Award to our weekly award list, and we’re so glad we did. We value the relationships with all of our ad partners for several reasons: they help us keep this site paywall-free, for one, so you guys don’t have to pay to read it, and because they’re all providing quality services, each and every one of them.
By the way, the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Year, from the 2024-25 school year (a male and female athlete of the year) will be announced the following week, on Sunday, June 15).
Great Texas Balloon Race
We ran this information just the other day, but had a request to do so again, and we don’t mind at all doing just that.
The Great Texas Balloon Race, which is centered in Longview and is quite an event, if you’ve never experienced it, begins Monday with practice flights.
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.