FIREWORKS AT DELL DIAMOND, & A COMMITMENT! | Truman, Gonzalez play in all-star game, and Truman commits to Angelina!
It was a pretty special day for Kilgore’s Tate Truman, Tatum’s Carson Gonzalez and really, for all the young men who were selected to play in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association’s 1A-4A All-Star Game Saturday.
The 50th annual contest, played this year and for many of the last several at Dell Diamond at Round Rock, features seniors who are considered to be the best in the state, and for Truman, it was also a special day because he announced his collegiate destination.
The recently-graduated third baseman from Kilgore’s Diamond ‘Dogs announced he’ll continue his education and baseball career at Angelina College in Lufkin, and then proceeded to have a good game on the field, one of nine hits for the South All-Stars, although it was the North who had a come-from-behind win, 7-5.
Gonzalez, who helped Tatum to a long playoff run in Class 3A, was an outfielder for the North, and got to be a part of that win – the North didn’t even have a hit until the bottom of the sixth inning.
This was a bit of a different format. In order to get as many players into the line-up as possible, rather than play the traditional seven innings that the University Interscholastic League requires for standard Texas high school baseball games, they played nine, and they even played the bottom of the ninth, even though the North was leading.
Truman began the day with the commitment to Angelina, which surely made the Roadrunners’ program happy, getting a commitment from the District 17-4A co-offensive most valuable player, a solid third baseman and a good pitcher, from a baseball family.
His South All-Stars then took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, before officials flipped the inning to the bottom of the first (with two outs) to the North at-bat.
The South still led 2-0 in the third inning when Truman got a single off of Augden Hallmark, advancing Bullard’s David Wilson to third.
That was somewhat ironic.
Wilson, who had singled, and Truman were playoff opponents in the first round of the 4A postseason. And it was Truman that had the only hit off of Wilson in that first game of the best-of-three series, a game where Wilson had a no-hitter going.
Naturally, Truman’s hit was clutch: he did it with two outs, in the gap between third and short.
Truman took second on a pitch to the outside, and was taking a big lead off of second, but Hallmark issued a walk to the next batter, and then managed to strike out Lane Lynch (with the bases loaded) to end the inning.
Truman caught a pop-up in the bottom of the fourth for the second out of the inning.
Gonzalez didn’t get a lot of action in the outfield, and he did earn a walk in the bottom of the ninth to load the bases for Tate Henley. A wild pitch scored a run (7-5), which would be the final run of the game.
A second all-star game, the 5A-6A game, is scheduled for noon today, also at Dell Diamond. And here’s the link for that, for anyone who’d like to watch: 2024 THSBCA 6A-5A All Star Game – TSBN Sports.
Gonzalez, headed to South Arkansas, had a heck of a year. He helped his Tatum Eagles win the district championship and was named the District 16-3A most valuable player, as a part of the All-District team. Gonzalez went 9-0 on the mound, and Tatum defeated White Oak, Winnsboro and West Rusk in the 3A playoffs before losing a single-game playoff in the regional semifinals to Gunter at Dallas Baptist.
Joining Gonzalez on the North were pitchers Augden Hallmark (Wall), Carson Haffner (Randall), Tate Hendley (Idalou) and Braden McIntyre (Boyd); catchers Jonnie Gifford (West Plains), Brady Gray (Farmersville), and Scout Steinhilber (Kennedale); first basemen Gavin Brandsletter (Brownwood) and Colten Grier (Van); second basemen Lando Belcher (Jacksboro) and Kade Gavina (Bushland); shortstops Major Brignon (Celina) and Cade Dodson (Gunter); third basemen Tyler Chapman (Albany) and Easton Stewart (Snyder); outfielders Logan Addison (New Home), Jonathan Kirk (Electra), and Sawyer Strosnider (Brock); and at-large selections Logan Jenkins (Collinsville) and Thomas Perez (Valley Mills).
Coaches for the North All-Stars were Allen McGee of Graham, Jacksboro’s Blake Belcher and Gruver’s Kelly Cowan.
Joining Truman on the South All-Star team were pitchers Damian Castorena (Mumford), Logan Flores (Salado), Eli Heyen (Hondo) and Kalebn Kuhn (Columbus); catchers Cooper Hatcher (Pollok Central), Lane Lynch (Kerens) and Peyton Pierce (Sweeny); first baseman Jordan Coronado (Anderson Shiro) and Landon Salinas (London); second basemen Kaden Kovar (Thorndale) and Cort Lowry (Franklin); shortstops Caleb Fregia (Orangefield) and Devin Nunez (Navasota); third baseman Nick Flores (Sinton); outfielders Chase Fricke (Troy), Josh Garcia (Tuloso-Midway), Nick West (Central Heights), and David Wilson (Bullard); and at-large selections Nolan Larson (Lufkin Hudson) and Chris Perez (Taylor).
The South All-Stars were coached by West Columbia’s Earnest Pena, Franklin’s Matt Anderson and Mumford’s Aaron Thomas.
Kilgore played 30 games in the 2024 season, and Truman played in all of them. He had a .398 batting average, a .500 slugging percentage, and .466 an on-base percentage. He had 35 hits – 26 singles and nine doubles.
He had 21 RBI, scored 17 runs, had 12 walks, had two sacrifice flies, reached on error three times, on a fielder’s choice four times, and five stolen bases.
Tate pitched 17 innings in eight games, facing 84 batters. He threw 292 pitches and allowed 14 runs, seven earned, on 12 hits. He walked 20, had seven strikeouts, an ERA of 2.88, and only allowed four stolen bases. He finished the season with a 2-2 record.
Truman will help a Roadrunners team that went 16-12 at home last season, 11-19 in the conference and 22-31 overall. Hey, Region XIV is a tough baseball conference, with Tyler Junior College, Navarro, Panola, Paris, and the like.
There were ‘Runners who made all-conference, like outfielder Dalton Mullins, who was first-team all-conference, and infielder/ designated hitter Michael Herndon, third baseman Sam Hardcastle, pitcher Gabe LeBlanc and outfielder Hayden Hupe, all second-team all-conference.
Angelina is coached by Jeff Livin and Dylan Murphy.