OVERTON-COLLINSVILLE | ETBlitz.com’s official preview of the 2A-DII State Baseball Championship!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Overton fans that are going to Round Rock, we have a favor! If you’re going to the game, PLEASE send us your selfies from the stands! We’re starting a new feature called EYE-SPY, presented by Kilgore-Gilmer Eye Care Center, and the 2A-DII state championship game is the very first entry! It’s free! Just send your best selfie photos – group selfie, if possible – from the stands there at Dell Diamond to social@etblitz.com. We hope to have them posted on the site by Thursday night, after we get back from Round Rock!
ROUND ROCK – With all due respect, anyone who thinks this moment has been building for the Overton High School Mustangs for the entire season, they’re wrong.
This moment, we’ve discovered here at ETBlitz.com, has been building for a lifetime.
Many of these kids have played organized baseball together since the ages that organized baseball can be played. A lot of them play most of the sports that Overton High athletics offers, and it feels like – it’s felt like forever – that this particular group was going to do something special before they were separated by graduation.
As it turned out, graduation didn’t separate ‘em, either, because this playoff run extends beyond the school year. It’s extended all the way to the University Interscholastic League State Baseball Tournament.
Now, will it extend to the UIL Class 2A, Division II State Championship?
By this time Thursday, we’ll all know the answer to that question.
Overton (31-8), coached by Chris Cook and Scotty Laymance, will take on Collinsville (31-4), coached by Derrick Jenkins, on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, on the outskirts of Austin, for the 2A-DII state title.
Collinsville, making its fifth overall appearance in the state tournament and its third consecutive trip, is trying to win its second straight. The Pirates also won a state title back in 1999.
Fo more on Collinsville, check out our story from earlier this week here: A LOOK AT COLLINSVILLE (Booo!) | Let’s take a look at Overton’s opponent in Thursday’s 2A-DII baseball state title game.
Overton is making its third appearance in the state tournament (they were here in 2009 and in 2011). The Mustangs overcame losing a coin flip against LaPoynor and having to play a one-game, winner-take-all playoff – they defeated LaPoynor, 4-2, in the first round to kick off this run.
In round two, they swept Simms Bowie, 11-1 and 5-0, in the second round, then lost game one to Gary, 2-1, before winning a pair of games to close out that series, 7-5 and 3-1.
The fourth round took Overton to Longview High School, where they faced rival Beckville in a best-of-three, but Beckville proved to be not up for it: Overton beat the Bearcats 11-5 in game one, then by run-rule, 14-4, in game two.
One last best-of-three came against Burton in the state semifinals. Overton dropped Burton, 8-5, in game one. They lost game two, 6-0, and then bounced right back with a 4-1 win to earn this spot in Thursday’s state championship game.
If you can go, here’s some need-to-know information.
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 and a noisemaker policy. Read more about them, and just about all questions you have, here at the UIL’s excellent baseball state tourney website: Baseball State Tournament — University Interscholastic League (UIL).
For anyone who can’t get free to make the trip, you’ve got a couple of options.
Hear it live 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. There is a subscription fee of like $12.99 a month, and it can be canceled at any time, but that first payment is made when you subscribe, so there’s that.
Here’s that link: NFHS Network – Overton vs. Collinsville, UIL 2A-DI State Championship.
We talked in the other story about Collinsville, who’s won 71 games in two seasons.
Now, let’s talk about the good guys.
Coach Chris Cook and the Overton Mustangs have every reason to believe they can win this game.
Overton’s lineup is loaded, and we mean both at the plate and on the mound. They’ve got a great mix of experience and youth. They’ve had a knack for taking care of opponents with the small-ball method of manufacturing runs, and also a flair for the dramatic: Overton has three inside-the-park home runs in its last two series.
As a team, the Mustangs have a collective batting average of .312. They’ve scored 239 runs on 205 hits this season, and had 185 RBI. Over the course of the year: 11 home runs, five triples and 49 doubles as a part of those 209 hits.
According to the team, in a minimum of 20 games played, Rylan Holleman has a .453 average, with 29 hits, 38 RBI, eight home runs, six doubles, a triple, and has scored 26 runs in 64 at-bats.
Braxton Harper has hit .361, with 26 hits, six of them doubles, a triple, 19 RBI, 24 runs scored in 72 at-bats.
Mason Rowe hit seven doubles and two triples this season, had 25 hits overall, 24 RBI, scored 29 runs, and finished with a .338 average.
For Brody Brown: a .338 average as well, with six doubles, 21 RBI and 23 hits. Brown scored 25 runs, and did all this on 68 at-bats.
Landon Hill batted .311, and had seven doubles, 15 RBI and scored 24 runs; he had 19 hits in 85 at-bats.
Bryson Bobbitt scored 32 runs and scored 32 times on 23 hits; he had two doubles and 7 RBI on 75 at-bats.
Joey Zalman, in 57 at-bats, batted .246. He had a double and 16 RBI on 14 hits.
Bryce Still hit .228 and had 13 hits, including five doubles and two home runs (a pair of inside-the-park home runs) to go with 9 RBI, on 57 at-bats.
And Jayden Edwards comes into the title game with a .232 average: he’s got four doubles and two home runs (both inside-the-park grand slams!) on 13 hits, with 21 RBI, and 12 runs scored on 56 at-bats.
So, on the mound, among pitchers with at least 10 appearances: Holleman is 8-0 with a 2.01 ERA, 30 walks allowed and 53 strikeouts. Hill is 6-0 with 12 walks allowed and 32 strikeouts. And Still is 5-1, with 39 walks allowed, and 40 strikeouts.
Also, stats aren’t the most important thing. There are PLENTY of reasons why Overton has won 31 games this season, and their names are also Jacob Osburn, Gabe Miller, Nolan Hill, and Sterling Galvan.
One more thing: If you’re an Overton fan and you’re at the game, PLEASE send us your selfies from the stands! We’re starting a new feature called EYE-SPY, presented by Kilgore-Gilmer Eye Care Center, and the 2A-DII state championship game is the very first entry!
It’s free! Just send your best selfie photos – group selfie, if possible – from the stands there at Dell Diamond to social@etblitz.com. We hope to have them posted on the site by Thursday night, after we get back from Round Rock!
2025 OVERTON HIGH SCHOOL MUSTANGS
| Number | Name | Class | Position | Batting Average | Pitching Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mason Rowe | Senior | SS/RF | .306 | 1-2 |
| 2 | Rylan Holleman | Junior | C/P | .457 | 12-0 |
| 3 | Jacob Osburn | Sophomore | RF/C | .231 | 1-0 |
| 4 | Braxton Harper | Senior | 1B/P | .394 | 1-1 |
| 5 | Gabe Miller | Sophomore | CF/LF | .222 | |
| 6 | Joey Zalman | Senior | CF/RF | .246 | |
| 8 | Bryson Bobbitt | Senior | 2B/SS | .301 | 3-1 |
| 9 | Brody Brown | Junior | 3B/C | .293 | 0-1 |
| 10 | Bryce Still | Senior | P/C | .274 | 5-2 |
| 11 | Nolan Hill | Freshman | 2B/P | .333 | 1-0 |
| 15 | Landon Hill | Junior | P/RF | .320 | 7-1 |
| 20 | Jayden Edwards | Senior | LF/CF | .268 | |
| 21 | Sterling Galvan | Junior | LF/3B | .000 |
Managers, Trainers, Statisticians
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Nic Santana | Manager |
2025 COLLINSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL PIRATES
| Number | Name | Class | Position | Batting Average | Pitching Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Paxton Davidson | Freshman | SS/P | .382 | 1-0 |
| 3 | Caysen Schafer | Freshman | CF/P | .337 | 7-2 |
| 4 | Austin Caldwell | Junior | OF | .000 | |
| 5 | Jaxon Jenkins | Sophomore | 3B/P | .419 | 6-0 |
| 6 | Cash Morgan | Senior | 1B | .330 | |
| 7 | Jaxon Spivey | Sophomore | 2B/P | .267 | 2-0 |
| 8 | Peyton Davidson | Junior | C/P | .348 | 3-0 |
| 10 | Alex Rangel | Senior | OF | .000 | |
| 11 | Travis Emshoff | Freshman | OF | .083 | |
| 14 | Brandon Cantu | Junior | LF | .200 | |
| 22 | Riley Patterson | Senior | RF | .000 | |
| 25 | Noe Cantu | Sophomore | 3B | .102 | 0-1 |
| 26 | Keaston Worthington | Freshman | UT | .000 | |
| 32 | Tucker Howard | Freshman | OF/P | .000 | 1-0 |
| 33 | Chazz Castellanos | Junior | UT | .000 | |
| 55 | Cooper McMillan | Junior | 1B | .125 | |
| 84 | Garrett Trevino | Senior | CF | .307 | 11-1 |
Managers, Trainers, Statisticians
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Whitney Jenkins | Statistician |
| Reese Patterson | Statistician |
| Christina Ragsdale | Statistician |
| Rider Patterson | Manager |
| Gavin McMillan | Manager |
| Briar Whisenant | Manager |
| Liam Kee | Manager |
