WAKE UP on ETBLITZ.COM | Game-changing announcements by ETB for June 1, June 8; Overton-Beckville playoff series starts Wednesday; more
EDITOR’S NOTE: After a few difficulties, here’s the Tuesday edition of Wake Up! on ETBlitz.com, brought to you daily by the Cozy Coffee Station – their products are fantastic, and can be found here, Home | Cozy Coffee Station, so that you can order before you go to their two East Texas locations: in Kilgore, at 110 Midtown Plaza, and in Gilmer, at 755 Highway 271 North.
Overton High School baseball in the UIL playoffs, it turns out, will be the final organized sports events of the 2024-25 school year.
But we do have an announcement. In fact, we have several announcements coming in the next few weeks, but this one can be made now.
Two of the most popular features we have every week here on ETB is the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week, a boy and a girl athlete honored each time, and the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz Team of the Week, a team that went above and beyond expectations.
But we’ll be taking it one step farther in the next couple of weeks.
So on Sunday, June 1, we’ll unveil the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of Year, meaning the 2024-25 school year.
And on Sunday, June 8, we’ll announce the very first ever ETBlitz.com Male Athlete of the Year and the ETBlitz.com Female Athlete of the Year from our 12 high schools.
These honors are voted on by a panel of five, not simply decided by me, or by one person.
These awards are something we take very seriously. Normally, the body of work is simply the previous week, when we’re evaluating who won our team of the week, or either of our player of the week awards.
This time, the body of work is the entire 2024-25 school year. And to be clear, our coverage area, in alphabetical order, is Arp, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk and White Oak.
When the Goudarzi & Young / ETB Team of the Year Award is announced on June 1, we’ll also announce who the nominees were, and we’ll talk a little bit about each one and why they were nominated.
It’ll be the same thing with the Whataburger / ETB Male and Female Athlete of the Year Awards: we’ll have extensive reasons why the winners actually achieved the awards, plus the complete list of nominees and their credentials for being nominated.
ETBlitz launched in October, 2023, with the idea of giving the East Texas region something different, not just a standard sports section. The mission has been accomplished – BUT we have to continue to get better.
So we saw no reason to wait until the end of the calendar year of 2025 to make these announcements when our “year” is based on the actual school year.
No award has been decided yet. We’re in the process of determining the winners now.
And EVERYONE will know on June 1, and June 8. We’re excited.
Mustang baseball
Speaking of Overton in the baseball playoffs, they begin the University Interscholastic League’s Class 2A, Division II Region III Finals on Wednesday at Longview High School.
Their opponent in the best-of-three-game series: Beckville.
Overton (27-7) will face the Bearcats in game one Wednesday at 5 p.m.
In a little bit of a different pace, game two will follow, immediately after game one.
If they need a third game to decide it, they’ll return to Longview High School Friday night.
The Mustangs’ athletic department has had quite a school year, all the way around – we’d love to see them finish it at the UIL State Baseball Tournament.
Overton beat La Poynor in round one, in a one-game playoff. They swept Bowie in round two, then went to three games with Gary.
Beckville’s Bearcats (23-6) beat Hemphill in two games in round three.
Overton does know that they can beat the Bearcats: in a two-game series this season back on April 15 and April 17, the Mustangs took both – both were one-run games.
Camp Central
We’ll have an update today to our growing list of youth sports camps, likely sometime before lunch. Here’s the current link, but the story will be longer shortly: CAMP CENTRAL | Youth sports camps across the ETBlitz area (Updated May 16 with WR, Tatum camps).
Gladewater Round-Up
Don’t forget that the rodeo is starting very soon.
We had this yesterday in Wake Up!, but tickets are on sale, so here we are again.
The 88th annual Gladewater Round-Up will be June 4-7 at the Gladewater Rodeo Grounds. It starts at 8:15 p.m. each night, with gates opening at 6 p.m.
The PRCA’s Extreme Bulls will be featured on night one.
General admission for adults is $18 a ticket; for kids 12 and under, it’s $10 each, and for kids two and under, it’s free.
Reserved tickets are $25 each for all ages. And box seats: $175 per box, per night – that includes six seats per box.
To buy tickets in advance, go here: GLADEWATER ROUND-UP RODEO – INFORMATION – Dirt Road Tickets.
On Thursday, night two of the event, military and first-responders can show an ID for half-off admission.
Mutton bustin’ is always a popular attraction, and of course, it’s back this year.
If you’re not familiar, it’s kids ages four through seven, under 50 pounds, trying to hold on to sheep.
The fun starts every night at 7:45, about 30 minutes before the Round-Up.
Kids can enter here: Gladewater Round-Up Mutton Bustin’ Waiver.pdf. There is a $25 registration fee.
