Yoemen, Trojans set for bi-district showdown

Cameron and Troy are two towns that are very familiar with each other. Both have been in the same football district since Cameron dropped down a classification, and the past two years, they were also in the same baseball district.

The Trojans moved down to 19-3A for 2017, so there was always that chance for a meeting in the playoffs. That is exactly what is happening as the Yoemen’s (19-6-1/10-2) second place finish in 20-3A and Troy’s (21-6/8-4) third place mark in 19-3A have the two matched in the first round of the postseason.

The series will be a best two out of three, with the first two games taking place in Cameron. The Yoemen will host Troy at The Yards of Cameron on Friday for a pair of games starting at 5:00 p.m. If a game three is needed, the series will shift to Troy on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.

Troy has returned a total of eight starters from last year’s 28-10 regional quarterfinalist team, which fell to eventual state champion West.

“Troy is a well coached team that will do the little things right,” said Yoe baseball coach John Broussard.” “District 19 is a very competitive district with 4 top 25 teams in it. I think our team is going to have to play fundamental baseball to be successful in the playoffs. We have to play good defense, manufacture runs, and have good outings on the mound. If we can put those three things together we have a chance to be successful.”

Troy was in the mix for the first place seed in 19-3A before falling to Groesbeck and West in the second half of district play. The final top 25 from TxHighSchoolBaseball.com has Groesbeck (5), West (13), Troy (15) and Clifton (24) all included in the rankings. The Yoemen were ranked 21 in Monday’s poll.

Despite some late losses, Troy, much like the Yoemen, seemed to be on par with every other team in the district. Troy has wins over West (11-5), Clifton (2-1) and Clifton (7-6), and pitching appears to be a main strength for the Trojans. Jaiden Beck was the district MVP last season and is currently the ace of the staff. The senior is currently committed to play baseball for Hill College. Tyler Sultemeier is the team’s number two pitcher, which is also committed to play at the next level for Temple College.

Something to keep an eye on throughout the series is how both pitching staffs are handled. Cameron, with Jason Llanas, and Troy with Beck, both have legitimate number one pitchers. Some coaches like to throw their best out in game one and work down from there, but some will throw their number two or three in the the first game and bring back the number one in game two or three, depending on the result from game one.

The winner of this series will meet either number eight Grandview (23-4) or Frankston (14-6) in the area round of the playoffs.

Other notable bi-district contests

W20 Rogers (20-4-1) will meet up with F19 Clifton (16-7) in the first round at Waco ISD. The series will begin on Friday (5:00) and will conclude on Saturday with game two beginning at 11:00 am. R19 West (16-8-2) and T20 Franklin (16-9) will also meet at Waco ISD on Friday (7:30) and Saturday (4:00). W19 Groesbeck (20-5) and F20 Lexington (10-15) will be a home and home series. The first game will be played at Lexington on Friday (7:00), with the series moving to Groesbeck on Saturday (1:00).