Santa Claus is back at the North Pole, and we’ll soon wave goodbye to 2023 and welcome in 2024. December is one of the rare months in Texas when the baseball calendar almost comes to a complete halt. I say “almost” because I’m sure somewhere there is a workout, a game being played, something happening on a field. I use a lot of this time to work on our rankings, plan for the upcoming spring season and write, which is why you’re here. 

The 2023 baseball calendar was packed: spring high school season beginning the first week of February with scrimmages and ending in early June with the THSCA All-Star Game; Five Tool summer schedule kicking off in late May and running through early August; two weeks at Area Code in August; fall Five Tool schedule, scout team games and prospect workouts after the summer. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I saw a ton of baseball during 2023. December is also a time to think back about the best of the best: best players, performances, games, moments and more. I saw a lot of really good players of all ages, teams, games, events and more. Before we move to 2024, I wanted to share some “best of” stories from my in-person looks while also emptying my scouting notebook and publishing a lot of reports that have been hanging out in my hard drive. And for fun, because the Five Tool Podcast almost always includes food discussion, some “best of” eating, too. 

This story takes a look back at the three best games I saw during 2023 and all three ended up being excellent representations of why playoff baseball in Texas is so special. 

Reagan (San Antonio) vs. Round Rock – 2023 playoffs
While this wasn’t the cleanest, best-played game I saw during 2023, it was the one with the most drama and certainly one of the best atmospheres. And these two powerhouse programs were so good that it was a cruel matchup so early in the playoffs. Both energetic fan bases packed Tornado Field at Concordia University and the Hill Country delivered a picturesque evening for baseball. Looking back to my report (you can read it HERE):

Superstar senior and future Washington Nationals second-round pick Travis Sykora pitched into the seventh inning with a 6-2 lead and left after walking the first two batters. Sykora punched out 12 batters and after giving up a couple of hard hits in the first inning, he settled in with some of the best fastball command I’ve seen from him. The 6-6, athletic righty worked his heater, which was 94-97 MPH early with a couple of 98s and 93-95 MPH in the final couple innings, well to his glove side, especially against left-handers. Clearly, he wanted to bust lefties in and work inside more to right-handers before establishing his slider (82-85 MPH) away. And it worked. 

Hitters like Brennan Greer and Andrew Ermis, big, physical, powerful right-handed mashers in the heart of the lineup, had success against his fastball in the first inning before whiffing often at sliders in their following at-bats. Sykora effectively worked in his splitter (86 MPH) and routinely made big pitches when he needed to. But he’d be charged with four earned runs because… 

Drama. 

Round Rock elected to go with a left-on-left matchup after lifting Sykora once he uncharacteristically walked back-to-back batters to open the top of the seventh inning. A hit batter loaded the bases, and it appeared like Round Rock was a little too slow to get McLennan signee and right-handed pitcher Cade Waibel up in the bullpen. Waibel features a low slot look with a lively heater and a hard, sharp slider with some late sweep; against Reagan, he was up to 94 MPH, the hardest I’ver seen him throw until I saw him again the next week, with a slider up to 80 MPH. But he didn’t get in the game quick enough. 

After Ermis made it 6-3 with a sacrifice fly, Round Rock rolled the dice and let a lefty face Greer. The St. Mary’s signee created pandemonium in the stands when he mashed a no-doubt, three-run tank way out to left field. On this particular night, the ball wasn’t carrying and the college park has bigger dimensions than most high school fields. Greer made it look small. The Round Rock side watched in stunned disbelief as Greer tied the game in the top of the seventh inning while the Reagan side exuberantly celebrated its newfound life; players poured out of the dugout and created a celebratory, bouncing mob at home plate while fans in the stands danced and hugged. 

Then, the teams traded outs until the 11th inning when Reagan took a 7-6 lead. Round Rock answered. With one out and the bases loaded, Galveston signee and left-handed hitting slugger Rhenn Andrewartha hit a hard grounder to second base. Sensing the urgency of the situation, he immediately sprinted out of the box as fast as he could, ran down the line in 4.2 seconds, and dove head-first into first base to beat the potential double play throw by a couple steps. This time, it was Round Rock’s turn to come flying out of the dugout as teammates sprinted to meet Andrewartha and mob him.

When I think back to this game, I think of two great teams leaving everything on the field. Bodies flying into the wall in foul territory trying to catch fly balls. Infielders diving headfirst to prevent double plays. A nationally elite right-handed pitcher giving everything he had on the mound and a talented, veteran lineup digging in and battling each pitch. Momentum swings. Fans living and dying with every pitch. This game had it all. 

Rockwall vs. The Woodlands – 2023 playoffs
Heavyweight fight. 

I don’t know how else to describe The Woodlands vs. Rockwall playoff game I saw at Baylor University. The two teams opened a regional semifinal series by trading haymakers all game long and refusing to quit. Rockwall jumped on The Woodlands early and forced it to get into its bullpen. The Woodlands responded. The Woodlands grabbed a huge late lead and Rockwall responded. Then with the game seemingly ready to be put away, The Woodlands scored three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game, but it would be denied a walk-off winner when senior Dylan Garcia made an excellent read and completed a tough diving catch of a sinking liner in shallow right field to extend the game. 

Rockwall gained the lead in the top of the eighth inning thanks to its studs being studs – three-straight hits by Pearson Riebock, Brayden Randle and Micah Kendrick. Already, we had Kendrick rated very highly on our 2023 Five Tool Texas 55 list, and this game cemented my belief he has both star and leader potential at TCU. It would be Garcia playing the hero again when he moved to center field and robbed The Woodlands, now trailing 8-7, of a leadoff double. That allowed Riebock to close out the dramatic win. 

If Rockwall would have advanced, it would have been remembered as the Dylan Garcia series years. But The Woodlands’ pitching stepped up with a shutout in the decisive game three. 

Sinton vs. Davenport – 2023 playoffs
After stunning the state with a shutout victory behind the arm of Brayden Mulkey in game one, Davenport arrived in San Antonio at Northeast Sports Park with a 1-0 series lead over a Sinton squad many people thought would cruise towards another state title. I’m cheating in this section because I actually saw these teams play two games and they were both two of the top games I saw during 2023. Often, baseball is a game of inches and that was the case during these two games. 

Sinton tried to deliver a knockout blow early in game one with Braeden Brown on the mound, but Davenport, led by Mulkey at the plate, refused to be denied. I made the trip to San Antonio primarily to see Sinton and Blake Mitchell one last time before he became a first-round pick, but I also wanted to make a point to see Mulkey, who I heard fantastic things about. He lived up to the hype. An extremely impressive competitor who stepped into the box like a quiet, confident giant despite his smaller stature, Mulkey terrorized Sinton throughout game one by stealing bases and smacking liners. And trailing 6-5 in the final inning with runners on the corners, he was up with a chance to eliminate the Pirates. But after a line drive went just barely foul down the right field line, Aidan Moody was able to get Mulkey to expand the zone and chase to end the game. 

It would be Moody on the mound to begin game three for Sinton. Although Mitchell, who hit a crucial solo homer to put his team ahead 3-1 in game three of the series, was able to catch, he wasn’t able to pitch due to some elbow discomfort, which meant Sinton had to dig deep to find its innings after Jaquae Stewart threw game one. After learning so much about Mulkey, who is signed to Baylor and poised for a huge senior season in 2024, during the first of two games, I learned a ton about Moody in a winner-take-all game. A noticeably physical right-handed pitcher who was a star for the Sinton football team, Moody threw everything he had and emptied the tank. He threw 5.1 innings and gave up just one run after closing the prior game. Currently uncommitted, Moody, a 2024 prospect, would be a fantastic addition for a JUCO program because of his on-field makeup, physicality and room for growth on the mound. 

Back to baseball being a game of inches. In the top of the sixth inning with Sinton clinging to a 2-1 lead with a runner on second base, Stewart, playing right field for Sinton, made a tremendous, over-the-shoulder grab with two outs on a hard fly ball slicing towards the right field wall. Then with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning and Sinton ahead 3-2, Kaden McCoy made a tough catch, especially given the situation with quite literally his team’s future and the town’s hopes on the line, when he tracked a deep, high fly ball that nearly spun him around towards the 380-foot sign in center field. 

Game of inches. If that ball is pulled… if that ball slices away from Stewart… if Mulkey’s line drive found white paint instead of green turf… that’s baseball. Game of inches. 

Dustin McComas
Senior Editor