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The only knowledge the players have of the 1993 team is from what they’ve heard or the tapes coach Shawn Bruns has shown them.
The Bulldogs (22-5-1) will be able to create their own state tournament experiences if they can prevail in their best-of-three Class 1A regional final series against Granger (23-8) at Fireman’s Park in Brenham, which gets under way today with Game 1 at 7 p.m..
Game 2 will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, will follow Game 2.
“I think every coach thinks each year’s team has a shot,” said Bruns, who was in his first season as head coach when Flatonia won the state title.
“Last year we fell short because defensively we never got set like we wanted. We had some injuries during basketball and we never got set. We had some success in basketball this season, but we were still able to make sure we had people in the right positions. The first part of the season and even in the first part of district we were able to move people around to make sure they were in the right positions.”
The Bulldogs have won 11 straight since losing a non-district game against Hallettsville Sacred Heart. Flatonia has won all five of its playoff games, including a sweep of a best-of-three regional semifinal series agaisnt Johnson City.
“Everybody kept working and we started peaking at the right time,” Bruns said. “Defensively we’re playing well and the same has been the case pitching-wise and hitting-wise.”
Bruns expects a challenge from the Lions, who are coming off a sweep of a best-of-three game regional semifinal series against D’Hanis.
“They’ve got a lot of good athletes,” Bruns said. “It’s some of the same guys from the team that beat Shiner deep in the football playoffs. It was just a matter of transferring their athleticism to the baseball field. They have speed, power and they play good defense.”
Bruns believes Flatonia’s defense will be a factor in determining the outcome of the series.
“Granger likes to run the bases,” Bruns said. “They do a lot of things and they press the issue trying to make you make mistakes. We have to keep their running game at bay. We cannot let them dictate the momentum. We want to do that by getting people on base and getting the two-strike or two-out hits with runners in scoring position. We also need to get a solid contribution on the mound. But all year, that’s been one of our strengths.”
Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or by e-mail at mforman@vicad.com.