Eagles fall short, but take the long view
Second Baptist has strong year, minus state title
Second Baptist failed to defend its Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 4A state baseball title.
If that was the only measuring stick of success, it wasn’t a superb year for the Eagles. But Second Baptist head coach Jeff Schroeder believes that stance would be a bit unfair. “We didn’t reach the final goal we set, which was to make it to state and win another championship. Talentwise I thought we were good enough,” Schroeder said. “That was a disappointment, but this team still accomplished a lot.”
Second Baptist finished in a three-way tie for the TAPPS Class 4A-District 5 title with Fort Bend Christian and Lutheran South, the eventual state champ.
The Eagles were one win shy of reaching the TAPPS State Tournament, falling to Austin St. Michael’s 7-6 in a regional playoff game. But they surpassed the 20-win mark (22-10), while Schroeder picked up his 500th career coaching victory against Baytown Lee.
“We had some nice highlights, but we have pretty high standards here,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder felt his squad was at its peak in the Aggieland Classic near Pensacola, Florida. Second Baptist went 4-0 on its spring break trip in mid-March, knocking off powerhouse Tate in the finals.
“At the time, Tate was nationally ranked and undefeated,” Schroeder said. “That was a huge win for us.”
But Second Baptist wasn’t able to finish the season on top.
“You always want to end the year by winning your last game and we didn’t do that,” Schroeder said.
Regardless, the Eagles enjoyed terrific individual performances by several of its star players.
Senior shortstop Cade Edwards and senior pitcher/third baseman Jake Bedevian each earned firstteam, all-state honors.
Edwards, a Tulane University signee, hit .369 with 10 doubles, four triples, seven homers, 28 RBI, 40 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.
“Cade was on the field all four years and he’ll be remembered as one of our all-time greats,” Schroeder said.
Bedevian, who transferred to Second Baptist after his sophomore season at Westbury Christian, had a shorter career with the Eagles than Edwards, but he was no less brilliant. This season, Bedevian, an Incarnate Word University commit, hit .340 with 13 doubles, two homers, 36 RBI and 27 runs. On the mound, he was 7-4 with a 1.40 earned run average, striking out 73 batters in 60 innings.
“Jake was a lot better than his (pitching) record. We didn’t give him enough run support in a couple of his losses,” Schroeder said. “But he had a great senior year, both pitching and hitting.”
Senior catcher Chris Cunningham made second-team, all-state. Cunningham, who hopes to play in college, boasted a .457 average with 10 doubles, three triples, three homers, 27 RBI, 40 runs and 14 stolen bases.
“Chris was very solid the last three years behind the plate,” Schroeder said. “This season, he really swung the bat well.”
Bedevian, Cunningham and Edwards also were named first-team, alldistrict along with senior second baseman Reagan Czuba (five doubles, one homer, 22 RBI).