Magnolia eyes run
Bialas hopeful about play of young starters, already looking to 2017
Whatever happens this week, shortstop Jordan Groshans, above, and the Magnolia baseball team are back in the playoffs. The Bulldogs beat Spring Woods last week to clinch their return and stay tied with Tomball atop District 19-5A. Both teams were 9-3 going into the final two games.
Magnolia isn’t out of the playoff picture for the second straight year.
It’s a unusual spot for a program that made the playoffs five of the previous six seasons, following the move to the UIL’s second-highest class in 2009, including a trip to the 4A state finals in 2010.
But longtime coach Renee Bialas, who’s had plenty of playoff success in 20 years, says better times are on the horizon.
“We have some really great freshman players, we have some returning sophomores and a couple of juniors, and then we have a really good incoming eighth-grade class that I’m excited about,” Bialas said.
“When you have backto-back really good classes like that, it’s exciting. We just had to take our lumps this year.”
The lumps added up to a 5-21 record.
“We knew it could get a little rough,” Bialas said. “We graduated seven starters and we knew we had some big shoes to fill. So we had a lot of freshmen starting, our pitching was young, our fielding was young and our hitting was young, especially for the district we’re in, which has such phenomenal pitching.”
The toughest part, Bialas said, is how close they came to winning more games, often seeing one bad inning do them in.
“It was hard,” she said. “It was hard on the older kids and hard on those young kids. The thing is, we saw moments of brilliance – great defense, at times – it just wasn’t as consistent as it needs to be to win.”
Now, with the offseason here, it’s an experience to learn from.
“My message to them was remember how this feels, and let’s start working now to get ready for next year,” Bialas said.
She also wants them to visualize the goal.
Magnolia is likely to host playoff games, and Bialas is hoping they soak in the atmosphere and develop a craving.
“It’s very important that they watch,” she said.
Almost every one of them will return for the Bulldogs next season.
Key returners include shortstop Alyssa Miller, catcher Reagan Creed, and pitchers Sawyer Jordan and Maddie Biehl – all freshmen – sophomore P Megan Lightcap and junior center fielder Jenna Gleason.
Junior outfielders Nimh Morreira and Mckenzie Moss also are coming back.
Bialas expects Miller to develop into one of the key driving forces in the program’s future success.
“She did a phenomenal job at shortstop this year, and she was leading off for the team,” Bialas said. “I’m so impressed with her.
“She has a lot of range, and she has the desire and the heart.”
Bialas said Creed has the well-rounded skill set a player needs to make a huge impact behind the plate.
“She’s going to be one of the best catchers to come through Magnolia, and I’ve had a lot of good catchers,” she said.
With Jordan, Biehl and Lightcap, the Bulldogs return their top three pitchers.
Biehl started against District 19-5A champion Tomball Memorial last week and held the Wildcats scoreless the first several innings, until the Bulldogs made several defensive errors that cost them.
Now they’re eager to learn from those mistakes, and continue growing together in the offseason.
“We’re going to work on playing with more intensity, “Bialas said. “Leadership will be key for the future. If we develop good leadership and more intensity, that will do it, with this year of experience.
“Magnolia will come back.”