LIKE OLD TIMES
Berkman, Pettitte team up again, coach Second Baptist to state title
A ndy Pettitte had been there so many times and knew exactly what his kids were feeling. So the ex-Astro quietly exited Second Baptist’s tense dugout, made his way toward a tight mound, and created peace where there was none.
Lance Berkman watched it all. Top step. Full view. Seeing the final out, last inning and another championship all in sight.
A late-May breeze blew through Mendel Field. Sophomore Machi Horne locked in one more time. Then his pitch flew forward, the ball rocketed toward deep right field as three Midland Christian runners took off, and for a second it appeared Second Baptist would need even more professional help. The rocket was just another out. Gloves flew skyward. Teenagers raced in.
And as 7-2 Second Baptist in the TAPPS 4A state title game Wednesday at Baseball USA became the school’s fifth championship, Berkman and Pettitte embraced while their team screamed in athletic joy and danced around the mound.
Noble, Calhoun chip in
Not bad for two aging men in their 40s with 33 combined MLB seasons to their names. Exactly how the adult dream was supposed to end when Big Puma became Second Baptist’s new head coach, the 1996 American League Cy Young runner-up took over the team’s young arms, and everyone from former Houston Cougars coach Rayner Noble to ex-Astros reliever Jeff Calhoun brought their very successful baseball lives together for one high school season.
“The coaching staff is tremendous. Not only do we have the largest group of coaches probably in high school baseball, but I think we have the best,” said the gray-bearded Berkman, who hit 366 major league home runs for four teams, won a ring with the 2011 Cardinals, and was Pettitte’s 2005 teammate on the only Astros club to make the World Series.
A wooden 4A state trophy was won by the kids who hit so well, fielded so smoothly and put seven runs on the board before Midland even made a dent. Junior Zachary Heaton was perfectly filthy on the mound until the second-best team finally did a little damage. Senior Grayson Skweres (3-for-3, three RBIs) and Second Baptist’s bats were just as sharp.
“It’s satisfying and gratifying to see them accomplish their goals (from) when we set out — it seems like a long time ago now,” Berkman said.
There’s also no way around it. Second Baptist’s championship was a testament to the friendship between two men who shared the same field during the last run of the Craig Biggio-Jeff Bagwell era and still unite through the sport 11 years after 15-30 became 89-73 and MLB’s biggest stage.
“That’s one thing about playing baseball at the major league level. The things that you remember is your friendships,” Berkman said.
A 40-year-old with Texas baseball woven into his blood (Waco, Canyon High School, Rice, Astros, Rangers), Berkman had the look of a future manager down to a T.
He rarely spoke in the dugout. When he did, the words were offered up close and in private. Berkman trudged through red dirt and spilled water, then stood on broken wooden steps. He easily blended in with all the other Second Baptist blue and gray. But any time you looked over, it was immediately obvious: Yeah, that’s Lance Berkman in the shades, coaching a high school team.
“I love Lance. He doesn’t mind telling you what he thinks. He never has,” said Don Massey, director of athletics. “He’s very intense. The same discipline that he played with in the (major leagues) is what he brought to these guys.”
Bagwell on hand
As Bagwell watched his old friends from packed stands, Pettitte was even quieter. He stood out only when he emerged from the dugout. His senior son, Jared, pitched Second Baptist to the championship game, so finding the right space within the father-coach dynamic was even more critical for a 256-game winner who played on five New York Yankees championship teams.
“You couldn’t ask for much more. It was a dream for ( Jared),” said Pettitte, whose Deer Park team lost in the state title game during his high school days. “He wanted me to be in the dugout with him and coach him. I missed so much of him growing up.”
When Pettitte strolled to the mound in the fourth inning, Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” crackled through the loudspeakers.
After 7-2 Second Baptist became a life memory, Berkman reminded his team it had to clean out the dugout after a group picture was taken beneath a frozen scoreboard.
The kids started walking off the field, finding family members and friends, hugging loved ones, and posing for photos.
Berkman and Pettitte remained behind. Two ex-Astros still explaining what it felt like, standing within speaking distance of each other in the same dugout. Two baseball men reunited as coaching friends.