Twins ride high hopes into inaugural league season
‘There’s really nobody on this roster that I’m not excited to see,’ head coach says
Collegiate Summer baseball has arrived in Texarkana.
The Texarkana Twins take the field tonight as the first game in the program’s inaugural season when they host the Victoria Generals to start a four-game homestand at George Dobson Field in Spring Lake Park.
All games in the Texas Collegiate League—featuring the Brazos Valley Bombers, Texas Marshals and Acadiana Cane Cutters, along with the Twins and Generals—start at 7:30 p.m. The league offers many family-friendly activities during the game.
Twins head coach Jake Mitzner feels good about the varied level of play of the team, and believes he has found the best players to fill out the roster.
“We’ve got everybody that we need to get,” Mitzner said. “We’ve got about six or seven guys who will show up a little late because we have so many playing in the playoffs. Early, I want to see these guys compete and compete for a spot to play every day. The first month or so, it’s going to be a roster full of junior college kids, NAIA and Division II players. When those D-1 guys get here—a lot of those guys’ coaches are expecting them to play every day— and everybody’s going to get an opportunity to play, but I definitely want to see those JC guys and NAIA compete for a job and make me keep them in the lineup night in and night out.”
Mitzner is a graduate assistant coach at East Central University. He has experience coaching at the collegiate level and in summer collegiate programs.
“We want to play hard and play the game right,” Mitzner said. “I’m new to this league, but coaches who’ve coached in this league have told me one of the most important things is to win the first half. You set yourself up
“They all seem to take on the same philosophy that I was taught in the beginning, which is baseball is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, why are you playing?” —Twins head coach Jake Mitzner
for the rest of the year. Our goal is to win the first half and be able to go to the playoffs, try to get Texarkana a winner.”
The Texas Collegiate League is by invitation only for players.
The Twins not only sought out talent when building the roster and recruiting players, but also went after high-character players who could also make a difference on the field.
“Something I’m really excited about is that all of the players are all high-energy guys,” the Twins coach said. “They’re good character guys, they do things right on and off the field. They all seem to take on the same philosophy that I was taught in the beginning, which is baseball is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, why are you playing? “A lot of these guys are on winning teams during the regular season, so they know what it takes to win and how to win. If we get started on the right foot, I see us being successful this year.” Catcher Troy Squires and infielder Tyler Marshall are joining the Twins from the University of Kentucky. Right-hander Kolton Childress and catcher Bently Jones will attend the University of Louisiana-Monroe in the fall after completing their junior college careers at the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., this summer. Childress is expected to compete for the closer role.
Troy Black is a third baseman from Murray State, who will head to Kentucky this fall, and Chandler Robertson will head to Central Florida from Murray State after the summer.
Stanton Lohrengel, who pitched for Central Missouri by way of Paris Junior College, will be the opening-day pitcher for the Twins.
“There’s really nobody on this roster that I’m not excited to see on the field,” Mitzner said. “They were all guys who I recruited to come play for me, their coaches all recommended them to me and we’re ready to get things rolling.
“All these guys are the top players on their teams, no matter what school they attended. This team is a type of college all-star team.”