Magnolia pair shine
North Houston juniors, seniors impress scouts in summer HABCA game
Magnolia’s Jaxx Groshans, above, and Austin Faith helped the North top the South 14-4 in the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association’s 5A-and-under allstar game last week.
Magnolia’s Jaxx Groshans and Austin Faith helped the North top the South 14-4 in the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association’s 5A-and-under all-star game last week at UH’s Schroeder Park. “I was real happy to see them get to do that,” Magnolia coach Dale Westmoreland said. “They’re well-deserving.”
“Austin had a good year, had a tremendous ERA, and he’s going to Texas A&MKingsville, and Jaxx had a great year and he’s going to the University of Texas.”
The North led 10-1 after the third and cranked out 17 hits.
“It was like driving a Lamborghini with the kids I had,” said Tomball Memorial coach Monte Huggins, who led the North. “All I had to do was start it and hang on.
“The group I was coaching was pretty special, that’s for sure.”
The North group included Groshans, Faith, Tomball Memorial’s Dominic Robinson, Tomball’s Josh Breaux and Shane Daughety, Magnolia West’s Will Arnold, Brenham’s Dylan Lester, Willis’ Kyle Backhus and Stratford’s Tracy Warren and Jared Willis.
They were so good together, they called the game early.
“Whether it’s a blowout or not, which usually it’s not, even if the home team’s winning, you still go ahead and bat the ninth inning, and we didn’t bat the ninth inning,” Huggins said.
“(But) it was so hot, and we were delayed a little bit by some weather issues.”
Daughety tripled in the first inning and Breaux went 3-for-3.
“We had kids who hadn’t picked up a stick in almost a month, and it was just like riding a bicycle,” Huggins said.“They jumped back on it.”
They picked a good time to do it, too.
Kingwood coach Kelly Mead, who helped coordinate the HABCA all-star action, which included a 6A game and a junior game, said the games give them an opportunity to showcase their skills.
“You have a bunch of pro scouts and a bunch of college scouts who show up to watch that (junior) game, and then they hang around for the Tuesday night games and watch those seniors, because in that senior game you’ll have a lot of seniors who are already signed, but you’ll have a few who are unsigned and uncommitted still, and still looking for a place to play, who just had really good years.”
It was a particularly good year for the HABCA all-star games, which featured talent from nearly every corner of the Houston area.
The HABCA began holding all-star games in the 1990s, and they’ve only grown since.
“When we first started, we had a northeast and a southeast, and a northwest and a southwest, so we tried to really highlight all different areas,” Mead said. “And I don’t want to say it got watered down, but we had a lot more (uncommitted players), and we noticed we weren’t getting as many (college) commitments, just because summer baseball got so big and kids are traveling all over.
“So we decided to follow what the state does, and do a north-south or east-west type deal, and we decided to go north-south.”
Now Westmoreland is looking forward to seeing what his players do next.
He sees big things on the horizon for the righthanded Faith at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
“He’s got a great curveball, (with) a lot of power in it. It comes up and breaks down late,” Westmoreland said. “It’s got depth to it. And then he’s got a good fastball, and in college I think he has the potential to be really solid for Texas A&M-Kingsville.”
Westmoreland said Texas likes the potential in Groshans’ bat, and his ability to fit into multiple spots.
“Jaxx has a chance to go in and help Texas, with hitting and a lot of other stuff, because he can play multiple positions,” he said. “It’s not just that he can be a catcher for them. He can play first or outfield. “He’s a good athlete.” And if he hits the ball well in Austin, they’ll find somewhere to fit him in.
“It’s going to come down to how you swing the bat in college, and college is like high school a lot of times,” Westmoreland said. “You don’t always have nine guys who can really swing it, so a guy who can hit is going to find a way to get in.” Forsythe represents
Kolton Forsythe represented Oak Ridge at the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association’s Class 6A all-star game.
He wasn’t able to play, but he sat in the dugout with the rest of the North all-stars.
“He’s a kid who really worked hard and did everything we asked, did a great job behind the plate and ended up having some crucial hits for us at the end of the year,” Oak Ridge coach Mike Pirtle said. “So I was tickled to death for him.
“It’s a good honor for him, and not only him but our school and community.”
Forsythe still was recovering from an injury he suffered late in Oak Ridge’s playoff run, keeping him from helping the North team, which fell 7-2 to the South last Tuesday at Houston’s Schroeder Park.
“He was still hurt from the first play of the second game against (Dallas) Jesuit, where he ran down the line and he hurt his ankle,” Pirtle said.
“So he was there but he didn’t play.”
The recent graduate is heading to Coastal Bend College to play catcher.
“He works really hard, and that’s what you’ve got to have as a catcher,” Pirtle said. “He’s got the swing to be there and his arm got so much better this year.
“He caught Luken (Baker) and Durbin (Feltman), so he caught the best.”
That’s why Pirtle was happy to see Forsythe suiting up with the best last week.
The HABCA action included the 6A all-star game, a 5A-and-under game and a junior showcase.
“It’s good for them and good exposure for our school,” Pirtle said.
“The coaches who run the HABCA do a really good job. Houston has some of the best kids, not only in all of Texas but in all of the nation, so it’s a great showcase, without a doubt.”