: GREATEST

This page will deal with some of the biggest "Buc Battles" to date. Some of these games were special in their own ways, while others were just plain huge wins for the program. We can think of a few...and the Bucs didn't always come out on top, but any you can think of, just e-mail them to the WEBMASTER with your suggestions.

The University of Texas at Austin

Disch-Falk Field
Austin, TX-
 

This game was for the 1984 Class 5A Texas State Championship.  Leading up to the finale with Cy-Fair, the Bucs had endured a difficult season that included injuries and illness to stars Kevin Garner and second baseman- Jorge Lerma.  Pitcher Scott Rentrop stepped up for the Bucs and led the team through the playoffs (while also gaining a 12-2 record).  Lerma and shortstop Harry Cormier switched places during the course of the season to save Lerma's knee and Garner took Lerma's place in the championship game.  The win established a solid foundation for future Brazoswood baseball success.

San Antonio, TX-

 

The Brazoswood varsity baseball team was the District 25-5A runner-up, but that did not stop them from advancing in the state playoffs to the final eight 5A teams in Texas.

 

The 1987 team featured great players such as: Eric Rasberry, Kevin Bertelsman, Brian Whitten, Wade Blair, and David Lohr...to name a few. Ultimately, the Bucs made it to the 1987 Region IV Finals and would face the San Antonio MacArthur Brahmas.

 

The Bucs won game one at Wilson Field, and the series moved to San Antonio. A win here would have put the Bucs in the UIL state tournament for the first time since 1984. Thus, after dropping the first of a double header by a score of 0-4, the Buc bats were unable to rally in the final game falling 0-2. The Brahmas would move on to the 1987 State Final and a loss to Abilene Cooper.

Butler Field

Houston, TX-

 
The 1991 Bucs had advanced to Regionals and drew the dubious honor of playing one of Rocky Manuel's greatest Bellaire Cardinal teams ever. This Cardinal team was as good as any in Bellaire's history, had all the right stuff to win state, and was nationally-ranked. 
 
1991 Bellaire featured high profile players such as: Jose Cruz Jr. (Rice, Toronto BlueJays, San Francisco Giants), MacGregor Byers, Jeff DaVanon, Trey Golden, Jim Hicks, Tim Peters, and Jason Schreiber. 
 
Coach Poland's '91 Bucs weren't exactly a slouch either featuring the devastating pitching quartet: Clint Koppe, David Minor, Mark Senterfitt and Gary Johnson. The Bucs had sluggers and speed demons: Chad Stevens, Chad Blessing, Justin Bowles, Jason Bundick, Seki Gonzales, Thomathon Good, Harry Janke, Tommy Masters, and a brick wall in catcher Jason Tracy. 
    
Thus, the low-key Bucs took the role of underdog and fought Bellaire toe to toe in game one at Houston ISD's Butler Field with former Houston Astro great...Jose Cruz Sr. watching his son Cruz Jr. from the stands and with highly-touted Tim Peters on the mound for the Cards. The Bucs brought the bats out and rode an early lead in this game to an improbable 4-3 victory. (The victory swung momentum in the Bucs' favor and the Bucs won game two to advance.)

Butler Field

Houston, TX-

 

Brazoswood had defeated Creek earlier in the year en-route to winning the Clear Creek Tourney and was now facing the Wildcats in a "one-game" winner-take-all Region III Final.

 

The game matched two evenly balanced teams in every sense of the word, living up to its billing with pitcher Clint Koppe on the mound for the Bucs, and Brendan Daly for Creek. The game went the distance 0-0 with Creek's final at-bat coming up. With a Wildcat runner on, Eric Silvas launched a Koppe fastball off the Butler left field wall closing out a memorable 26-6 season for the Bucs.

 

The difficult 1-0 "mini-state championship" win over the Bucs enabled Creek to cruise on to the "real" 1991 State Championship... (over Klein Oak 8-2).

The University of Texas at Austin

Disch-Falk Field 

Austin, TX-

This was the 1992 Texas Semifinal which was to feature a duel between the Bucs' pitcher Mark Senterfitt and the T-Birds' pitcher Rocky Coppinger.

 

Brazoswood was ranked #9 in the state by the AP and Coronado was in a quest to become the first El Paso team to win the state championship since the fabled 1949 El Paso Bowie Bears. 

Coronado had played virtually nothing but three game matchups against the West Texas and Metroplex schools, including victories over Odessa Permian and Grapevine. Coronado also had an ace pitcher in Rocky Coppinger (who would eventually play for the Oakland Athletics) and was indeed playoff tested.

 

Fate had other plans as Mark Senterfitt and company quickly shut down the T-Bird bats and the Buc offense cooled off Coppinger en route to a 6-inning, 10-0 shocker. Senterfitt had also thrown a historical no-hitter to boot.   

**FAN RECOMMENDED**

The University of Texas at Austin

Disch-Falk Field

Austin, TX-

 

This was the 1992 Class 5A State Championship. The Bucs had already denied El Paso its first team in the finals since 1949 and were looking to turn back a Bobcat program which had historically more than established itself as a Texas baseball dynasty under Coach Cliff Gustafson.

 

South San had won the 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, State Championships at the AAA level (which then, was the second largest classification), and placed third in state in 1965 and 1968. (Gustafson went from the coach of an unbeaten championship baseball team to the coach at the state's largest university.) After a 39-0 title season in 1967, Gustafson's seventh state championship team in 13 years at South San, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Texas. Gustafson’s South San teams won 344 games.

    

Also, South San finished as State Finalists in 1975 and 1976 at the AAAA level. The Bobcats were clearly the dominant South Texas school in the years before Corpus Christi Moody emerged. 1992 gave South San its first chance to win state at the AAAAA level. It was not to be however, as the Bucs would complete part two (no-hitters) of a historical UIL tournament. 

    

Brazoswood's Justin Bowles was starting pitcher and pitched solid throughought most of the game. Offensively the Bucs jumped out quickly and put five points on the board. Jason Ferguson came in to relieve a tired Bowles midway through, and the Bobcats were gaining momentum threatening with runners on. Ferguson got some balls in play and the defense shut down the threat. Mark Senterfitt was once again called into action and baffled the Cats preserving the victory and a combined no-hitter for the Bucs.

**FAN RECOMMENDED**

This game matched Buc pitcher David Luster against Spring's Josh Beckett in the 1997 Area Championship. Yes...the same Josh Beckett who would go on to pitch the Florida Marlins to a World Series Championship. Beckett had to get past the Bucs first and Brazoswood had just pummeled Pasadena Sam Rayburn 12-2 and 14-1 at Bi-district. This '97 Buc crew had greats such as James Jurries and Jesse Harper. Spring wanted a one game playoff and Coach Bill Poland wanted best of three. Nevertheless, the Bucs scored several on Beckett in the top of the first. Jurries hit a home run to left. The game was rained out in the 4th. On the way home, the Bucs encountered some tragedy involving an auto accident with Jesse Harper's family. Sadly, the Bucs came back the next day and ended up losing 6-4.

 

Brazoswood High School 

Wilson Field

Clute, TX-

This was game one of the 2003 Region III Quarterfinals. Brazoswood pitcher Brad Lincoln had been having a monster year for the Bucs, who were ranked #4 in the Greater Houston Area for most of the 2003 season. The Bucs had been matched with district 24-5A rival Galveston Ball who also had a threat in pitcher Matt Leva. Thus, the Bucs took the wind out of the Tors and perhaps the series' momentum by Lincoln's 1-0 no-hit performance.

Houston Astrodome

Houston, TX.-

This was a one-game playoff for the 2003 Region III Semifinals. The Brazoswood-Elkins match was indeed a thrilling affair for all who were lucky enough to witness it and was one of the greatest Houston 5A baseball games in recent memory.

 

Bobby Williams' #4 ranked Bucs and Brad Lincoln faced off against two-time and defending state champion Missouri City Elkins and their big All-State left-handed starting pitcher Kelly Shearer.

 

Amazingly, Lincoln silenced the Elkins bats pleasing the large Buc faithful and jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Knights, a lead held up to the bottom of the sixth inning. Shearer was removed to go play third base and the Knights' Mike Susaneck took over at pitcher. Buccaneer reliever Sam Janda came in to battle Elkins, but was unable to stem the momentum. The Knights took control for good by scoring four runs heading into the seventh, then two more to secure a heart-stopping 6-5 victory.

Baseball USA

Houston, TX.-

 

This matchup was for game two of the 2004 Region III Area Championship. underdog Brazoswood was facing off against one of Stratford's greatest teams ever and the #6 ranked Spartans boasted one of the best pitching duos in the Houston area in Aja Barto and Keith Colquitt.

 

The Spartans had already beaten the Bucs, 5-1 at Wilson Field in game one of the series and seemed destined to sweep the Bucs.

 

However, game two saw the Bucs come back to life. The Bucs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a big first inning. Pitcher Brandon Strother had relieved starter Brandon Gonzales in the third inning with Brazoswood holding a 3-1 lead. With the help of big plays, like a one-out, bases-loaded double play in the second frame and a Kevin Croft home run in the fifth inning, the Bucs got back in the game after falling behind 5-3. Strother struck out eight batters — five in the last two innings — to seal the win for the Bucs. Game two changed the series' momentum and kept the Bucs alive to play another day.

Pearland, TX
The Oil Field 

 

This game was for playoff seeding to conclude the 2006 District 24-5A season which went down to the wire.