AS THE 2021 HIGH SCHOOL baseball season begins, two area teams are slated to be among the state’s best in their respective classes.
Clear Springs and Friendswood appear in the top 20 of the Txhighschoolbaseball.com preseason polls, as the Chargers rank 20th in Class 6A, while the Mustangs are ranked sixth in the Class 5A poll. Both teams will be competing in the traditionally rugged Region III, which has a combined 10 schools ranked in each poll.
The Chargers bring back eight starters from last season’s team, which was in contention for the District 24-6A title before the pandemic ended the season just as district play began. Clear Springs will have the services of University of Houston commit Jose Vargas, who begins his junior season at shortstop, while senior right-hander Corey Patterson is expected to anchor the Chargers’ rotation.
“We’re excited to hopefully get to play a full season,” said Clear Springs coach Chris Floyd in an interview with Houston 5A Baseball.. “It appears 24-6A will have a lot of good arms once again. We are looking forward to a great year.”
Like Clear Springs, Friendswood brings back eight starters from their 2020 squad, highlighted by senior shortstop/third baseman Izaac Pacheco, a Texas A&M University commit who is also regarded as one of the top high school players in the nation and is projected to go early in the first round of this summer’s Major League Baseball draft. Outfielder Kevin Newkirk, a commit to Blinn Junior College, also returns to give the Mustangs a level of firepower few teams in the area will be able to contend with.
