TITLE HOPES AND DREAMS RUN RAMPANT FOR AREA ATHLETES

IF THERE’S NOT anything on this schedule to get your sports motor racing,
then you’re simply not trying.
TODAY, WEDNESDAY: Both La Marque and Santa Fe will have their doors
open for athletes to take their physicals for the 2018-19 school year. The Cougars
will hold their physicals at the LMHS Competition Gym from 2:00pm to
5:00pm on both Wednesday and Thursday and will be $20 for each athlete. For
Santa Fe, which held physicals for high school athletes on Tuesday, the day will
be for junior high athletes. Cost is $25 cash and will be held at the Junior High
School Gym from 2:00pm to 5:00pm.
The final day of the Region III boys golf tournaments will be held in both Class
6A and 5A. In 6A, the event will be at Eagle Pointe Golf Club in Mont Belvieu
while the 5A meet will be in Montgomery at the Golf Club at La Torretta.
Daytime baseball at Minute Maid Park starts at 1:10pm when Justin Verlander
(3-0, 1.10 ERA) takes the mound for the Astros in the final game of a three-game
set against the Angels. Los Angeles will get the starting nod as he brings a 1-1
record and 3.75 ERA into the contest. AT&T Sportsnet Southwest will start with
its pregame coverage at 12:30pm.
Game five of the Western Conference quarterfinals returns to Toyota Center as
the Rockets welcome the Timberwolves beginning at 8:30pm. Minnesota avoided
a sweep with a win on Saturday and depending on the outcome of Monday’s
game four, Houston could either be looking to close out the series or looking to
take a 3-2 edge. TNT will have the national coverage shortly after the Pacers
and Cavaliers finish their game five matchup in Cleveland.
TOMORROW, THURSDAY: Christmas Day for the NFL arrives as the first day
of the draft begins at 7:00pm. There won’t be much drama for the Texans, who
are without their first two picks and won’t make a selection until the third round
on Friday. There is a Galveston County flavor this year with Texas receiver and
Texas City alum Armanti Foreman and Texas-El Paso linebacker and La Marque
grad Lawrence Montegut are draft eligible.
FRIDAY: The final day of the high school baseball regular season starts with
Fort Bend Marshall at Santa Fe beginning at 6:00pm while Dickinson at Clear
Brook, Clear Creek at Clear Falls, Clear Springs at Clear Lake and Fort Bend
Elkins at Texas City each start at 7:00pm.
Five area softball teams are secured into the state playoffs but had to wait out
on tiebreaker games on Monday in other districts before finding out their respective
bidistrict opponents. In District 24-6A, Clear Springs, Clear Creek and Clear
Falls took the second thru fourth playoff berths behind district champion Alvin
while in 23-5A, Santa Fe captured the district crown with Texas City earning the
second seed after winning a tiebreaker between Manvel and Galena Park.
Region III track and field championships will translate into bids to Austin and
next month’s state finals for the top finishers. Both Class 6A and 5A will hold
their regional meet at Turner Stadium in Humble while Hitchcock and La Marque
travel to Waco for the Class 3A regional finals.
The Astros will face A’s hurler Sean Manaea (3-2, 1.23 ERA) when the two teams
meet in the opener of a weekend set at Minute Maid Park beginning at 7:10pm.
Manaea comes off of throwing the first no-hitter of the 2018 season when he
held the explosive Red Sox offense hitless in his last start on Saturday. Dallas
Keuchel (1-3, 3.10 ERA) gets the call for the hometown team. AT&T Sportsnet
Southwest will begin its pregame coverage at 6:30pm.
SATURDAY: Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 4.67 ERA) bids for a third straight victory
when he takes the mound for the Astros against the A’s starting at 6:10pm. Oakland
counters with Daniel Mengden (2-2, 3.86 ERA), who is also looking for his
third consecutive win. AT&T Sportsnet Southwest starts its coverage beginning
at 5:30pm.