As we look forward to the regional championships this week in baseball, and start to pack our bags for Round Rock, we look back at a couple of interesting events that shaped the 5A regional semifinal weekend…

Thanks to a Friday night cloudburst in southwest Houston, coupled with a Saturday afternoon graduation ceremony, Houston Memorial and Brazoswood had to get creative with their scheduling over the weekend.  The Memorial graduation ceremony, which was set long ago for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, had forced the two teams to originally schedule their Game 3 for 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

But when the rains came during Friday night’s Game 2–creating nearly four hours of weather delays in a game that would eventually be won by Brazoswood–the Mustangs and Buccaneers weren’t able to end that contest until after 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  By mutual agreement, Game 3 was moved to a 8:00 p.m. Saturday night start.  Memorial would win that game, 5-4, in eight innings with time to spare before the UIL-imposed midnight (Sunday) curfew.

Meanwhile, rather unintentionally and without any weather factors in play, in northwest Texas, two other 5A teams came much closer to the midnight hour on Sunday morning to finish off their series.

Plano West and Lubbock Coronado had scheduled their 5A-I semifinal series at Brownwood High School, with a potential doubleheader set for Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m.  That late afternoon/early evening start was required because Abilene Wylie and Burnet had scheduled a potential doubleheader on the same field for Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

As will often happen in the UIL playoffs, it turned out that Wylie and Burnet needed both games on Saturday to determine a winner.  Not only that, Game 3 turned out to be a long, high-scoring affair (won, 10-8, by Burnet) that ran past the scheduled 5:00 p.m. start for Game 2 of the Coronado-Plano West series.

So, the two 5A schools didn’t actually get their Game 2 underway until after 6:00 p.m., with Plano West leading the series 1-0.

And, that game was a long, high-scoring affair as well that Coronado would finally capture with a 17-8 win at around 9:25 p.m. to necessitate a deciding Game 3.  That game started right around 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night.

Plano West’s head coach, Kendall Clark, had played his hand perfectly, holding senior pitcher Andrew Blum for Game 3.  Blum, then a sophomore, was the starter in the 2008 5A state championship game against Southlake Carroll. Blum Blum struck out 17 Coronado batters and allowed only four hits in a complete-game 10-1 victory in the final game of the semifinal weekend.

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Who will wear Cinderella’s slipper in Round Rock this year?  There are still several candidates in all classifications.

First, any team that is still playing but didn’t win a district championship would have to qualify as a Cinderella candidate.  In Class 5A, three of the eight regional finalists–Plano West (third place, 8-5A), Lubbock Monterey (fourth, 2-5A) and Klein Collins (second, 13-5A)–were not district champions.  Of those three, Monterey has arguably made the most improbable run, first to qualify for the playoffs and, then, to make it to the regional final round.  Should they defeat Plano West in their single-game championship, the Plainsmen would undoubtedly be the Cinderella team of 5A.

In Class 4A, it’s hard to think of perennial contender Friendswood as a Cinderella team, but the Mustangs earned a spot in the 4A-III bracket as the fourth place finishers in District 24-4A.  But Friendswood swept 23-4A champs Richmond Foster out of the first round before dominating Houston Davis in their area round sweep.

The Mustangs began to raise some eyebrows when the bounced 21-4A champs Houston Waltrip in the regional quarterfinal round in three games while scoring 19 runs in their two victories.  District 20-4A runners-up Port Neches-Groves became the regional semifinal victim as Friendswood won two extra-inning games to advance.

This week, Friendswood faces a monumental task in trying to defeat prohibitive Region III favorite Brenham.  But, if they do, the Mustangs would be the unlikeliest of guests at the big dance.

In Class 3A, every remaining team was a district champion.  Finding a Cinderella among those teams is a little harder chore.  But, Orangefield could qualify on the strength of their semifinal series win over highly-regarded Robinson. If Orangefield were to defeat Jasper this week, they’d be a candidate, as would Argyle win a series win in Region II over THSBCA No. 2-ranked Pleasant Grove. 

For that matter, Giddings is ranked No. 1 in the THSBCA Class 3A poll, so if the Boerne Greyhounds defeat them this week, Boerne would have to be considered the 3A Cinderella.

Weimar is the lone regional finalist in Class 2A that didn’t win a district championship.  The Wildcats were the third place finishers in District 26-2A but have swept through the Region IV bracket undefeated (8-0) in the first four rounds.  They’ve gotten hot at the perfect time.

Stamford and La Pryor are the only remaining non-champions still playing in Class 1A.  Stamford faces District 2-1A champ Forsan this week, while La Pryor faces District 26-1A winner Thorndale in a single-game championship.  A win for either of those two teams will automatically fit them with glass slippers.

The reality is that each of these teams will face long odds in making it to Round Rock, but certainly not as long as they would’ve been four weeks ago.