Written the week of July 27-August 2, 2026

Corpus Christi spends this week in Frisco, playing the 1^st place RoughRiders. With 3 home series and 4 away series including this one left of the season, the South Division remains close.

Frisco’s announcer described the current mess as a five-car pileup. Frisco is just hovering above it all, waiting until mid-September to see who survives the wreck. If Corpus Christi makes the playoffs, we would host the first game of a 3-game series. The other two would be played in Frisco.

This is a lot of playoff talk for a team that has shown an inability to win a 6-game series, but they do have two things going for them, and this information comes directly from the Frisco announcer. The Hooks are the best 1^st-inning run scoring team in the league. They have the best starting pitching ERA in all of the minor league as well.

What I’ve learned over the past week is that they also have three specific weak spots that lose close games, and, of late, all the games seem close. The Hooks lead the league in blown saves. They have the lowest team batting average in the league. They run themselves out of scoring opportunities. So their three Killer B’s are bullpen, bats and base running.

If you’ve been reading my weekly accounts, you’ve already seen the way the starting pitcher gives up very few runs, hands over a lead, and watches it evaporate into a loss due to the first Killer B buzzing into the late innings.

Our starting pitcher handed the bullpen the lead in four straight games, three with no runs for the visitors. We lost two of those. Two times our starters handed the bullpen a tougher job, down 7-3 and 4-0. The former ended with a walk off win, 10-9, and the latter saw us close the gap to within 3 but ended in a 5-2 loss.

In game 1, true to the stats, we scored in the first inning with Yamal Encarnacion hitting a leadoff single and turning it into a double with a steal. Walker Janek hit a 2-out single to right field. From the moment it left the bat, you knew Yamal would race around third and score.

Yamal then made a spectacular play for the first out in the bottom of the 1^st. He laid out on a sharp grounder to second, hopped up, and threw to Will Bush at first. Trey Dombroski would strike out rehabbing Texas Ranger Corey Seager and top prospect Sebastian Walcott for 1-2-3 inning. Both players were returning from injury and weren’t on the active roster when Frisco came to Corpus Christi three weeks ago. I wish they still weren’t.

In this game, we’d get the lead in the 1^st, get tied in the 2^nd, get behind in the 5^th, and have everything decided in the 7^th.

Homers dominated the RoughRiders’ scoring opportunities during the entire game. Dylan Dreiling hit one in the 2^nd inning. Corey Seager hit one in the 5^th. Sebastian Walcott hit one in the 7^th. You now understand my earlier wish.

Down 2-1, Tyler Whitaker and Max Holy scored in the top of the 7^th, as Yamal tripled to left field. Left fielder Yeison Morrobel tried to make a spectacular diving catch but missed by inches. The ball bounced into the left field corner while Morrobel scrambled and Yamal scampered. Hooks took the lead 3-2.

Earl Weaver in his 10 Laws of Baseball said, “The easiest way around the bases is with one swing of the bat.” On this night, Frisco lived by that law.

In the bottom of the 7^th, Sebastian Walcott homered with two on to give Frisco the lead, 5-3. In the 8^th and 9^th innings, we’d manage a walk but no runs and lose the game thanks to Walcott’s return. Too bad he had to recover from injury.

I want to set the stage for game 2 with some facts, some texts, and a conversation with Ellen.

Facts:

The Corpus Christi Hooks had the worst record in all of Minor League Baseball last year.

The Corpus Christi Hooks are the best at scoring in the 1^st inning in the Texas League. They have scored in the 1^st inning 6 of the last 7 games against Frisco.

Frisco has out homered Corpus Christi by more than 2 to 1 this season.

Late inning texts during game 2:

Me: I’m so ready to just go. Every now and then you just have a bad day at the office. And sometimes you get surprised. I’m ready for a surprise.

Jim Cologna: An early good night from me. Things have got to get better because they can’t get any worse.

Ellen: I’m not lasting much longer either. Good night!

During those late innings, I said, “We don’t need to stay and watch this game. I’m thinking of turning off the TV.”

Ellen replied, “If the boys have to go through this, you need to also.”

“I’m not getting paid. They are.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Now to the game. The Hooks held true to form and scored in the 1^st inning. Four singles resulted in 2 runs. The RoughRiders held true to form and scored on a home run by Sebastian Walcott. Why couldn’t he have waited to come off IL? Hooks 2-Walcott 1.

The game remained tight through the first three innings and got even tighter in the 4^th. Rafe Perich homered. Hooks 2-Frisco homers 2.

In the 5^th, lucky #13 sailed over the left field wall as Trevor Austin hit a 2-run homer. Hooks 4-Frisco homers 2.

Then disaster struck and made Jim, Ellen, and me all want to call it a night. Dylan Dreiling single. Arturo Disla hit by pitch. Rafe Perich double. 4-3. Ian Moller single. 4-4. Yeison Morrobel double. 4-5. Keith Jones II single. 4-7. Fielding error (this looms large, but at the time, it just seemed like more salt on a corpse—we were dead already).

Corey Joyce single. 4-8. Sebastian Walcott strikeout. 1 out. Dylan Dreiling strikeout. 2 outs. At this point the entire lineup has batted and we’re starting to see guys like Dreiling up for the second time. We should have ended the inning after his at-bat. But because of the aforementioned fielding error, Disla came up to bat.

And smashed a 3-run home run. 4-11. Frisco plated 9 runs in the 6th inning, and a 2-run home run by Dreiling in the 8^th would complete their scoring for the night. Frisco homers 4-Corpus Christi homer 1, Frisco 13 runs-Corpus Christi 4.

Then the bad day at the office turned into something both surprising and historic in the top of the 9^th.

Kenni Gomez double.

Alberto Hernandez double. 5-13.

Yamal Encarnacion double.

Jason Schiavone double. 7-13.

Will Bush double. 8-13.

Trevor Austin double. 9-13.

Cameron Sisneros. Walk.

Tyler Whitaker fly out. 1 out.

Max Holy double. 10-13.

Kenni Gomez single. 12-13.

A fly out and a strikeout ended our comeback, but, oh, what a night to begrudgingly watch the entire game. If the players were like Jim, Ellen, and me, they couldn’t wait to get to the ballpark the next day.

The best team in the Texas League at scoring in the 1^st inning became the best all-time in the minor league at hitting consecutive doubles in a single inning. The record? 6 consecutive and 7 total!

Thursday night’s game found me in Sugar Land catching up with former Hooks now Space Cowboys. I wanted to connect with Zach Cole from last year’s team, but he was on IL and recovering in Florida.

Garret Guillemette and I spoke before the game. He reminded me of the hopes and expectations of minor leaguers. He expected to start the season in Triple-A. This was more than a hope—his expectations were bolstered by conversations with those who determine the rosters. He started instead on the Hooks roster.

Garret is a follower of Christ. I noted that fact when I said to him, “No one has the walk-up song you have without being a follower of Christ.” It’s not “Jesus Loves Me”, but it’s close.

As followers of Christ, we have an eternal perspective on temporal situations. Tough times happen to us all, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, niv).

To be clear, because clarity is important here, Paul, who wrote those words, didn’t say all things are good, but “..in all things God works for the good…”

A fist bump through the netting ended our conversation, and Garret headed to the home team dugout.

Jackson Nezuh walked by, and I caught up with him. He has pitched in two games but has no wins or losses to show for it. As he did in Corpus Christi, he has pitched well enough to win, and, as he did in Corpus Christi, he has had a lot of no-decisions.

I met a couple of folks from the Sugar Land area and, as usual, learned something.

Brian Sweetland—what a great last name for a Sugar Land fan—talked about his early days growing up in the early to mid-sixties attending Houston Buffalo games. The Buffaloes are the one-time minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, 1920-1958, and the Chicago Cubs, 1959-1961.

He reminisced about seeing guys dressed in black suits and white ties at a hotel. He thought they were with the Mafia. That image probably came from the movies, because in Houston, the Texas Mafia wouldn’t be anyone’s first thought except a schoolboy with an overactive imagination. In reality, the men were baseball players with the San Francisco Giants, my favorite team when I was in grade school. Willie Mays was among those he saw that day.

Brian was there when the Astrodome opened, and he watched Mickey Mantle and the Yankees play the newly-minted, home-town Houston Astros in an exhibition game, the first professional baseball game played indoors. He talked about the unique baseballs used in the Astrodome.

The translucent roof and its sun glare caused players to lose routine fly balls, so Astrodome officials experimented with orange, yellow, and red balls, none of which were approved for official use. The problem was solved before the first game on April 9, 1965, by painting the roof panels white to reduce the glare. The 40% reduction in sunlight caused the specially bred Bermuda grass to die, and that’s how Astroturf was born!*

Jessie Flores is a part-time staffer working with the community outreach program. This is the second season he’s done this job, and, with time, he may be working himself into a full-time position. He enjoys working in a baseball environment.

Currently his job entails managing the table full of charity items, originally a single table last year, now two, filled with jerseys, autographed balls, batting helmets, bats, and other baseball paraphernalia.

When Edwin Diaz snapped a bat over his knee during batting practice, Jessie watched his manager retrieve it, tape the halves back together, and ask Diaz to sign the bat. He explained to Diaz what he wanted the bat for because all of this remains relatively new to the players.

Employees of a team are told not to ask for autographs. That’s true at Sugar Land, and it’s also true at Whataburger Field. That’s why, after thinking about applying for a staff position, I decided I didn’t need the money. I loved what I was already free to do as a fan.

Jessie, though, is an exception to the rule, getting autographs not for himself but as charitable donations. The Astros organization supported the original idea to invest in the community, so they okayed Sugar Land’s outreach plan. At times major leaguers are reluctant to sign for fans at the ballpark, but they are all in when it comes to helping raise money for charities.

On one occasion a man asked Jessie, “Do you have any Zach Cole jerseys?”

Zach had recently been called up to Sugar Land from Corpus Christi, and Jessie didn’t have any of his jerseys yet. “Sorry, we don’t, but we’ve ordered them. Would you like one when they come in?”

The man said, “That’s alright. I’ll get one from him.”

Curious, Jessie asked, “Do you know Zach?”

“I’m his dad.”

How about the game?

Honestly, I remained less than involved as a spectator in the game between the Salt Lake City Bees and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys. The Space Cowboys won the game 8-2 and remained comfortably in 1^st place in the Pacific Coast League East.

That was all great, but the game I cared about took place a two-and-a-half hour drive down the road. Ellen watched Corpus Christi vs. Frisco at home and texted me regular updates. I passed on the updates to my fellow travelers to Sugar Land, the friends who have seats near mine at Whataburger Field.

As usual against Frisco, we scored in the 1^st inning. This time Yamal Encarnacion singled to score Walker Janek, rather than the other way around. The RoughRiders tied it up when Arturo Disla singled home Sebastian Walcott from second.

In the 3^rd, Janek homered to give us the lead 2-1. He’s caught fire since coming off the IL a few weeks ago and has been the counter punch to Walcott’s return from the IL. Both have packed a wallop in this series so far.

In the 5^th, we’d get two more runs on an RBI double by Jason Schiavone and a bases-loaded walk.

Ellen highlighted an Arturo Disla moment during this inning. When I returned home and we were talking about the game the next day, she described it. “He just launches himself onto a huge rolled-up tarp and catches the ball. He was amazing.”

The box score for that play: Tyler Whitaker flies out to first baseman Arturo Disla in foul territory. Yawn!

I’ve written about Disla in a previous post, but I want to return to him for a moment. His nickname is the Buffalo, and he is a large guy. He doesn’t look like your typical athlete. He’s anything but svelte.

Yet every time I watch him, I like him more. He hit a 2-run home run in the 13-12 game. He dove for a foul ball. He ran out a strikeout to beat the throw to first. Even when I root against his team, I can’t help but root for him.

Certain players just stand out as exceptional players, teammates, and people. Henry Henry from the San Antonio Missions a few years ago comes to mind. Our guy Will Bush fits that description. And, of course, Arturo Disla.

So now we go to the 6^th inning where, if you got on base for the Hooks, you scored. And we got on base a lot.

Ellen texted when our at bat ended: How do you like us now?

So what’s that about?

The night before, Frisco had built up a 13-4 lead after 8 innings. In their big 6^th inning, the RoughRiders sent 12 players to the plate and scored 9 runs. The announcers said on more than one occasion, “You can stick a fork in it.”

In the 8^th inning, when Frisco added two more runs, one of them said, “Now you can really stick a fork in it.”

By the end of the game he’d changed that to “We survived!”

On Thursday night, Frisco didn’t survive. They crumbled. Our 6^th inning’s scoring ended with a Chase Call grand slam. After 6 full innings, Corpus Christi 11-Frisco 2.

In the 8^th inning, Frainyer Chavez, an exceptional infielder, entered as a relief pitcher. In the 9^th inning, power-hitter Max Wagner finished as the closer. Ellen commented that the one, Chavez, fired the balls in at 67 mph, and the other, Wagner, threw mid-40 lobs. Chavez got shelled. Wagner didn’t. Final score: Corpus Christi 16-Frisco 4.

How do you like us now, indeed!

Game 4 would not be a slug fest. After 34 combined hits over 2 games, the Hooks would manage only 5 hits on Friday night. The Hooks pitchers limited the RoughRiders to even fewer hits at 4.

Most of the game’s scoring occurred in the first two innings. The Hooks went down 1-2-3 in the 1^st. The RoughRiders didn’t go down so easily. A single, strikeout, home run was the 1-2-3 response in the bottom of the 1^st. Dylan Dreiling hit his 2^nd home run of the series. Corpus Christi 0-Frisco 2.

In the top of the 2^nd, our guy Will Bush led off with a single. A stolen base and deep fly ball put him on 3^rd base. Cameron Sisneros hit a sacrifice fly to center field, and Will took off for home. It wasn’t pretty, and I’m sure he’s already heard plenty about it from his teammates, but he crash landed to score our first run.

Hooks pitcher Nolan DeVos then went nuclear as he struck out 5, gave up an additional single, and kept the score close through the end of the 6^th. He retired from the mound having given up 2 runs on 3 hits with 7 strikeouts.

The 6^th inning turned out to be the pivotal inning. The Hooks had lead-off singles by Alberto Hernandez and Yamal Encarnacion. After a strikeout, Trevor Austin put the ball in play as both base runners started off with the pitch. For once, the Hooks’ aggressive base running paid off big.

Yamal sped toward second, trying to beat Max Wagner to the base. The pressure of speed on the basepaths caused the 2^nd baseman to fumble the ball. That bobble allowed Yamal to be safe and Alberto to round third.

New 3^rd-base coach Jeremy Cologna probably did an impersonation of windmilling manager Ricky Rivera, but the camera focused on Max Wagner retrieving the fumbled ball. His ensuing errant throw home allowed both Alberto and Yamal to score, and Trevor to go to second.

Bats came alive in games 2 and 3. Now base running, still aggressive, proved to be well-timed and smarter. Two of the Killer B’s were no longer killing us. That left the third, our bullpen, to see if it could make a difference.

Amilcar Chirinos entered the game in the 7^th inning with a one-run lead. Corpus Christi 3-Frisco 2. He walked the first batter he faced then struck out Corey Joyce, Ian Moller, and Keith Jones II.

The Frisco announcer: “Chirinos just keeps doing what he’s done all month.”

Jones swung at a pitch out of the zone then called strikes 2 and 3 followed. Umpire Drew Bofelli rang him up for strike three, and Jones was not happy about those two called strikes. No doubt he groused about them, a baseball no-no, and Umpire Bofelli tossed him.

This scene reminded me of something I’d written recently about called balls and strikes. At the time, I mentioned how wild and sporadic the strike zone can be, which was especially true in that particular game.

Umpires, like players, are working their way up the levels of professional baseball. They aren’t in baseball to make a living as a minor league umpire. Players and umpires want to make the major leagues.

Since that glimpse at balls and strikes on Gameday, I check in every now and then on specific at-bats. What I’ve discovered is how excellent umpires typically are at doing their thankless jobs. Jones grumbled, but Bofelli made the right call. The balls barely clipped the edges of the strike zone, but clip those edges they did.

Frisco’s left fielder getting tossed made for an interesting decision by the RoughRiders’ interim manager Jay Sullenger. The catcher Ian Moller went to left field, a position he’s never played in Double-A, and Malcom Moore entered the game as the catcher, batting in the 8^th spot.

By the way, Sullenger, the Frisco development coach, filled in for vacationing manager Chad Comer. Our coaches had their vacations in July

Alex Santos II relieved the reliever for the final 2 innings. In the 8^th, he struck out Max Wagner, Sebastian Walcott, and Dylan Dreiling. In the 9^th, he struck out Arturo Disla, Yeison Morrobel, and Corey Joyce.

His final lines were 1 hit, 6 strikeouts, and 0 runs. Like Chirinos, Santos kept doing what he’d been doing all month. Hooks 3-RoughRiders 2.

So far in the last 3 games, the Killer B’s seem to be killing the opposition. Whoop! Whoop!

Saturday’s game continued a wonderful trend of exceptional starting pitching for the Hooks. Bryce Mayer pitched 6 shutout innings as our starter. Frisco’s pitcher Dylan McCarty started for the first time in Double-A. He did not pitch 6 shutout innings. He gave up 3 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks, and ended his outing after 2 outs in the 1^st.

Thomas Ireland entered in relief, down 3-0. In 5 Double-A appearances, he had 0 wins and 0 losses, although he came close to his first loss on Wednesday. He pitched 3.1 innings in relief, gave up 1 run on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 6.

Ireland pitched the 8-run 9^th inning in our 13-12 loss. Over his two appearances against us, he started with a 3.86 ERA, pretty darn good, left Wednesday night with a 30.38 ERA, downright awful, and ended Saturday night with a 15.00 ERA, only half as awful. His performance on Saturday night showed how talented he really is. Though he gave up a run, he managed to keep the Hooks’ bats fairly quiet.

On this night, the game’s outcome wasn’t in question. From the start, Corpus Christi took the lead and never relinquished it. When Mayer left after 6, we led 4-0.

The question then became, would the bullpen pitch well and give the Hooks a shutout? They did. Railin Perez entered in the 7^th, and Joey Mancini pitched the final two innings. Together they gave up no runs on 3 hits while striking out 4. The Killer B’s, bats, base running, and bullpen combined for a very healthy complete team win.

In the bottom of the 9^th, Corpus Christi substituted in a player, Kenni Gomez. The moment Ellen and I heard the name, we knew where he would play and who he would replace. We were right, and I asked Ellen, my statistician, to write on her paper, “We know our team.”

We may know our team, but we don’t necessarily know the meaning of our notes. While I was writing this update, I couldn’t remember what prompted me to say, “We know our team.” Initially, we had no idea what the phrase referred to. It didn’t become clear until I reread our text messages and the box score recap.

Writing about the season depends on my memory, Ellen’s notes, the trio’s texts, and box scores. On occasion I jot something down in a small notebook.

Sunday’s game pitted James Hicks, our starter, versus Blake Townsend, Frisco’s starter. On paper, Hicks had the better stats, but not by much. On the field, Townsend had the better day, but not by much. Both would pitch 5 full innings. Townsend would leave the game with a 1-0 lead. A third of an inning later, Hicks would leave with his team trailing 1-0. That remained the case into the 7^th.

In the previous article, I mentioned that reliever Amilcar Chirinos was as dependable as my wife choosing chocolate over coconut. She loves the one and hates the other.

I mention this because I have a similar comparison for Hudson Leach. He’s as dependable as Ellen choosing chocolate over caramel. That’s not as predictable and depends on the day.

Hudson is a power pitcher who fires fastballs in the upper 90s. He can overpower hitters at times. Other times, he has control issues. Sunday he had control issues.

He pitched a third of an inning, gave up 2 hits, walked 2, and allowed 2 runs. When he came in, Frisco led 1-0. When he left, Frisco led 3-0.

Dependable Chirinos relieved Hudson, walked his first batter, then retired the next two batters. A run scored on a groundout. Frisco 4-Corpus Christi 0.

In the top half of the 8^th inning, two Frisco relievers would have an even worse outing than Hudson Leach. Their combined effort resulted in 4 walks, a balk, a triple, a single, and 3 runs, but Frisco still maintained the lead, 4-3.

Alejandro Torres sparkled in relief as he struck out the side, 1-2-3, in the bottom of the 8^th.

In the 9^th, Yamal Encarnacion, who tripled in the 8^th, grounded out for the first out. Walker Janek singled into center field.

At this point, I’m thinking like a manager. We have two power hitters, Trevor Austin and Jason Schiavone, in the 3^rd and 4^th spots. Trevor homered earlier in the series and leads the team in home runs. Jason hasn’t popped one out since June, but he’s hit well throughout this series.

Even though a double play would end the game, I preferred to depend on Trevor’s bat rather than Walker’s feet. Don’t try to steal second.

Walker tried to steal second and ran into an out. Trevor walked. Jason struck out. Game over. Frisco 4-Corpus Christi 3.

After Frisco won the first game, the announcers spoke about winning the series and maybe winning 5 out of 6. They were dreaming of having a historic year in their rivalry with Corpus Christi, a rivalry in which Corpus Christi holds the overall won-loss lead but recent years have seen Frisco close the gap.

They didn’t get what they wanted. We didn’t get what we wanted.

The result of the week was Corpus Christi started and finished one game out of first place. Now they come home, and I get to watch them from my left field rocker. Go, Hooks!

Corpus Christi Hooks 3-Frisco Rough Riders 5                 L

Corpus Christi Hooks 12-Frisco Rough Riders 13             L

Corpus Christi Hooks 16-Frisco Rough Riders 4               W

Corpus Christi Hooks 3-Frisco Rough Riders 2                 W

Corpus Christi Hooks 7-Frisco Rough Riders 0                 W

Corpus Christi Hooks 3-Frisco Rough Riders 4                 L

Texas League South 2^nd-half standings

Frisco                               18-15

Amarillo                          18-15

Corpus Christi                  17-16

Midland                           15-18

San Antonio                     14-19

*Information gleaned through Google and Brian Sweetland