Written the week of August 3-9, 2026
The day after the Hooks split its Frisco series 3-3, they sit one game behind first-place Frisco and Amarillo. One team we won’t see again unless we make the playoffs. The other we play at the end of August in Amarillo.
On the surface, according to our second-half record, an away series against the Sod Poodles benefits us. We have a better record on the road, 12-9, than at home, 5-7. That seems significant until you look at our entire second-half record. It’s 17-16, the difference between first place and second.
I’m listening to an audiobook, Cubs Way by Tom Verducci. At one point, Verducci speaks of the frustration and fear of Cub fans prior to 2016, the year the Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year World Series drought. They had grown tired of disappointing seasons, bungled opportunities, losing, and ineptitude on the field. Much of what I heard mirrored my feelings about watching the Corpus Christi Hooks in recent years.
This year seems different though. We do have an overall losing record this season. We do bungle winning opportunities in late innings. But our players are far from inept. This version of the Corpus Christi Hooks has been worth the price of admission, as the team almost always keeps games close and often energizes a stadium even in a loss.
I still don’t know how the season will end. We remain tantalizingly close to first place for a spot in the Texas League playoffs. We’ve been close the entire second half. Yet we never seem to get out of a 5-5-over-the-last-10 rut.
And this is the time of movement in baseball. Major league trades move minor league players. Major league promotions move minor league players. Minor league teams become highways of movement from Single-A to Double-A to Triple-A to Major League.
Before game 1 of a 6-game series with the Tulsa Drillers, the Corpus Christi Hooks’ roster is dotted with new additions—RHP Andrew Taylor, IF Alejandro Nunez, and C Alexi Quiroz—and one significant departure—Bryce Mayer, Texas League Pitcher of the Week and July Pitcher of the Month for the Astros minor league system.
In his last six starts, Bryce gave up a lone run, pitched 30.2 innings, was credited with 4 wins, and earned a 0.29 ERA. Those numbers get a pitcher moved, and he officially moved to Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday.
With the Hooks back in town, Ellen and I arrived at Whataburger Field 90 minutes before game time. We had two very cool conversations well before most fans entered the ballpark.
The first was with the Hooks’ tech guy, Dave Driscoll. Dave’s actual title eludes me because it doesn’t describe what he actually does, and ends with intern, suggesting he’s very temporary. Others in his position over the years have lasted a couple of seasons. I hope this remains true for him.
Dave is the first part of the team I usually see and speak to when the Hooks play at home or when I catch an away game. He puts the myriad number of small cameras in place before a game then puts them away afterwards. He goes through the video clips from each game, tags them, and files them for easy access by others in the organization—coaches, players, etc.
In Frisco he put on a uniform and became the first-base coach, a surprising scene when Ellen and I watched the away game at home. Jeremy Cologna moved from first to third as manager Ricky Rivera remained in the dugout.
Rivera prefers to remain in the dugout to manage the game from there when the Hooks bat, but usually Dave isn’t available to be on the field during the game. He’s busy keeping tabs on the video information. In Frisco, the home team did that job, which freed him to be on the field. If you don’t understand what I’m writing, I hardly do and I’m the one sharing this info. The only thing you and I need to know is conditions in Frisco allowed Dave to coach first base.
Having the opportunity to talk with Dave allowed Ellen and me to discover answers to our questions. Who decides when a player steals? How do players on first and second know to do a double steal? When you talk to a guy on first base what are you telling him? Is Arturo Disla, Frisco’s first baseman, as nice as he seems to be?
We didn’t ask that last question, but now that I think about it, I will.
In general, the third-base coach gives a pre-agreed-upon signal for any base running decisions. The first-base coach relays the pertinent information to the player on first. Most of the time, the first-base coach goes over what the pitcher is doing, any tells he’s picked up on, and leaves the base stealing decision to the runner. A double steal, and this happened successfully several times in Frisco, is always the third-base coach’s call. In Frisco, with Ricky Rivera in the dugout, that decision came from the manager.
The second conversation was with Chase Call. He sat in the stands and, if I didn’t already know who he was, I would have simply seen a dude sitting and waiting to watch a game. Because of the home run catch, we both know each other by now.
Our conversation was brief, mostly letting him know Ellen and I enjoyed watching how well he played in Frisco. I asked if he was playing in the game, and he said that he wasn’t. He was not scheduled to play until Wednesday. Those were the plans, but circumstances would change those plans.
I had one final conversation with three guys in street clothes I had observed on the field pulling on the netting behind home plate. As they ambled to the home team tunnel, I hurried toward their apparent destination. When I arrived there, I said, “I noticed you guys checking out the field. You wouldn’t happen to be the umpires?”
Jack Wason responded with a touch of a smile. “We could be.”
He would call balls and strikes that night.
I told them all that I appreciated the tough job they have to do and recounted when Umpire Drew Bofelli tossed a player for arguing balls and strikes with him during the Frisco series. I had a better perspective on how well umpires do their thankless jobs.
I added, “If you hear someone yelling from left field, that’ll be me.”
Joey Mancini started the night. With Bryce Mayer now in Triple-A, Joey seemed the logical bullpen pitcher to move into a starter’s role. In 2025 he entered games as the starting pitcher. I rooted for him to get a win all season long because he pitched well in most games, but he never got a single win despite starting 13 games. He was the unluckiest pitcher that I saw in 2025.
Joey’s luck seemed to start poorly on Tuesday. Josue De Paula, Tulsa Drillers left fielder, hit the first pitch of the game over the left field wall. De Paula has hit 21 home runs this season, has a .317 batting average, and is Los Angeles Dodgers’ top prospect. This night he would look every bit the part of a future major leaguer.
Joey survived the 1st inning and pitched well for 3.2 innings. In looking at his record with Corpus Christi this year, he has already gotten a win. He wouldn’t add to that total Tuesday night.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Hooks would rip off 5 singles in a row and score 3 runs before being retired by a double play. Max Holy hit the 4th single of the 5 and I had a conversation with myself. “Please, please let him keep hitting, please, please let him keep hitting, and please, please don’t move him up.”
That’s the inner angst of a minor league fan. You come to like the players, recognize what is keeping them in Double-A, hope the bat, the glove, the control, etc., gets better, and, when it does, you pray the higher-ups won’t move them just yet.
In the 3rd, Walker Janek led off with a single. With one out, Jason Schiavone launched the ball into left-center field for a run-scoring double. After 3 complete, the Hooks led 4-1.
Tulsa closed the gap to 4-3 and chased Mancini off the mound after two outs in the 4th inning.
In the bottom half of the 4th, Alejandro Nunez led off with a single and Max Holy hit into a possible double play. His hustle down the first-base line beat the throw to first by a blink. A single by Kenni Gomez followed by Yamal Encarnacion’s single brought Max home.
With Kenni and Yamal already running on the pitch, Walker Janek socked a single up the middle, and both base runners came home in a hurry. After 4 complete, the Hooks led 7-3.
No one scored in the 5th, then trouble showed up in the 6th. Jose Guedez did well in relief of Mancini for 1.1 innings, but in the 6th he gave up a single and a double to lead off the Tulsa half of the inning. Alex Santos II relieved Guedez and issued a walk to the first batter he faced. That loaded the bases.
Josue De Paula singled to right field to score a run and keep the bases loaded. Alex struck out the next batter. With bases loaded, a slow grounder to second got another run home when the double-play attempt, Nunez to Holy to Bush, fell short. A passed ball scored the final run of the Tulsa 6th.
Yamal Encarnacion led off with a single, and he swiped another base, but three strikeouts kept him from getting any closer to scoring. After 6 complete, Corpus Christi led 7-6.
In the 8th inning, Max Holy walked. A balk moved him to second. A pickoff attempt seemed to have caught him dead to rights, but he did a Holy Houdini to escape the tag and return safely to second. It didn’t put an additional run on the board, but it sure was fun to watch.
Amilcar Chirinos pitched 1.2 innings, but he couldn’t quite get out of the inning unscathed. He walked the leadoff batter, struck out the next, allowed the base runner to steal second, and gave up a single. Kole Myers scored from second while a throw from right fielder Yamal Encarnacion to catcher Walker Janek to shortstop Max Holy caught Joe Vetrano at second for the second out.
Alejandro Torres entered in relief to strike out Jose Izarra. The Drillers had tied up the game 7-7, and we responded with a 1-2-3 inning to make it a long night at the ballpark.
Alejandro remained in the game in the 10th inning, issuing an intentional walk to the dangerous Josue De Paula. Jake Gelof lined out to right field, which advanced Jose Izarra from second to third. De Paula stole second, breaking up the possibility of a double play.
Alejandro coaxed a pop-up in foul territory for the second out. Both runners remained on their respective bases. Alejandro struck out Chris Newell, a power-hitting center fielder, for the third out. The score remained knotted at 7-7.
By this time, I had made my way out to the left field berm. You can’t catch a walk-off home run sitting near the home team batter’s circle. This night I wouldn’t catch a home run, but I would get a great view of the final play of the game.
Tyler Whitaker came into the game as a pinch runner, replacing our guy Will Bush. With one out, recently promoted Alejandro Nunez singled into left field.
Tyler ran for the safety of third base but wasn’t satisfied to stop there. Someone watching closer to the action said that Ricky Rivera threw up the stop sign and Tyler ran right through it. No one will ticket him for the mistake.
My vantage point from the berm held a great line of sight for what happened next. De Paula charged the ball. A clean pick-up and a straight-as-an-arrow throw to home would make the play at home close, but that never happened.
Rivera’s stop sign turned into his windmill motion. De Paula didn’t get the clean pick-up and never made the straight-as-an-arrow throw. Tyler scored the winning run, and Alejandro Nunez got his hero moment while Alejandro Torres picked up the win.
I saw Dave Driscoll before game 2 and asked about Arturo Disla of Frisco. He lit up the moment I mentioned Disla. Dave had seen him the previous year in the South Atlantic League, a High-A league along the Atlantic coast. Dave worked for the Asheville Tourists, Houston’s High-A team, and Disla played for the Hub City Spartanburgers, the Texas Ranger’s High-A team.
“He killed us in the first series.”
I can echo that sentiment in the last two series we played against Frisco. A few of us were still talking this week about the bomb he hit over the outfield scoreboard in July.
In the second series, Disla didn’t play at all. Instead, Dave saw him each day running a whole lot before the game. His weight had tipped the scales a tad too heavy, resulting in a regimen to get him down to a reasonable playing weight.
As Dave spoke about Disla, he described the man I saw both in the way he played the game and the way he engaged with people. “Oh, he’s great!” was Dave’s first response when I mentioned Arturo Disla’s name.
I want to say three things about my fascination with Disla.
First, he’s different. The fact that a talented hitter didn’t play in a series because of his weight signifies an area where he will struggle.
Second, he’s noticeably talented on the field. In Moneyball, A’s general manager Billy Beane searches for players who get on base. Disla does that a lot with hits and walks. He has the power to hit home runs, but he also has the patience and good plate discipline to get walks. He’s the kind of first basemen that major league organizations crave.
Thirdly, he is the high-character player you want on your team. He works well with people. I haven’t spoken with him at all, but I have observed how he interacts with other players when he’s on first after a walk or when he’s playing first and an opponent has singled. He seems to radiate genuine warmth and joy for the game.
Game 2 pitted our starting pitcher Cole Hertzler against Tulsa starter Adam Serwinowski. This night wouldn’t go into extra innings and would see fewer runs scored.
Hertzler started well on Wednesday night, getting the first nine batters out and giving up an unearned run in the 4th inning. For whatever reason, he only threw 42 pitches, a fairly low pitch count for a starter, before being relieved in the 5th by Nic Swanson. He had struck out 7 and walked none. He did great!
Cole Hertzler, Nic Swanson, Jack Dashwood, and Ramsey David combined to give up 4 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs during the game, with 13 strikeouts. They would tame an offensive beast, the Tulsa Drillers’ offense, and claim a 5-2 victory.
The talk during the game focused on closer Ramsey David. He fired fastballs into the strike zone registering 100 mph on the radar gun. Despite the heat, he recorded only one strikeout and gave up a single in the 9th. Tulsa could not generate any offense beyond that single.
Tuesday night we went home after 3½ hours, but Wednesday’s game took only 2 hours and 41 minutes.
How would things go the next night? Would pitching continue to do what they’ve done over the past few weeks—keep the score low and close?
For six innings the answer was decidedly yes. Mike Sirota homered for Tulsa in the 1st inning. Max Holy blasted a home run in the 4th for Corpus Christi. I had to do a double-take because his homer cleared the berm in a hurry.
Sam Mongelli homered in the 5th inning for Tulsa. We’d get 2 runs via two doubles and a single. After 5 complete, Corpus Christi 3-Tulsa 2.
At this point, Brett Gillis had won the matchup between him and Tulsa starter Zach Root, but that wasn’t the matchup that mattered. It’s the Hooks players vs. the Drillers. Gillis pitched 5.2 innings and Root 6. Both kept the game close.
In the 7th, things, as they have been prone to do this year, unraveled.
Three walks and a Jake Gelof grand slam put the Drillers up 6-3. Falling behind to a power hitter does not often bode well for a pitcher, and our reliever didn’t help his cause when, with two outs, he filled the count after filling the bases. Guys would be running with the pitch, then slowing to trot home.
In the 8th, catcher Frank Rodriguez added to the misery with a leadoff home run. Five walks allowed two more runs to cross the plate. A Holy to Austin to Sisneros double play ended Tulsa’s night of scoring.
Alberto Hernandez led off our half of the 8th with a walk. Walker Janek singled, moving Hernandez around the diamond to third base. Tyler Whitaker singled to right field, Hernandez scored, and Janek sprinted to third. Tulsa 9-Corpus Christi 4.
Of late, the Hooks have bunched hits together to score multiple runs in an inning. This week they hit five singles in a row. Last week it was six consecutive doubles. This night perhaps they’d get the needed walks and/or hits to close the 5-run gap.
Two strikeouts later, we did get a walk to fill the bases, and Chase Call came to bat. He hit a grand slam in Frisco. Why not here at home?
When he returned to left field, a friend said to him, “Don’t be down. You’ve done well tonight.”
He, of course, didn’t do well at that bat. Bummer!
Neither team scored in the 9th. Final score: Tulsa 9-Corpus Christi-4.
Years ago, while catching games in the Midwest League, I jotted my experiences down in a notebook: “Only in minor league do you talk with a Beloit pitcher, a Lumber King catcher, stand in line between players before the game, and overhear a conversation between scouts and fans.”
Thursday night, my friends and I in the rockers had ongoing conversations with whichever left fielder happened to be in front of us, Chase Call with the Hooks and Kole Meyers of the Drillers. This also resulted in a summer’s worth of baseballs for the kids around us.
This reminds me of the previous night when Trevor Austin and Josue De Paula played in left field. I watched a Tulsa long ball come very close to my rocker in left field and heard the pop of leather when Trevor made a great catch. I then heard the oomph and felt the thud when he hit the wall. You gotta love minor league baseball.
On Friday, Ellen and I arrived early at the ballpark. I had an interview with Space City Home Network about being a minor league fan. Talk about in my wheelhouse!
Being there early meant catching the Driller batting practice but not catching home run balls. I had my chance, and the bruise on my shin spoke to how close I came to catching the only one hit my way, but I misjudged the ball by a hair.
This also gave me a brief moment to talk to Kole Myers about his practice jersey. A white cross was in the middle of the back with “Jesus wins” on the front. I’ve seen a similar jersey in Astros’ colors being worn by Zach Cole during batting practice.
This is the time of year you check the standings, although last year there wasn’t much point. This second half of the season has been different from most of the previous seasons, because we’re playing well and within striking distance of a playoff spot. We don’t need to be the best. We just need to be better than any other South Division team not named Frisco.
Playing well?
That actually isn’t that unusual in August and September. Previous Hooks’ teams have ripped off 10 straight wins at this time of year. They’ve been the team other teams didn’t want to play, and they did it with timely hitting, solid defense, and superb pitching.
Within striking distance?
The 10-straight wins couldn’t make up the ground lost in even longer losing streaks in April and May. The Hooks would be so bad in the first four months of the season that incredible play in the last two wasn’t enough to overcome the earlier ineptitude.
But we remain very close, within one game of first-place Amarillo, and will face them in less than three weeks. The playoff dance so far this week has been we win, Amarillo wins; Amarillo loses, we lose. And every Hooks fan who cares knows all of this. Will the Hooks make the playoffs? We watch. We wait. We continue to hope.
Friday night would be exactly the kind of Hooks game we’ve had over the second half of the season—well pitched close to the end, and decided on the last play of the game.
The pitching matchup had Nolan DeVos starting for the Hooks and Christian Zazueta starting for the Drillers. In June Zazueta handcuffed our lineup for five innings, allowing one hit. On Friday he handcuffed our lineup for six innings, allowing two hits.
DeVos would match Zazueta for five innings, allowing only one hit. Unfortunately, Taylor Young knocked that one hit into the home team bullpen in left center. For most of the night, one run seemed to be enough to win the game.
Outside of the 1st inning, neither team managed anything more than a lone base runner during any at bat through the 5th inning. In the 6th that changed.
Mike Sirota walked then scored after two consecutive singles. Once again, a leadoff walk proved problematic. Yamal Encarnacion singled in our half of the inning but never got past first base. After 6 complete, Tulsa 2-Corpus Christi 1.
In the 8th inning, Tulsa would add to their lead with a Logan Wagner single, a Jake Gelof single, and a Frank Rodriguez sac fly. Corpus Christi threatened in the bottom of the 8th with two runners on when Yamal grounded into a double play to end the threat.
Friday night fireworks would follow the game this night, but Hooks fans hoped they’d get an early fireworks show in the bottom of the 9th. Our guy Will Bush walked between outs. A Tyler Whitaker single sent Will to second. An Alejandro Nunez single sent him home. Tulsa 3-Corpus Christi 1.
Chase Call came to the plate with speed on the base paths and no room to breathe. A single in the right place could tie up the game, a home run would win it.
When he hit the ball, the crowd went silent as it soared in the same direction as Taylor’s home run in the 3rd. Perhaps if we had all let our collective breaths out at the same time, the ball would have cleared the fence. Instead, left fielder Kole Myers snagged it on the warning track. Final score: Tulsa 3-Corpus Christi 1.
Every game is like a novella, a shortened version of a longer story. This season continues to have hold-your-breath endings where we celebrate or cry with the hero at game’s end, but we never know until the final play of the game.
The ultimate story—make the playoffs, win a championship—remains tantalizingly close but, thus far, just out of reach.
On Saturday, Andrew Taylor made his Double-A debut, starting in place of our recently promoted ace, Bryce Mayer. Taylor even wore Mayer’s old jersey number, 6. He didn’t start well, got roughed up a bit in the 2nd inning, threw more pitches in four innings than you’d want, but left after 4 innings with a 2-1 lead.
In the 2nd inning, he walked leadoff batter Jake Gelof, which rarely turns out well, and it didn’t this time around. Elijah Hainline singled into left field, and Gelof flew past second and slid safely into third. With two on and no outs, the catcher Nelson Quiroz hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Gelof. At this point, it looked like Taylor would be making a much too early exit, but he remained in the game.
He gave up two more walks in the 3rd but kept the Tulsa bats at bay. Max Holy blasted his second home run of the series in the bottom of the 3rd to put us up, 2-1.
I was surprised when Taylor took the mound in the 4th. Two reasons created the doubt of his return and therefore the surprise. First of all, after three innings, he had thrown a bunch of pitches. How many I don’t recall, but it was a lot. He had walked 3 batters, given up 3 hits, and, although getting 5 strikeouts, had filled the counts full to a lot of the lineup.
Secondly, he barely escaped without giving up an additional run in the top of the 3rd. Even more surprising was how quickly he dispatched the three batters he faced in the 4th. I was mildly surprised when he didn’t come out to pitch the 5th, but, like I said, he had thrown a lot of pitches.
In our half of the 4th, our guy Will Bush walked. When Jason Schiavone hit an apparent fly-ball out, Will ran like Jason had hit a double into the left-field corner. The apparent out dropped safely behind the left fielder, and Will scored easily. Jason did well to run out the ball in play as well. We led 2-1.
The way we scored got the brain trust texting:
Huge two out run.
Will always hustles.
The announcer just said that not all would do what Will just did.
Schiavone got to 2nd as well.
Exactly. That kind of play separates the good players from the great players. That is why Will and Jason are two of the higher prospects.
Well now you had to go and make a point, didn’t you, guys? There goes my smart armchair managing!
Railin Perez relieved Taylor and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. As much as I hate leadoff walks, I equally love a 1-2-3 inning. Perez continued to pitch into the 6th, and Nic Swanson relieved him with 2 outs and 2 on. Nic coaxed an easy pop out to second– baseman Alejandro Nunez.
Yamal Encarnacion hit a ground ball deep into the hole where shortstop Hainline snagged the ball but couldn’t get it to first in time to catch our speedy center fielder. He’d steal second and worry us who watched as he hit the base awkwardly.
He scampered to third on a wild pitch. The next two batters ground out weakly to third base and popped out to the catcher on a poor bunt attempt. My summary of the two at bats: Oh my goodness. What rancid hitting.
Another wild pitch sent Yamal home in a hurry. A groundout to second ended our at bat and left us with a 3-1 lead after 6 complete.
Nic pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th. Aidan Foeller pitched a 1-2-3 inning against our guys in the bottom of the 7th.
In the top of the 8th inning, we Hooks fans held our breath as Amilcar Chirinos struck out the first batter then walked the next 3. A double play ended the threat, and we could finally exhale in relief.
We did nothing in the bottom half, so the score remained a tight 3-1 affair. Joey Mancini pitched a masterful 1-2-3 inning to secure the win. That 1-2-3 inning was perhaps the most satisfying of the 5 pitched by the Hooks that night. I certainly gave a big whoop after the last of a dozen strikeouts.
On Sunday afternoon, the Hooks lost 6-2. The only thing of note comes from my wife’s observation. In the 6th inning, the score was 3-2. Jose Guedez came in to face a batter and quickly disposed of him for the third out.
In the 7th inning, Alejandro Torres relieved Guedez. Ellen asked her usual question. Why did they take the pitcher out? He was doing great.
This question doesn’t need the next pitcher to do terrible in order for her to ask it. She’ll ask it the moment someone pitching well leaves the game.
Sunday afternoon Alejandro did pitch poorly. The score was 3-1 when he came in and ballooned to 6-1 borderline blowout. Our guy Will Bush would score in the 8th to bring the Hooks closer, but 6-2 was as close as we’d get.
Three observations from the series are:
First, the team hustles. Max Holy running hard to prevent a double play gave the Hooks more at bats in an inning, and those at bats turned into base runners and runs. We scored. We won.
Our guy Will Bush ran hard around the bases on a probable out that would have ended the inning. It dropped. He scored. We won.
Second, the guys communicate clearer, quicker, and more decisively. The catcher shouts, “Got room! Got room!” as the third baseman chases a high pop-up into foul territory. Left fielder shouts, “I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” and races to a spot to make the catch, a spot where previous hits fell safely because no one took charge.
Third, the bullpen holds more leads and joins starting pitching in keeping games close when we don’t have the lead.
We started the week one game out of first place, and we ended the week one game out of first place. We earned a 3-3 split with the Tulsa Drillers, the team with the best record in the Texas League.
Go Hooks!
Tulsa Drillers 7-Corpus Christi Hooks 8 W
Tulsa Drillers 2-Corpus Christi Hooks 5 W
Tulsa Drillers 9-Corpus Christi Hooks 4 L
Tulsa Drillers 3-Corpus Christi Hooks 1 L
Tulsa Drillers 1-Corpus Christi Hooks 3 W
Tulsa Drillers 6-Corpus Christi Hooks 2 L
Texas League South 2nd-half standings
Amarillo 21-18
Corpus Christi 20-19
Frisco 20-19
Midland 19-20
San Antonio 18-21
Baseball, Bikes, Birds and the Bible 
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