District 2-6A baseball play will begin this week with a three-game series between Permian and Odessa High.
Both teams will clash with Game 1 at 4:30 p.m. at McCanlies Field before heading to Pressly Field for another 4:30 p.m. game on Friday.
The series will wrap-up at 1 p.m. Saturday at back McCanlies Field.
The two teams are eager to begin district play.
Odessa High enters at 10-4 while Permian sits at 9-8.
“I’m very excited about it,” Odessa High Coach Jerod Couch said. “We ended the tournament season playing some good baseball so we’re hoping that this carries over into this week. Playing against Permian is always going to be a good test and a good challenge for us.”
Permian Head Coach Tate Criswell is also anticipating a challenging series this week.
“We’re excited,” Criswell said. “It’s always a good series. Odessa High always plays really hard.”
The Bronchos are looking to make it back to the playoffs this season, but Couch knows just how difficult 2-6A play can be.
“No matter who you open up with, it’s always going to be tough,” Couch said. “From top to bottom, every series is going to be just as important as the last one. We’re trying not to look at it as Permian, but the next team on the schedule. That’s why it’s so important for us.”
Criswell agrees.
“I think everybody in the district is better than what they were last year,” Criswell said. “Midland High has San Angelo Central this week. (Wolfforth) Frenship has Midland Legacy. We have OHS. It’s going to be tough for sure.”
One of the strengths for the Bronchos from the nondistrict portion of the season has been their outfield.
“I thought we played defensively pretty well,” Couch said. “We came into the season thinking that. We thought with our defense and our guys on the mound, we’ll be able to compete and towards the end of nondistrict play, we started to hit the ball better and that’s what we have to do. Our defense can keep us in the game. We just need to step up in the box and have some guys step up for us, but I think we can shock some people if that happens.”
Criswell pointed to the Panthers’ pitching and hitting from nondistrict play.
“I thought we pitched very well and I thought we hit very well,” Criswell said. “If we can clean a few things up on defense, I think we’ll be even better.”
Still, both coaches know there are plenty of things to work on as the season progresses.
“Being so early, there are so many things we can fine-tune on defense,” Couch said. “On the mound, we need to hit the spots that we need in high count situations. We can’t give up big hits. We also left some people on base. We have to be able to produce when we have scorers in running positions.”
For Permian, two-strike hitting and executing on offense when the Panthers need to has been an area the team has tried to work on.
“I think overall, offensively, we’ve been playing pretty well,” Criswell said. “We’ve been pitching well, as well. We made some base-running mistakes at times. My biggest concern is our infield play.”
