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The Hill Country-Bandera select baseball team places as finalists in National Championship Sports Baseball CenTex Elite Fall League end-of-season tournament.
November 14, 2022
Bandera baseball team finish as finalists in end-of-season championship
By Jessica Nohealapa’ahi
The Bandera Prophet
The Hill Country-Bandera select baseball team brought home the bling after battling in the end-of-season tournament of the National Championship Sports Baseball CenTex Elite Fall League, held at the Ramon Lucio Baseball Fields in San Marcos.
The boys played five games in two days, falling to the Cibolo Phantoms 15-0, then recovering against the San Marcos Hitmen with a 12-3 win on Saturday, Nov. 12. In game three on Sunday, Nov. 13, Bandera beat Boerne’s South Texas Tribe 8-3; in game four Bandera defeated the tournament’s Number One Seed: Exposure Expos of Boerne, with a 12-4 win, securing their position in the final championship. In game five, Bandera once again faced the Phantoms, improving their previous performance against the Cibolo team, but ultimately falling 2-12, placing them second overall in the hard-fought tournament.
The team is coached by Allen Ottmers, Paul Mangold and Brent Trussell. Players are Hayden Winters, Payson Mangold, Kenai Jerome, Brady Trussell, West Cloudt, Benton Cloudt, Jackson Aragones, James Bower, Khaleb Ortiz, Finian Butler, Colton Ponton and Braydon Lake.
Pitchers were Trussell, Ortiz, Jerome, Mangold, Ponton and Lake. Catcher West Cloudt covered home plate all five games, after catcher Aragones suffered an injury early on.
All players were awarded championship rings and a finalist banner.
The boys played five games in two days, falling to the Cibolo Phantoms 15-0, then recovering against the San Marcos Hitmen with a 12-3 win on Saturday, Nov. 12. In game three on Sunday, Nov. 13, Bandera beat Boerne’s South Texas Tribe 8-3; in game four Bandera defeated the tournament’s Number One Seed: Exposure Expos of Boerne, with a 12-4 win, securing their position in the final championship. In game five, Bandera once again faced the Phantoms, improving their previous performance against the Cibolo team, but ultimately falling 2-12, placing them second overall in the hard-fought tournament.
The team is coached by Allen Ottmers, Paul Mangold and Brent Trussell. Players are Hayden Winters, Payson Mangold, Kenai Jerome, Brady Trussell, West Cloudt, Benton Cloudt, Jackson Aragones, James Bower, Khaleb Ortiz, Finian Butler, Colton Ponton and Braydon Lake.
Pitchers were Trussell, Ortiz, Jerome, Mangold, Ponton and Lake. Catcher West Cloudt covered home plate all five games, after catcher Aragones suffered an injury early on.
All players were awarded championship rings and a finalist banner.