The 2019 Hillsboro graduate signed with the Rangers on July 10 and is playing in a Rookie Ball league in Surprise, Arizona. Brewer was drafted in the 32nd round of the first-year player draft by Texas last month. Brewer sent me a text Sunday night that said his contract doesn’t start until 2020 and he’s training and working out for the team.
Brewer’s decision to sign with the Rangers means he won’t be cashing in on his scholarship at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, nor is he eligible to rejoin Festus Post 253’s American Legion baseball team as it embarks on the District 13 tournament this week. I’ll have more on his decision to sign with the Rangers in next week’s paper.
It’s hard to know what the right decision is for a teenager who’s athletically gifted enough to be a pro draft choice and Division I recruit, but Brewer comes from a solid family filled with athletes and he is sure to be getting the right advice. And I’ll say it again, his presence on Post 253’s roster is another indication of just how highly the program is thought of in the county.
I’m talking to Brewer this week and will report back in next week’s Leader about his decision to sign with the Rangers and not attend Southern Miss.
Now let’s get on to this week’s tournament. The forecasted heatwave might melt some teams’ resolve. Playing in temperatures over 100 degrees is likely, especially for the earlier starting games. There’s no hiding from it. I was on vacation last week and made sure I spent plenty of time outside sweating to acclimate myself.
“It’s how it should be. It’s the district tournament. It’s in Ste. Genevieve,” said Festus manager Zac Bone as he sat in the dugout at JeffersonCollege on Sunday with his trademark towel wrapped around his neck. “It’s been that way since we hosted the tournament in 2008. The 2005 district down there was some of the hottest weather we’ve played in. All of the teams are going to have to deal with it.”
On the last day of the regular season on Sunday, Festus locked up the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the tournament after beating De Soto SMCI 14-2 at JeffersonCollege. There was some intrigue going into the tournament before the game, though, because had SMCI beaten 253, Bone and Ste. Genevieve Post 150 manager Junie Basler would have had to flip a coin to determine the top seed. That’s because the two teams split the two games they played and were even on the top three tiebreakers: head-to-head, runs allowed (against each other) and runs scored. The fourth tiebreaker requires a coin.
I asked Basler on Sunday before Festus and De Soto played if he and Bone had a designated site to meet and who was providing the coin. Basler said there wasn’t a plan in place, although like out of a movie, I imagined the two district co-commissioners meeting at a truck stop somewhere along I-55 to decide the matter.
Alas, the Post 253 bats came alive late against SMCI and weren’t about to take a 50-50 chance on the flip of a coin.
Having to play one less game gives Post 253 a good chance at winning the tournament for the third straight season. Even without Brewer, Festus is pitching rich and can throw out Charlie Pratt, Christian Hancock and Brendon Smock as their top three hurlers.
“Realistically, you’ve got to beat everyone in the tournament anyway,” Bone said. “We feel the bye is somewhat of an advantage. How much, I don’t really know. There’s a lot of really good teams in the district. We feel like we have the arms to get deep into the tournament and give us a chance to play (in the zone).
“We’ve had to use the tiebreakers before because the head-to-head differential was the same. A lot of times it’s come down to run differential.”
The District 13 seeding is No. 1 Festus; No. 2 Ste. Genevieve; No. 3 Potosi Post 265; No. 4 De Soto SMCI; No. 5 Bonne Terre Post 83; No. 6 Rock Memorial Post 283; No. 7 Farmington Post 416. There was a full slate of games on Monday after the Leader deadline with De Soto matching up against Bonne Terre, Ste. Gen against Farmington and Potosi vs. Rock Memorial. Festus awaited the winner of the SMCI/Post 83 game.
The double-elimination tournament championship is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. at Yanks Field.
Battles named scholar-athlete
Alex Battles, a 2016 graduate of
HillsboroHigh School, was named a 2018 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Battles is a defensive specialist for the PointUniversity (West Point, Ga.) volleyball team and begins her senior year this fall. She also has earned Appalachian Athletics Conference all-academic team honors for two years in a row.