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(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The Steers celebrate after winning the series 2-1 over the Lubbock Cooper Liberty Patriots in their bi-district matchup in May. The Steers ended up advancing to the regional finals where they fell to Brock. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Harison Brockway pitching in relief of Mike Garcia in the Steers matchup Friday, March 28 against the Brock Eagles. -
(ALEX HAVARDANSKY | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Ty Thompson fields a ball in right Thursday, May 22. The Steers lost to the Eagles 7-0 in their regional finals matchup.
This year, the Graham Steers varsity baseball team did something that even pleasantly surprised head coach Allen McGee.
The team not only reached the postseason in a year where they were not predicted to, but made it one game shy of the state tournament. If they’re looking to make it back to that spot again, the uphill battle just became a higher climb.
The reason for this is a significant rule change coming to the postseason format for several districts across the state, including Graham. The University Interscholastic League (UIL) Legislative Council met Wednesday, June 11 to discuss rule changes for athletics.
One of these rule changes was to expand the playoff bracket for baseball across districts 3A and 4A in the state.
“The council also voted to expand (among other rule changes and amendments) the current-best-of-three series pilot in all baseball playoff rounds prior to the state tournament,” The legislative council said in a press release. “Previously limited to Conferences 5A and 6A, the pilot will now include conferences 3A and 4A.”
This is significant because the Steers and Lady Blues fall under district 4A. When looking back on Graham’s path to their regional finals appearance this postseason, there were multiple rounds where they advanced or were eliminated due to one-game rounds.
The first of these games took place Friday, May 9, when the Steers took on the FW Castleberry Lions in the second round of the playoffs.
Had this new rule been in effect this season, there’s a chance that Graham’s season could have come to an end in the second round if the Lions managed to win games two and three.
On the flipside, had the new rules been in place this past year, that could have meant that Graham’s season wouldn’t have had to come to a heartbreaking end at Tarleton University against the Brock Eagles.
The Steers faced the aforementioned opponent as well in a one-game championship match to decide who advanced to the state tournament, with the Steers falling 7-0.
It’s possible that even after that loss, under the new rules, the team could have bounced back in the next two games, like they did against the Lubbock Cooper Liberty Patriots in the first round, to advance to the state tournament.
Overall, this new rule change brings a sense of intrigue to the coming seasons, if the team makes the postseason again, while also making the road to the state tournament longer and more rigorous.
The community will have to wait and see how the team responds to the new format when they make their next playoff appearance.
