Wylie alum pitcher Ben Lindsey unleashes a pitch during a March 11 road game at Sachse. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Another year has come and gone for student-athletes at Wylie High School.
This week, The Wylie News will highlight the accomplishments of the Pirates during the spring sports season.
Golfers make history with 1st state appearance:
For the first time in program history, the Wylie girls’ golf team qualified for the state tournament.
Wylie, with a five-player score of 624, finished in second place at the Region II-6A Tournament from Eagle’s Bluff Country Club in Bullard.
A big reason why Wylie finally got over the hump was the standout play of incoming sophomore Serina Armendariz.
Armendariz overcame a double-bogey on the final regulation hole to defeat Klein Oak’s Anjali Nari in a two-hole playoff to win first place in the Region II-6A Tournament with a score of 149. Senior Reia Armendariz finished in sixth place with a 36-hole score of 154. Alumna Addison Oestricher placed 12th overall with a 158. Alumna Kaeli Drake was 19th, with a 163. Senior Nakshatra Sivaram placed 39th with a 179. Alumna Jenna Jurries tied for 63rd with a 206. Fellow alumna Natalie Hawkins carded a 211, good for 68th place.
Wylie won the District 9-6A tournament for the third year in a row. Armendariz was crowned district champion after she shot 147.
The Lady Pirates concluded their best season in program history with a 10th-place finish at the Class 6A state tournament, shooting a 656.
On the boys’ side, Wylie finished in second place in the district tournament with a 646.
Cooper Knapp shot 154 to lead the charge for the Pirates. Geoff Goff shot 83 and 79 for a 162. Nick Serrano carded a 163. Kannon Freudiger and Carson Krumbholz both carded 166. Carson Nash shot 171.
Softball conjures another playoff run:
The Pirates came into this season having to replace seven starters from last year’s team that won 29 games, captured an undefeated district championship and went three rounds deep in the playoffs.
Graduation and all, longtime head coach Heather Damron had Wylie firing on all cylinders by the time that District 9-6A play commenced. The Pirates finished as co-district championship, which it shared with the Wylie East Lady Raiders. But Wylie was only getting started. The Pirates made it to the third round of the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.
Wylie’s season was on the line after losing 6-2 to Rockwall-Heath in Game 1 of bi-district, but the Pirates responded with a 12-0 rout of the Lady Hawks in Game 2 and a 12-3 victory in a winner-take-all Game 3.
The Pirates’ offense plated 23 runs in a two-game sweep of Temple in the area round. However, Wylie couldn’t scratch a run against Conroe right-hander Eva Lantagne, a Duke commit, in a 16-0 loss in the regional semifinals.
Wylie hit 48 home runs on the year, 18 by rising senior right fielder Ava Cook, who was named the District 9-6A MVP.
New-look lineup helps baseball team finish season strong:
The Pirates were tasked with replacing most of their starting lineup, but head coach Beau Snodgrass and his coaching staff said that the replacements were very capable of producing at the varsity level.
Everything came together for Wylie at the right time.
The Pirates went 13-3 in district play to qualify for the playoffs before losing a hard-fought effort against Rockwall-Heath in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs.
Despite the quick exit, Wylie’s pitching staff gave the Pirates a chance. Led by the right arm of alum Ben Lindsey, alums Adam Flores and Wyatt Wynne, and rising senior Chase Martin, the Pirates allowed just 77 runs in 33 games for an average of 2.33 runs per game.
Offensively, Wylie got timely hits all season from alum third baseman Braeden Ray (.412 batting average during district play), named the district’s offensive player of the year, and rising junior left fielder Koji Paul. Paul earned 9-6A co-newcomer of the year.
Brumfield paces track and field team:
Incoming senior Zachary Brumfield broke the school record in the 800-meter run at the area 9-6A/10-6A meet on his home track, running a time of 1:54.77. He was one of two Pirates to advance to regionals in the 800, along with rising senior Landon Cooper, who earned fourth place.
Alumna Nailah Echols won the area meet title in the girls’ triple jump with a leap of 37-feet, 9-inches.
Wylie also qualified for the Region II-6A meet in the boys’ 300 hurdles (Camden Love), boys’ 400 (Aaron Lewis), boys’ high jump (Cash Nweze), boys’ pole vault (Ethan McGillen), boys’ 4×400 and the girls’ 4×100, girls’ 4×200.
The Pirates won three district championships – Brumfield in the 800, and with Love, Erik Pope and Lewis in the 4×400, while McGillen earned first place in the pole vault.
Tennis crowns 3 district champions:
Wylie had plenty of representation at the Region II-6A tennis meet.
Vaishali Kumar competed in girls’ singles. She won the district title in girls’ singles.
Also at the district meet, Sid Manoj and Alvaro Arcienegas finished in first place in boys’ doubles, while Kushal Sheth and Anvitha Kommera took top honors in mixed doubles.
Jared Rigby and Sarah Rigby captured second place in mixed doubles, while Christine Tykoski and Anaar Ramolia earned second place in girls’ doubles.
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