Chaps hope to continue playoff success at Dell

Westlake's bid to win the Class 5A state championship will be done on familiar ground for the Chaparrals: Dell Diamond.

Friday's state semifinal against El Paso Socorro will be Westlake's third playoff game at Dell Diamond.

On May 14, Westlake beat San Antonio Madison 6-4 in a bidistrict game at the stadium. Last Saturday, the Chaparrals edged San Antonio Reagan 4-3 at the ballpark to clinch their trip to the state tournament.

James Ferguson, Westlake's senior left-hander, picked up the win in both of those games. He's 13-2 headed into the state tournament.

Saturday's Class 5A title game also will be played at Dell Diamond, at noon.

Williams, Walla expect to be drafted by MLB

While some baseball players chase their dreams of a state championship this week, others will look to fulfill a dream of playing professionally.

The Major League Baseball amateur draft begins this evening, and the 50-round event will run into Thursday.

A few Central Texas players are expected to be drafted. McCallum outfielder Everett Williams, a University of Texas signee, is a possible first-round selection and Lake Travis outfielder Cohl Walla — another Longhorns signee — has been projected as an early-round pick in some mock drafts.

Hays catcher Nick De Santiago, who decided not to play football last fall after receiving advice from MLB scouts, also could be drafted; he hit .443 with eight home runs this season. He's also a Texas signee, like Williams and Walla.

Texarkana Texas High outfielder Slade Heathcott, who is playing in this week's state tournament, also is projected as an early-round pick.

Last year, three Central Texas players were drafted — Lake Travis pitcher Brad Dydalewicz (eighth round, Houston Astros), Manor catcher Marshall Burford (19th round, Los Angeles Angels) and Georgetown pitcher Taylor Jungmann (24th round, Angels). Only Dydalewicz signed a contract.

Moody back at state thanks to Meza's arm

In securing its 11th trip to the state tournament last weekend, Corpus Christi Moody relied on the arm of senior pitcher Justin Meza.

In its best-of-three regional finals series with rival Corpus Christi Calallen, Meza was the winning pitcher in both Game 1 and Game 3.

Meza threw 126 pitches in Moody's 6-3 opening win last Thursday, then threw 72 pitches over five innings two days later, in the Trojans' mercy-rule shortened, 14-4 Game 3 victory.

In those two outings, Meza (15-1) allowed 12 hits, four earned runs and struck out 12.

He's also Moody's clean-up hitter, and he went 5 for 11 with four RBIs in the series.

Moody (36-3) — the No. 1-ranked high school team in the country according to the USA Today's top 25 poll — faces Fort Worth Arlington Heights (29-8) in a Class 4A semifinal Wednesday.

— Danny Davis