Monthly Archives: July 2020

Lee Willis on Mike Shull: ‘He would do anything for kids’

Posted on by

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

The McAllister Park All-Stars made history 11 years ago when they became the first San Antonio area youth baseball team to reach the Little League World Series.

Given the historical significance of the moment, it’s impossible to separate the inspiring story of the 2009 McAllister Park kids and Mike Shull, who managed them to a fourth-place finish at the iconic event in South Williamsport, Pa.

But after Shull died Friday morning, the tributes started to flow so freely, it became evident that there was much more to the man under the ball cap than a guy who knew when to bunt and when to hit away.

“I love you dad,” said his son, John Shull, in a Twitter post. “You’re at peace now. I know you will be watching over us every single day. I miss you and love you and can’t wait to see you again.”

Lee Willis confirmed in a telephone interview that his longtime friend had passed away after a nine-week battle with the Covid-19 virus. According to online baseball sources, Shull was 56.

“His heart for kids was true,” Willis said. “He would do anything for kids. Literally anything. It wasn’t an accident that those kids (on the 2009 team) were good. He was literally giving it everything he had.

“That’s who he is. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Willis said Shull was working as controller at Republic National Distributing Company.

The news of his passing broke Friday evening when his son posted it on social media, touching off a flurry of comments by the coach’s former players.

“It is impossible to not think of Mike Shull when I think about my childhood,” Jacob Ramos said. “Playing baseball for him … gave me some of my most favorite memories. Mike Shull changed my life, and I am very thankful for him.”

Nick Smisek called Shull, simply, “the greatest.”

“Everyone please say some prayers for the Shulls,” Smisek wrote. “Coach Shull was the greatest Little League coach of all time and made all of our childhoods better … The world lost a great man today.”

Mike Shull, a MacArthur graduate, played baseball in college and in the pros.

According to online records, he lettered in college at Texas Tech in 1983 and 1984 and later pitched for California Angels minor-league affiliates in 1986, ’87 and again in 1990.

Shull started coaching youth sports teams around 2003, Willis said. He said his former high school classmate coached through last fall when he led a team of players from MacArthur in a fall league.

In 2009, he painted his baseball masterpiece.

Shull did it with a group of 12- and 13-year-olds who liked to joke around, play ping pong and employ a wide variety of “secret” handshakes, according to stories archived in the San Antonio Express-News.

On the field, the McAllister kids were exceptional, rolling through the World Series all the way to a second-place finish among U.S. teams and fourth place overall.

Willis said he still remembers the late-night conversations with Shull in “The Grove,” where all the teams are housed, during the 16-team, nationally-televised tournament.

“Those evenings, late at night, were special,” he said. “I really can’t explain it. You’re not hooked up with your family. They’re all separate when you’re in The Grove. We spent every night, late at night, just talking.

“It wasn’t all about what we were going to do for the next game. A lot of time it was about our kids and where were they mentally. How were they dealing with everything. That was quite an experience for 12-year-old kids.”

Willis said his second favorite memory was clinching the regional title at Waco.

“We looked at each other like, ‘Are we really going to Williamsport?’ ” Willis recalled. “Mike’s a lot bigger than me. He’s 6-4. I’m 6-1. But he outweighs me by 150 pounds. He lifted me so high up in the air. We were in shock.”

During the late-night strategy sessions, Willis said the two talked not only about how they wanted to approach the next game, but also how they could be fair to all of their players.

“Mike wanted to win every game, but he wanted every kid to feel special,” Willis said. “I think that’s important. Some coaches just want to win every game. He wanted to make sure every kid felt some special part of it.

“They may not even contribute on the field. Then he’d have them doing the post-game interviews, whatever it may be, if they weren’t the star of the game. He was really good about that.

“He made sure they all felt very important the entire time we were there.”


Mike Shull (holding plaque) and Lee Willis (at right) celebrate at the 2014 San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame gala.

Flying Chanclas win 7-2 to stop a two-game skid

Posted on by
New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Jalen Battles started at second base against the Round Rock Hair Men on Friday, July 10, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Jalen Battles started at second base against Round Rock. The former Madison High School standout has committed to the University of Arkansas. – photo by Joe Alexander

Outfielder Leyton Barry on Friday hit the first home run of the season for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, who opened a three-game series against the Round Rock Hairy Men with a 7-2 victory at Wolff Stadium.

Barry delivered with his two-run shot in the seventh inning.

Playing with a revamped infield featuring newcomers Bryan Aguilar and Jalen Battles, the Chanclas unleashed a 10-hit attack to snap a two-game losing streak.

Runs-hits-errors

Round Rock 2 – 6 – 0
San Antonio 7 – 10 – 4

Please click the link to find a box score of Friday night’s game.

Coming up

San Antonio at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m. Saturday. Round Rock at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Records

San Antonio 5-4
Round Rock 6-4

New Flying Chanclas de San Antonio infielder Bryan Aguilar started at shortstop against the Round Rock Hair Men on Friday, July 10, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas’ newcomer Bryan Aguilar, in his second game with the team, started at shortstop against Round Rock. – photo by Joe Alexander

Hill sparks Cane Cutters past the Flying Chanclas, 3-1

Posted on by

Caleb Hill produced two hits, scored twice and generally made a nuisance of himself Thursday night as the Acadiana Cane Cutters downed the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, 3-1, at Youngsville, La.

The loss was the second in two nights for the Chanclas at the hands of the Cane Cutters at Fabacher Field.

Acadiana no-hit San Antonio in a 5-0 victory on Wednesday. Three Cane Cutters pitchers — Bailey Holstein, Tyler Booth and Matthew Adams — spaced out nine hits for the victory in the series finale.

Hill’s two-out triple highlighted the fourth inning for Acadiana. Later, he scored the first run of the game on a single by Ethan Lege.

Newcomer Bryan Aguilar sparked an uprising that allowed the Chanclas to tie the game. Aguilar doubled, stole third and came home to knot the score at 1-1 in the top of the seventh.

In the bottom half, two Chanclas errors helped the Cane Cutters regain the lead.

Hill opened the inning with a bunt and would up on second courtesy of a miscue by catcher Nick Wolff. Hill scored when Peyton LeJeune reached on a single and an error on right fielder Jordan Thompson.

The Cane Cutters struck again in the eighth. Logan McLeod singled, stole second and moved to third on a hit by Trace Henry. Hill followed with an RBI single for a 3-1 lead.

The Chanclas had a chance to tie it in the ninth but came up short. With two outs, Thompson singled and Ryan Flores doubled to put runners at second and third. Adams got out of it by striking out Kyte McDonald to end the game.

San Antonio entered the series in Louisiana on a four-game winning streak, including three wins at Wolff Stadium against Acadiana.

The scheduled opener of the Texas Collegiate League series in Youngsville wasn’t played Tuesday because of poor field conditions, reducing the series to two games. By losing the last two nights, the Flying Chanclas fell to 1-4 on the road this season.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 1 – 9 – 2
Acadiana 3 – 12 – 1

Please click the link Thursday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 4-4
Acadiana 3-5

Coming up

Round Rock at San Antonio, Friday, 7:05 p.m. San Antonio at Round Rock, Saturday, 7:05 p.m. Round Rock at San Antonio, Sunday, 7:05 p.m.

Acadiana Cane Cutters no-hit the Flying Chanclas, 5-0

Posted on by

Three Acadiana Cane Cutters pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter in front of the home fans Wednesday night in a 5-0 victory over the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

Set back by the loss of two injured starters, the Chanclas never got it going against the Cane Cutters, who pulled off the no-no on the strength of efforts by pitchers Brandon Mitchell, Nik Millsap and Hunter Meche.

The Texas Collegiate League game was played at Fabacher Field in Youngsville, Louisiana.

With the victory, the Cane Cutters snapped a four-game losing streak and avenged losing all three games against the Chanclas last weekend in San Antonio. The Chanclas had won four straight.

Mitchell, a left-hander, and Millsap, a righty, grew up in Texas. Mitchell, from Alief-Elsik High School, attends the University of New Orleans. Millsap, from South Lake Carroll, goes to college at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. Meche, a lefty from Rayne, La., attends LSU-Alexandria.

Mitchell worked 2 and 1/3 innings. In the third, he gave way to Millsap, who pitched 4 and 2/3 innings, striking out three. Meche finished up over the final two innings. The three combined for six walks and eight strikeouts.

The Chanclas had runners at first and second with one out in the ninth against Meche. But the 5-foot-9 lefty settled down, retiring Lee Thomas and Grant Smith both on outfield fly balls to end it.

San Antonio entered the game without their leading hitter, Porter Brown, and their starting third baseman, Conner Shepherd. Brown is out for the season and Shepherd is out for at least a week. Both have finger injuries.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 0 – 0 – 4
Acadiana 5 – 4 – 1

Please click the link for Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 4-3
Acadiana 2-5


Pregame

Forced to make adjustments in the wake of two key injuries, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio will put a four-game winning streak on the line tonight.

They’re playing the home-standing Acadiana Cane Cutters. Youngsville is located about 10 miles south of Lafayette.

In the wake of injuries to standouts Porter Brown and Conner Shepherd, Chanclas manager John McLaren sent out a lineup card with Leyton Barry starting in left field for Porter Brown, who is out for the season with a broken finger.

Tyler LaRue will start at third base for Conner Shepherd, who is out for at least a week, also with a finger injury.

Brown, leading the Chanclas with a .375 batting average, had been in the top spot in the batting order, with Jordan Thompson hitting second. Tonight, Thompson is leading off with second baseman Johnny Hernandez batting second.

Tuesday night’s series opener between the teams was canceled due to unfavorable field conditions, meaning the teams will play tonight and Thursday night. The Chanclas swept three games from the Cane Cutters last weekend in San Antonio.

Chanclas starters

Jordan Thompson RF
Johnny Hernandez 2B
Ryan Flores 1B
Kyte McDonald CF
Tyler LaRue 3B
Lee Thomas DH
Grant Smith SS
Leyton Barry LF
Nick Wolff C
Austin Krob P

Finger fracture sidelines Chanclas’ standout Porter Brown

Posted on by
The Flying Chanclas' Porter Brown had two hits Sunday at Wolff Stadium and is batting .400 after the first six games of the season. - photo by Joe Alexander

Outfielder Porter Brown is out for the season with a broken finger, Flying Chanclas manager John McLaren said Tuesday. The injury was revealed in an X-ray on Monday. – photo by Joe Alexander

Just when the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio seemed to pick up some momentum in their first season in the Texas Collegiate League, they’ve run into a rough patch of misfortune.

Manager John McLaren said Tuesday that outfielder Porter Brown, the team’s leading hitter, has been lost for the season with a broken finger. Also, third baseman Conner Shepherd is expected to miss at least a week, also with a finger injury.

McLaren delivered the news in a telephone interview just hours before the Chanclas, riding a four-game winning streak, were scheduled to play a road game in Louisiana against the Acadiana Cane Cutters. The game has since been canceled because of unfavorable field conditions.

Both players apparently suffered the injuries when they were hit by pitches. Brown’s incident happened last Wednesday in Game 2 of the season at Amarillo. Shepherd had to come out of Sunday’s home series finale against Acadiana.

McLaren said the diagnosis on both TCU scholarship players came on Monday when the two went in for X-rays.

Going into the exams, McLaren thought Shepherd’s hand injury was more serious and that Brown was just sore. But it turned out to be the other way around.

Brown, a former Reagan High School standout, said in a text message to The JB Replay that the fracture was on his right-hand pinky finger. He had played in all six games and was leading the team with a .375 average.

“He’s a tough kid,” McLaren said. “I asked him every day how he was feeling. He said, ‘I’m good skip. I’m ready to go.’ The way he was swinging the bat, he wasn’t favoring it at all … You’d have never known anything was wrong with him.”

As the Chanclas open a series in Louisiana, starting a stretch in which they play six of the next eight on the road, they’re expected to transition infielders Leyton Barry and Lee Thomas into left field, where Brown was playing.

“We’ll mix some guys in there at third base (to replace Shepherd),” McLaren said. “We got some versatility. So, we’re going to utilize it. We’ll try to mix some guys into different positions.”

After losing two straight to open the season, the Chanclas defeated Amarillo on the road last Thursday, and then followed by sweeping three games at home from the Cane Cutters.

Flying Chanclas de San Antonio reliever Arturo Guarardo from UTSA pitches against the Acadiana Cane Cutters on Sunday, July 5, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Reliever Arturo Guajardo delivers a pitch against the Acadiana Cane Cutters on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. He struck out six in 2 and 2/3 innings. The Chanclas’ bullpen has helped spark the team’s four-game winning streak. – photo by Joe Alexander

Even though the weather has been hot and humid, McLaren said his team has held up well in the early going of the 30-game season.

“We’re fine,” McLaren said. “We got a good group of kids and we got a lot of enthusiasm. There’s days that we hit (indoors) in the cage when it’s hot, and taking infield. We’re doing our best to monitor the situation as we go on.”

Pitching out of the bullpen has been a strength of the team during the winning streak, with the Chanclas getting solid performances from Tyler Flores, Kobe Jaramillo, Matthew Sesler, Connor Schmidt and Arturo Guajardo.

“We’re still sorting things out (on the pitching staff), trying to get everybody a role,” McLaren said. “We’ll see where we are, see if we need to flip some guys from starting to relieving. I’ve been very happy with the way the guys have been throwing. It seems like they’re getting better every time out, getting more relaxed.

“That’s a big part of it, for them to feel comfortable.”

Coming up

San Antonio (4-2) at Acadiana (1-5), Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.

Chanclas sweep homestand, extend winning streak to four

Posted on by
The Flying Chanclas' Kyte McDonald (right) steals second base in the eighth inning Sunday night at Wolff Stadium. McDonald scored later in the inning. - photo by Joe Alexander

The Flying Chanclas’ Kyte McDonald (right) steals second base in the eighth inning Sunday night at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Kyte McDonald sparked a two-run eighth inning with his bat and his daring on the bases, leading the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio to a 6-3 victory over the Acadiana Cane Cutters Sunday night at Wolff Stadium.

For the Chanclas, who won all three on the homestand against Acadiana, it was their fourth straight victory.

Flying Chanclas pitching coach Calvin Schiraldi talks to pitcher Arturo Guajardo after Guajardo threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings Sunday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas pitching coach Calvin Schiraldi talks to pitcher Arturo Guajardo after Guajardo threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings Sunday night at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

McDonald, who attends Mississippi State out of San Antonio’s Antonian High School, paced the Chanclas with two hits and three runs scored.

In the eighth inning, he singled to drive in one run. Then, he stole second base. After also stealing third, a throw from the catcher was wild, allowing McDonald to race home to make it 6-3.

McDonald’s offense backed the bullpen pitching of Arturo Guajardo, Garrett Egli and Johnny Panatex, who combined to hold the Cane Cutters to one run on three hits over the final 5 and 2/3 innings.

Guajardo, entering in relief of starter Lance Lusk, was particularly effective, throwing 2 and 2/3 hitless and scorless innings. The Laredo native, who plays for UTSA, struck out six and walked one.

Panatex, from St. Mary’s University, pitched the last two innings. With a batter at the plate as the potential game-tying run in the ninth, Panatex retired Billy Garrity for the final out.

Runs-hits-errors

Acadiana 3 – 9 – 3
San Antonio 6 – 11 – 2

Please click on the link for the box score of Sunday’s game.

Records

San Antonio 4-2
Acadiana 1-5

Coming up

The Chanclas will have a day off Monday to travel to Louisiana, where they will open a series against Acadiana on Tuesday night.

Surging Flying Chanclas win 12-2 for third straight victory

Posted on by
Flying Chanclas first baseman Ryan Flores from University of the Incarnate Word hitting his first double of the game against the Cane Cutters on Saturday, July 4, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas first baseman Ryan Flores, from University of the Incarnate Word, hits his first double against the Acadiana Cane Cutters. – photo by Joe Alexander

After a slow start to the season, the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio have soared to three straight victories.

The Chanclas, behind the hitting of Ryan Flores and the starting pitching of Derek Klosowski, defeated the Acadiana Cane Cutters 12-2 on Saturday night at Wolff Stadium.

Klosowski hurled four shutout innings and Flores smacked a couple of doubles as the Chanclas improved to 2-0 against the Cane Cutters on the homestand and to 3-2 on the season.

Earlier last week, the Chanclas sputtered in their first two games of the Texas Collegiate League season.

In the opener, played on Tuesday at Amarillo, they committed four errors and struck out 14 times in a 9-6 loss to the Sod Squad. On Wednesday night, they fell flat again, losing 1-0 to the Sod Squad while managing only two hits.

Since then, they’ve turned it around completely.

In the first game of the winning streak, they claimed an 11-5 victory at Amarillo on Thursday. Returning home to the Wolff, they downed the Cane Cutters 7-4 on Friday, before they won going away again on Saturday.

Acadiana pitching was generous in walking 12 batters on a night when the ball club celebrated with a post-game, Fourth-of-July fireworks display.

The teams play the finale of the three-game series Sunday.

Runs-hits-errors

Acadiana 2 – 4 – 3
San Antonio 12 – 8 – 1

Please click on the link for Saturday’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 3-2
Acadiana 1-4

Coming up

Acadiana at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m. Sunday

Notable

Flores, from the University of the Incarnate Word, has played in 113 games for the Cardinals in the past three years. The former standout at Corpus Christi Calallen hit .329 as a freshman, .335 as a sophomore and .270 as a junior during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Klosowski is a 6-1 right-hander who’s on the team at Midland College.

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Derek Klosowski, a Madison High School graduate, pitched four scorelessy innings against the Cane Cutters on Saturda. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas starting pitcher Derek Klosowski, a Madison High School graduate, pitched four scoreless innings and allowed only one hit. – photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas rally for 7-4 victory in TCL home opener

Posted on by
Flying Chanclas reliever Matthew Sesler pitched 3 1/3 scoreless inning and gave up only one hit on Friday, July 3, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas reliever Matthew Sesler yielded one hit in 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Flying Chanclas. – photo by Joe Alexander

The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio scored five runs in the fourth inning Friday night and rallied to claim a 7-4 victory over the Acadiana Cane Cutters in their Texas Collegiate League home opener at Wolff Stadium.

Trailing 3-1, the Chanclas started the uprising with one out when Johnny Hernandez walked and moved to second on a Leyton Barry single.

Eric Cervantes followed with another single to load the bases.

At that point, the Cane Cutters slowed the momentum with catcher Marshall Skinner firing to Ethan Lege at third to pick off Hernandez for the second out.

That’s when the Chanclas broke through, with Porter Brown and Jordan Thompson drawing back-to-back walks. Thompson’s free pass forced in Leyton Barry, trimming the Cane Cutters’ lead to 3-2.

On the next play, an error by Lege allowed two runs to score, giving the Chanclas the upper hand at 4-3. Another run came home on a wild pitch, and then Conner Shepherd produced an RBI single for a 6-3 lead.

The series between the Chanclas and Cane Cutters continues with Game 2 on Saturday an Game 3 on Sunday at The Wolff. Both games are at 7:05 p.m.

Runs-hit-errors

Acadiana 4 – 8 – 3
San Antonio 7 – 8 – 1

Please click the link for Friday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 2-2
Acadiana 1-3

Flying Chanclas catcher Eric Cervantes doubled and scored San Antonio's first run in the third inning on Friday, July 3, 2020, at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander

Flying Chanclas catcher Eric Cervantes doubled and scored San Antonio’s first run in the third inning. – photo by Joe Alexander

Notable

Attendance was announced at 1,080 at Wolff, with fans turning out for the Chanclas’ first home game in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday night, the Chanclas played in Amarillo and erupted for eight runs in the eighth inning, defeating the Sod Squad 11-5. On Friday, they scored a big inning again, scoring five runs in the fourth on three hits, three walks and one error.

Barry sparks eight-run inning as Chanclas claim first TCL victory

Posted on by

Leyton Barry was batting .353 when the pandemic cut short his season at UTSA in March.

Barry produced three hits in a 12-hit attack Thursday night to lead the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio to their first victory in the Texas Collegiate League.

Jordan Thompson and Barry produced two-run singles in an eight-run, eighth inning as the Chanclas rolled to an 11-5 victory at Amarillo.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 11 – 12 – 1
Amarillo 5 – 8 – 2

Please click the link for Thursday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 1-2
Amarillo 2-1

Coming up

The Chanclas open at home Friday night against the Acadiana Cane Cutters. Please click the link here for policies related to COVID-19 precautions.

Notable

The Chanclas had only eight hits combined in their first two games, including just two in a 1-0 loss Wednesday night.

Manager John McLaren made an adjustment, moving Porter Brown from second to first in the batting order. Conversely, he moved Thompson from the No. 1 hole to No. 2.

Both Brown and Thompson picked up two hits apiece. Kite McDonald and Lee Thomas also had a pair of hits for the Chanclas.

Sod Squad wins 1-0 as Flying Chanclas’ bats fall silent

Posted on by

Five Amarillo pitchers combined on a two hitter Wednesday night to lead a 1-0 victory over the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio.

The Sod Squad hosts the Chanclas Thursday night at Hodgetown ball park as the teams close out a season-opening series in the Texas Collegiate League.

Julio Marcano’s bases-loaded single off Chanclas starter Austin Krob scored Kamron Williams in the first inning for the game’s only run.

Chanclas outfielder Porter Brown produced singles in the first and third innings for the Chanclas, who were then shut down completely after that by the Sod Squad bullpen.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio 0 – 2 – 2
Amarillo 1 – 7 – 0

Please click the link for Wednesday night’s box score.

Records

Amarillo 2-0
San Antonio 0-2