Missions to host high school baseball ‘Seniors Celebration’

The Missions have extended a helping hand to the San Antonio high school baseball community with a doubleheader featuring top local prep talent at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions on July 2 will host a pair of San Antonio high school baseball games at Wolff Stadium. — Photo by Jerry Briggs

Partnering with McCombs Ford West and the San Antonio Area Baseball Coaches Association, the Missions will host the two games back to back on July 2.

A “High School Baseball Seniors Celebration” will get underway with a 4 p.m. game involving players from San Antonio area sub-Class 6A and private schools.

The nightcap at 7 p.m. will feature players from area 6A schools. Following the doubleheader, fans will be treated to a fireworks spectacular.

The games will be played a day before the home debut of the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio, a team of college players set to play a 30-game schedule.

The Chanclas will be a part of the 10-team Texas Collegiate League.

Developments in the local high school and college game promotions at the Wolff have emerged against the backdrop of professional baseball around the nation in disarray because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Major league baseball, plagued by growing tensions between the owners and players, is trying to come up with a plan for a shortened season that would start in July.

Meanwhile, the idea that MLB would send players to their respective minor league affiliates seems to be fading by the day.

As a result, speculation is growing that San Antonio fans will not see a professional baseball team of their own for the first time in 53 years.

MLB teams reportedly are preparing for “taxi squads” of between 20 and 25 players to be located within 100 miles of their home stadiums.

The Triple-A Missions of the Pacific Coast League are in their second and final year of a two-year agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers.

But if the MLB season gets underway and the ‘taxi squad’ system is employed, it seems that the top Brewers’ prospects might be headed to Appleton, Wis. Appleton is the home of Milwaukee’s Class A affiliate in the Midwest League.

San Antonio hasn’t been through a spring and summer without professional baseball since 1967.

Chanclas staff named

The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio on Monday announced their manager and coaching staff for the upcoming Texas Collegiate League season.

Manager: John McLaren

McLaren, a Texas native, has played and coached in baseball for 50 years. He served as a major league manager for the Seattle Mariners from June 2007 to June 2008. He also worked as interim manager for the Washington Nationals in 2011.

Pitching coach: Calvin Schiraldi

An Austin native and eight-year major league player, Schiraldi was the MVP of the 1983 College World Series, where he led the Longhorns to the national title on a team that included Roger Clemens.

Hitting coach: Bryan Aughney

Augney has been head baseball coach at Our Lady of the Lake University. He’s also worked at Harlingen High School and the University of Texas at Brownsville, now UT Rio Grande Valley.

Notable: The Chanclas, a team made up of college players, open the season on June 30 and open at home on July 3. Home games will be played at Wolff Stadium.

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