820 N. Lower Broadway Corpus Christi, TX 78401 P.O. Box 9136 Corpus Christi, TX 78469 (361) 884-2011
To the judges: We all know high school football is big across the Lone Star State, but in South Texas, high school baseball is arguably just as big – or bigger - with many people. That is evidenced by the 23 state championships won by schools from the Corpus Christi area. With that in mind, the Caller-Times produced the first high school baseball preview section in the newspaper’s history. Our goal was not only to provide a look at the season ahead, but also include the in-depth features that often don’t make it into a season preview section. Reporters Lee Goddard, Greg Rajan and George Vondracek teamed up to write 15 stories for a 15-page section. Among those were a look at the relationship between two top Major League draft prospects from the area (both were picked in the first two rounds) and a local team’s quest for a rare accomplishment in Texas high school baseball: to become only the second Class 5A team to make three straight state tournaments. That was in addition to comprehensive team-by-team previews. The reader response to the section was near-unanimous approval. We always knew high school baseball was big in these parts, but didn’t realize the depth of the appetite for news and information about it. We took this section as a springboard to integrate social media more into our already extensive coverage. We don’t know how many Texas metro papers put out high school baseball special sections, but for the Caller-Times, it quickly became apparent that it is something that’s here to stay.
Respectfully, Greg Rajan Sports Editor