Recent Whitehouse graduate Mason House is the All-East Texas Baseball Player of the Year for a second-straight year. (Courtesy)

Whitehouse graduate Mason House is enjoying a memorable couple of months. During the season, the Wildcats outfielder committed to a junior college before word of his power and speed began filtering around the country to college and pro scouts.

Oklahoma State was the first to go all-in for House, offering him a scholarship, which prompted House to change his commitment to the Cowboys.

And then the Major League Baseball draft happened. The San Diego Padres chose the outfielder with their first pick of the third round, No. 78 overall.

Just this week, House hit his first professional home run for the Arizona League Padres and is currently batting .429 with seven RBIs in three games.

Add another log on that fire.

House is the Player of the Year for the Tyler Morning Telegraph/ETFinalScore.com’s 2017 All-East Texas Baseball team.

It is his second year in a row to be named Player of the Year. House shared the honor last year with teammate Ryan Walls. A player winning consecutive player of the year honors hasn’t happened in over a decade. House joins Carson Middleton (Lindale), who accomplished this in 2006 and 2007.

“This is such an honor to be awarded this for the second year in a row,” House said via text from Arizona. “Over these past three months I have been truly blessed to be pursuing my dream of playing professional baseball.”

Joining him on the 2017 All-ET baseball team is Troup freshman pitcher Wyatt Wood, who follows Robert E. Lee’s Rhett Parker as Newcomer of the Year; and Canton’s Jeff Priest, who follows Brook Hill’s Brock Lemire as Coach of the Year.

 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Whitehouse coach Derrick Jenkins is not surprised in the least about Mason House receiving recognition and now a Major League paycheck.

“You see each day in practice his power and speed, but Mason was not like a lot of other guys; he did not go to all of this (camps and stuff), so he was kind of unknown,” Jenkins said of House’s early-season anonymity. “Once one scout saw him, we had everyone (coming here).”

House did not let the extra attention bother him. In 90 plate appearances, House did it all for the Wildcats: batting .409 with 26 runs scored and 31 RBIs. He finished with three doubles, five triples and five homers to go along with 16 stolen bases.

He was also intentionally walked 10 times to finish with an on-base percentage of .556. Of his 27 hits, 16 of them with runners in scoring position.

In centerfield, House made 17 putouts with one error while also throwing out a runner trying to tag up.

House has picked up in the minor leagues where he left off in District 17-5A. In his past game for Arizona, he went 3 for 5 with an RBI.

And now joins Middleton as a two-time player of the year. His 2017 just keeps getting better.

“It’s a huge honor to be able to represent East Texas as the Player of the Year. I couldn’t have done any of this without my teammates, coaches and family,” House said. “I can’t thank them enough. Throughout the season the pushed me day in and day out to better myself on and off the field.”

 

COACH OF THE YEAR

Jeff Priest just completed his 27th year as a head baseball coach. His career has included stops at Honey Grove, Wills Point, Van, and most recently, Canton, for the past 12 years.

This year was his last as a high school baseball coach, with Priest retiring.

Priest led the 2017 Eagles to an unbeaten District 13-4A championship, 26-7 mark overall and Canton reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1999. Canton was stopped their by eventual state semifinalist Pleasant Grove.

“It’s an honor. I am shocked,” Priest said about receiving the award. “It’s a good way to go out.

“My future is I am going to take care of (our family’s) cattle operation, and that is pretty much a full-time job in and of itself.”

The past two seasons, Canton scratched and clawed its way into the postseason as the district’s fourth seed.

With senior pitcher Hunter Moore penciled in as his team’s ace, and six returning starters who were either juniors or seniors, Canton was picked to win its district.

Moore missed most of the pre-district games because of medical reasons. It caused Priest to turn to sophomore Johnnie Krawietz, who responded as Canton bounced back from three-straight losses to win seven of its last eight games entering district.

“It was just a little bit of a lot of different players,” Priest said. “It was a group effort. All of them played well.”

Despite being picked to win, Priest admits that a league title was the furthest thing from his mind as league play began.

“My main goal was always just getting (into the playoffs), I didn’t care about winning district,” Priest continued. “But when we got to 5-0, I changed it up. Now our goal was to win district.”

With Moore back healthy, along with the emergence of Krawietz and fellow sophomore Simon Miller on the mound, the Eagles surrendered two runs or less in their remaining league contests.

The playoffs awaited – and then April 29 happened.

At around 7 p.m., Priest was at home watching the NFL Draft when a look outside and numerous text messages and calls of an impending storm prompted he and his wife to evacuate.

“It looked like it was lightning to the east, so we drove back to town, and it looked like the F-4 had just five minutes before we got there had passed. I could see hills that I had never seen before because all of the trees had been uprooted and were in the road,” Priest said.

Canton was one of several East Texas communities hit by seven separate tornadoes. Four people were killed and 50 injured with devastating damage everywhere.

“We were real fortunate that there was not more loss of life,” Priest said. “Our kids kind of rallied up, and they did community service stuff; it kind of focused them up a little bit.”

In their bi-district series with Atlanta, Priest was handed a bucket that contained $3,700 the Rabbit baseball team raised for Canton.

The Eagles were able to overcome and defeat Atlanta 2-1 in the series, moving on to Bullard in the area round. Canton edged out Bullard 4-3 before the road ended against Pleasant Grove.

Retirement now awaits this year’s coach of the year

“I have been surrounded by good administrators and coaches,” Priest said. “I think that is the key to success. I have always been fortunate to have good bosses to work for.”

 

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Wyatt Wood felt he was going to make an impact as a freshman for Troup.

The only person hold the freshman back was his head coach – and that was by design.

“Early in the year he would be on a 25-30 pitch count,” said Troup coach Tell Ross. “We wanted to build it from there. I wanted him to be ready to go for later in the year.”

Wood picked up a win over Daingerfield and another over Arp, but he didn’t go over four innings in either outing. In his lone outing over four innings, Wood kind of forced Ross’ hand – because he was throwing a no-hitter.

It was the second half of district play against Sabine. Troup was comfortably in front, thanks to a 9-run third inning, but it wouldn’t have mattered because Wood was dealing for the Tigers. The game called after the fifth because of the 10-run rule.

“Honestly I didn’t know (I hadn’t allowed a hit),” Wood said. “After the game, the guys came up to me and were like, ‘Do you know what you just did?'”

Wood said the no-hitter’s confidence continued to rise. He finished the regular season with 33 strikeouts in 25 innings, allowing seven earned runs.

In the playoffs, Wood was called in to save Troup’s victory over White Oak. The Tigers were leading 3-1 with a runner at second. After a walk to his first batter and a passed ball to that brought White Oak to within a run, Wood got the next two outs for the save and a series-opening win.

In the area round against Hughes Springs, Wood battled through 3 1/3 innings to get the victory. The playoff run ended for Troup in the third round against Beckville.

Wood finished his first varsity season with a 2.43 ERA in 37 innings with 44 strikeouts.

The incoming sophomore said he has been working out Accelerate Performance Enhancement Center (APEC) in preparation for next season.

“I want to get bigger, faster and strong,” Wood said.

Notes: The athletes selected for the All-East Texas Baseball Team were from nominations sent in by coaches and all-district teams.

TWITTER: @CParryETFS

 

Tyler Morning Telegraph/ETFinalScore.com All-East Texas Baseball Team

 

SUPERLATIVES

Player of the Year: MASON HOUSE, Sr., OF, Whitehouse

By The Numbers: Selected in the third round by the San Diego Padres in the recent MLB draft. House was MVP of District 17-5A after batting .409 with 31 RBIs and 26 runs scored with 16 stolen bases

 

Coach of the Year: JEFF PRIEST, Canton

By The Numbers: The recently retired Priest led Canton to an undefeated district championship and reached the Class 4A regional quarterfinals before being stopped by eventual state semifinalist, Pleasant Grove

 

Newcomer of the Year: WYATT WOOD, Fr., P, Troup

By The Numbers: The freshman batted .327 while also becoming the ace for the Tigers, striking out 40 in 33 1/3 innings with a 2.31 ERA. He went 3-2 and also had 2 saves. His efforts helped Troup reach the Class 2A regional quarterfinals

 

FIRST TEAM

PITCHERS

COLTON RAMSEY, Sr., Lindale

By the numbers: District 17-5A Pitcher of the Year went 8-1 for the Eagles and pitched 56.1 innings with 56 strikeouts, finishing with a 1.70 ERA.

 

HUNTER MOORE, Sr., Canton

By the numbers: District 13-4A MVP went 5-1 with a 1.60 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 45 innings. Led Eagles to undefeated district title

 

COOPER RAWLS, Sr., Hallsville

By the numbers: District 16-5A Pitcher of the Year went 10-1 with 83 strikeouts and a 2.04 ERA. He pitched six complete games, threee of them shutouts

 

CATCHER

EASTON BLACKSTONE, Sr., Harmony

By the numbers: District 15-3A MVP at catcher who batted .449 with 22 RBIs. Also went 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA on the mound

 

INFIELDERS

BRAD BURCKEL, Jr., Lindale

By the numbers: The Houston commit batted .463 with 34 runs scored and 31 stolen bases

 

CAMERON WOODARD, Sr., Athens

By the numbers: The District 18-4A MVP batted .352 to go with 18 stolen bases, four doubles and one triple for area-round finalist. He also went 7-1 on the mound with 45 strikeouts and a 0.94 ERA

 

TANNER ROACH, Jr., Whitehouse

By the numbers: The first-team all-district Wildcat batted .380 with 5 doubles and 37 runs scored. He also led his team in stolen bases with 17

 

JONES ARD, Jr., Troup

By the numbers: 15-3A first-team all district slugger finished with a .451 average with 13 extra-base hits (2 of those HRs), 20 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He made three errors on the season in leading the Tigers to the 2A regional quarterfinals

 

J.P. POWERS, Jr., Harmony

By the numbers: The District 15-3A Offensive MVP batted .407 with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 29 RBIs and 36 run scored. He also was 9 for 9 on stolen base attempts

 

OUTFIELDERS

KOLLIN MCCARTNEY, Jr., Lindale

By the numbers: The 17-5A Defensive MVP batted .405 with 6 doubles, 21 RBIs, 26 runs scored and had 12 stolen bases

 

SIMON MILLER, Soph., Canton

By the numbers: The 13-4A Offensive MVP, and third-team all state selection by THSBCA batted .402 with 11 doubles, 1 triple, 26 RBIs and 28 runs scored. On the mound he went 3-1 in 22.1 innings with 35 strikeouts

 

KEYLAN MACK, Jr., Gladewater

By the numbers: The District 15-4A Offensive MVP batted .475 with 11 extra-base hits and 21 RBIs. He also scored 15 runs and had 11 steals

UTILITY

COLLIN PIPPEN, Sr., Kilgore

By the numbers: On the mound he delivered an 11-1 record with a 1.18 ERA and 83 strikeouts. He played outfield and infield when not pitching and batted .355 with 19 RBIs

 

DESIGNATED HITTER

CAM HALLER, Sr., Marshall

By the numbers: Batted .417 with 8 home runs, 8 doubles, one triple and 34 runs scored. Also went 10 for 10 on stolen bases. A Texas A&M signee

 

SECOND TEAM

PITCHERS

TURNER BANNISTER, Jr., Edgewood

By the numbers: Went 8-1 with a 1.17 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 65 innings. At the plate, batted .339 with 9 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs and 42 runs scored.

 

COLTON BOWMAN, Soph., Bullard

By the numbers: The lefty posted a 1.33 ERA in 63 innings while racking up 120 strikeouts.

 

KADE CLEMENS, Sr., Gilmer

By the numbers: Finished with a .084 ERA in 39.2 innings with 4-3 record, 1 save and 48 strikeouts. In the playoffs, led Buckeyes to 4A regional semifinals with 0.43 ERA and 19 strikeouts

 

CATCHER

KADE KEENER, Sr., Robert E. Lee

By the numbers: The District 11-6A Defensive MVP threw out 24 base runners and finished with one error overall

 

INFIELDERS

HEATH HOOD, Jr., White Oak

By the numbers: Batted .444 with 11 doubles, three triples and scored 33 runs.

 

RHETT PARKER, Jr., Robert E. Lee

By the numbers: Led the Red Raiders in RBIs (19) while batting .309 with 6 doubles, 3 triples and a home run. He also was 6 for 6 on stolen-base attempts.

 

PATRICK MINER, Sr., Whitehouse

By the numbers: Batted .342 with 21 runs scored and 23 RBIs. On the mound he finished with a 1.59 ERA and posted an 8-2 record.

 

JOSH JENKINS, Jr., Bullard Brook Hill

By the numbers: Batted .405 with 5 doubles, a homer and 15 RBIs to be named to TAPPS All-State first-team despite missing the first 10 games of the season

 

JACOBY BOGUE, Sr., Van

By the numbers: The District 13-4A Defensive MVP was also chosen third-team all-state by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association

 

OUTFIELDERS

JAYLON REDWINE, Sr., Chapel Hill

By the numbers: Batted .375 with 17 walks and 14 runs scored Finished with a .539 on-base percentage

 

T.J. BRUMLEY, Sr., Frankston

By the numbers: Led his team into the playoffs to be named first-team all-state outfielder by the THSBCA. He was also named District 18-3A Pitcher of the Year

 

JACOB JOHNSON, Jr., Bullard

By the numbers: Led the Panthers into the playoffs while batting .359 with 11 extra-base hits and 19 runs scored

 

UTILITY

CONNOR LOWE, Jr., Grand Saline

By the numbers: The pitcher/infielder missed half of the year due to injury and still posted a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings with 36 strikeouts on the mound while posting .376 average at the plate with 10 doubles and 21 runs scored

 

DESIGNATED HITTER

TYE ELIE, Sr., Edgewood

By the numbers: Batted .400 with 16 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers and 26 RBIs. He also scored 26 runs while being named to the THSBCA All-Star game

 

 

HONORABLE MENTION

All Saints: Andrew Werner (Sr.), Dalton Hayes (Sr), Raul Martinez Jr. (Jr.), Sully McCreery (Jr.); Alto: Nolan Collins (Sr.); Bishop Gorman: Tait Reininger (Sr.); Athens: Luis Valdez (Jr.), Emanuel Hernandez (Sr.), Peyton Brewer (Sr.), Kobe Kale (Soph.), Kolemann Dooley (Sr.), Noah Sikes (Jr.); Bullard: Bullard Brook Hill: Miguel Vega (Jr.), Brooks Parham (Sr.), Reid Hill (Jr.), Seth Moss (Fr.); Brownsboro: Jake Conner (Sr.), Austin Fout (Sr.), Wyatt Rinehart (Sr.), Christian Reeves (Sr.); Payden Green (Sr.), Canton: Tyler Massey (Soph.), Johnnie Krawietz (Soph.), John Adams (Jr.), Cade Shaw (Jr.); Carthage: Kolbey Sharpe (Sr.), Kason Davis (Sr.), Kelan Foster (Jr.), Seth Ballenger (Sr.), Dillon Morris (Sr.); Cayuga: J.T. Sharp (Sr.); Edgewood: Kason Grant (Jr.), Turner Bannister (Jr.); Eustace: Cody Strawn (Jr.); Grace Community: Cole Reed (Jr.), Jacob Wright (Sr.), Nicholas Forman (Sr.), James Dotson (Soph.); Grand Saline: Jordan Smith (Jr.), Judsen Truett (Soph.); Hallsville: Dylan Bailey (Sr.), Matt Wyman (Sr.), Logan Durrett (Sr.), Ty Meissner (Sr.), Maxon Oxsheer (Sr.), Blaine Parker (Sr.); Harmony: Drew McNeel, Nick Hoelscher; Henderson: Kaine Campbell (Sr.), Lanson Simmons (Sr.), Levi McGee (Jr.), Dalton Simmons (Sr.), Nick Parker (Sr.); Lindale: Nick Norton (Sr.), Gage Walters (Sr.); Lufkin: Jonathan Dewberry (Jr.), Kolten Eberlan (Sr.); Mabank: Hunter Caves (Sr.), Pearson Johannesen (Sr.); Marshall: Ty Kirkland (Sr.), Jake McMullen (Sr.), Hunter Neal (Sr.); Martin’s Mill: Payton Garner (Sr.), Marshall Davis (Sr.), Zant Perkins (Jr.); Nacogdoches: Karlus Flanagan (Soph.); Overton: Luke Osburn (Soph.), Gavin Flanagan (Sr.), Bailey Martin (Sr.); Palestine: Caden Lafontaine (Jr.), Nemesio Vigil (Soph.), Abraham Vasquez (Sr.), Chris Perez (Soph.); Pine Tree: A.J. Brown (Jr.); Pittsburg: Brett McGee (Jr.), Chris Garcia (Soph.), Christian Nietro (Sr.); Rains: Dusty Rhodes (Sr.), Mason Krantz (Sr.), Robee McCauley (Sr.); Robert E. Lee: Angel Rodriguez (Soph.), Bradley Rippy (Jr.); Rusk: Parker Millsap (Jr.), Mason Woodlee (Soph.), Hunter Townsend (Jr.); Van: Sean Beasley (Sr.); Tatum: C.J. Biggs (Jr.), Denver Brown (Jr.); Troup: Josh Parker (Sr.), Rowdy Howell (Jr.); Union Grove: Austin Owens (Sr.), Tanner Stanley (Jr.); West Rusk: Jake Cooper (Sr.), L.J. Harper (Soph.), Jake Marshall (Sr.), Casey Nelms (Sr.); Whitehouse: Skyler Trevino (Fr.), Clayton Pruitt (Sr.), Brandon Quarles (Soph.), Bryce Cundieff (Sr.); Winnsboro: Jarret Whorff (Sr.), Ruston Bult (Sr.)