Bridge City High School Highlights 2013 – 2014

	Bridge City High School Valedictorian – Luke Placette Salutatorian – Sidney Schubarth

Bridge City’s Jessica McKinney won state in 3A Literary Criticism

The BC Cardinals baseball team lost their third round match to Huffman 2 games to 1, losing games two and three 2-0 and 4-0.

At the Bridge City Athletic Banquet Monday, Malcolm Busby was named the Male Athlete of the Year and Kelsey Fults the Female AOTY.  See the other award winners here.

Bridge City High School held their “Glitz, Glamour, and Gatsby” Junior-Senior Prom at The Brown Estate, Saturday, May 10.   Seniors John Ellis and Jannet Tran were crowned Prom King and Queen.   Others seniors on the court included Jessica Bean, Brooke Bertles, Karissa Kordish, Sage Elmore, Josh Khoury and Hunter Uzzle. From the Junior class: Malorie Becker, Bailey Guidroz, Ariel Scogin, Kelly Zoch, Florian Fischer, Erik Harvey, Blaine Slaughter and Conner Wilbur.

BC’s Alexus Henry is the 3A State Champ in the high jump! She jumped 5-8 for the gold! Morgan McKee of Midland Greenwood jumped 5-7 and Amber Walker of Brownsboro 5-6.

BC Cards Sweep Tarkington
Winning 17- 4 in 5 innings Friday story
Will face Sweeny in a Best of 3.
Friday, 7:30pm at Baytown Sterling
Gm.2 1pm Sat with Gm.3 to follow

At the 4A State Golf Tournament Monday, LCM’s Lauren Cox shot an 86-89=175 at the University of Texas Golf Club. Cheyenne Knight of Aledo won the title with a 144 total. At the 3A State Tournament being played at the Lost Pines Resort, BC’s Skylar Petroski shot 79-88=167. The winning total was 149 from G.K. Morrison of Andrews HS. Allison Davis of Silsbee shot 164 to finish 15 shots off the lead. PNG’s Braden Bailey shot 149 with the winning total 138.

Houston Baseball sophomore Jake Lemoine (BC) has been selected and accepted his invitation to compete for the 2014 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this summer, announced by USA Baseball. Lemoine was selected among the nation’s elite to compete and represent the United States, which will feature several stops on U.S. soil vs. Chinese Taipei and trips to The Netherlands and Cuba. Lemoine will begin his 39-day journey this summer in late June and continue through the month of July. “It is an honor to play for Team USA knowing only a handful of players are selected to play for this prestigious team,” Lemoine said. “I’m excited to be able to represent my country, University of Houston and my hometown. This experience is going to be different having never played international baseball, but I’m looking forward to it. I think I’m going to like it a lot.” Lemoine becomes the first Cougar since Michael Bourn in 2006 to compete for USA Baseball, while becoming just the fifth Cougar to represent Houston on the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Lemoine also becomes the first pitcher selected to the Collegiate National Team from Houston since Brad Sullivan in 2002. The sophomore right-hander owns a 1.70 ERA and is 5-3 on the year in 10 starts. In a total of 68.2 innings pitched, Lemoine has fanned a team-high 58 and ranks tied for second in the conference. In two seasons, Lemoine has compiled an ERA of 2.60 and a record of 12-7 in 28 appearances and 20 starts. He notched career-bests with a complete game vs. Rutgers on April 5, 2014, which also saw a career-high nine strikeouts. Lemoine has also held opponents to a .200 average and plays an integral role as Houston’s Saturday starter on a pitching staff that leads the nation in ERA (1.94) and WHIP (0.97) through the first 40 games this season.

Bridge City sophomore Skylar Petroski qualified for the 3A State Golf Tournament after a 79-84 finish at Raven Nest in Huntsville. The 3A State Tournament is April 28-29 at Hyatt Lost Pines Golf Resort.

Bridge City ISD Superintendent Mike King has informed KOGT that the district is restructuring its athletic program. High school principal Richard Briggs has been named the new Athletic Director. For the rest of the school year Briggs will handle both duties. “The board and I have been exploring this opportunity and we know that if we were going to do it, we had the right man for the job in Richard Briggs,” King said. Briggs, a BC native, has been both an assistant coach and head coach for many years before getting into administration. BC will be the first in the area in Class 3A to dedicate one person to being Athletic Director. “We want all of our programs, from 7th to 12th grade, to excel and we feel this is the best way to do it,” King said. “This way Coach Cris Stump can concentrate on coaching our football team, just as the other coaches concentrate on their sports, with the help of Mr. Briggs overseeing the whole program.” Without the A.D. tag, Stump will also be back in the classroom working with Physical Education classes. So why do this now? King said, “We did this now so we will be ready for the next school year. Budget time is here and we wanted Mr. Briggs’ input. And we will also be hiring a new principal to replace him.”

Jacey Walker and Emily Warren represented Bridge City Powerlifting Team on Saturday at the THSWPA State Meet in Corpus Christi. Sophomore Warren placed 12th in her weight class, lifting a total weight of 745 pounds and Walker, a junior, placed 7th in her weight class, lifting a total of 630 pounds. From left to right is Walker and Warren.

Bridge City’s Kelsey Fults is surrounded by her coaches and administrators as she announced Thursday that she’ll be playing softball for Alvin Community College next season.

Bridge City Catcher Hunter Uzzle signed with Panola College Wednesday.  The switch hitting lead off hitter for the Cardinals was an All-District selection and a member of the All-KOGT Team last season.

The Bridge City Lady Cardinals won the Nederland Varsity Basketball tournament defeating: Santa Fe 66-37, Vidor 67-15, Hamshire-Fannett 43-27, Lumberton 87-17, and Jasper 63-19. All tournament players included Alexus Henry and Kasey Fredericks. MVP of the tournament was Caylin Choate

The Bridge City school district and Superintendent Mike King presented information on new buildings and changes that are needed in the district. One of the main items on the list is a performing arts center with a theater and rehearsal halls for the band, choir and Strutters drill team. The center would also have space for art students to have exhibitions. King said a performing arts center would cost $15 million to $18 million. A $20 million bond issue would cost the average homeowner about $172 a year more. The Orange County Appraisal District sets the average home value in Bridge City at $130,000.

The SFA Alumni Association bestows its highest honors on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their professions and community, committed themselves to advancing the values and goals of SFA, and ensured a better quality of life for future generations. This year’s recipients include long time local educator and coach, H.N. “Moe” Litton. Moe Litton of Bridge City was an educator and coach for more than 30 years. He was a sports medicine consultant for Lake Charles Memorial in Lake Charles, La. until his retirement in 2008. He is a member of the SFA Letterman’s Association, Texas High School Coaches Association and National Athletic Trainers Associations and was inducted into the Southeast Texas Coaches Hall of Fame in 1999. Litton was introduced by SFA and Orangefield alum Kent Hutchison.

The Bridge City Cross Country Team continued their winning tradition Friday by taking both the boys and girls gold medal at the 21-3A meet held at Claiborne Park. The boys took the top seven places. Results In the 20-4A meet, LCM’s James Armstrong (5th) and Jace Bagwell (10th) also qualified for Regionals.

The BC Band received a ONE at the marching contest Oct. 19

Angel Sehon was ready for the Bridge City homecoming celebration. She had a new dress, new jewelry and new shoes. But at the last minute, she changed her mind about the shoes. She took her Vans tennis shoes and blinged them up with crystals. ‘She said she wanted to be true to who she is,’ her mother, Janelle said. Angel now has a crystal crown to go with the shoes. She’s the 2013 Homecoming Queen for Bridge City High School. The tennis shoes are a way to show her personality. She’s been running a race against cancer for almost two years. Her mother said she’s supposed to check into Texas Children’s Hospital again this week for more treatment. Angel is 17 and a senior at Bridge City High. She will turn 18 and graduate in May. Athletics have been her passion. She lettered in cross country racing her freshman year and has played soccer and junior varsity volleyball. ‘She was such a wonderful athlete. The hardest thing on her is that she has not been able to participate,’ Janelle said. With Angel’s schedule of hospital stays and treatments, she is now concentrating on two—running and soccer. ‘We’re training and praying she’s going to get to play those sports’ in the spring semester, her mother said. Angel has been thrilled to be named homecoming queen. She thought it was an honor to be one of the four finalists and wasn’t expecting to hear her name called during the homecoming ceremony. Of course her father was beaming as he escorted her and was there when she was crowned. Angel has two forms of thyroid cancer, papillary and follicular. Janelle said they noticed a lump in her throat at Christmas in 2011. They saw a doctor on Jan. 12, 2012, and Angel was sent to Texas Children’s Hospital and then M.D. Anderson. Both are in Houston. At first, the tumor biopsy showed it wasn’t cancerous. But another biopsy in June 2012 showed malignancy. Angel has had her thyroid removed. ‘She’s missed a lot of school but her grades have kept up,’ Janelle said. When Angel began having stomach pains, testing at Texas Children’s Hospital showed she has a blood trait that causes a low immune system. She had radioactive iodine treatment in the summer and was ready to start her senior year free of cancer. However, tests showed the disease was in three more areas. Angel is still going to school as much as she can. She now has the honor of being homecoming queen and adding a crown to go with her tennis shoes.

H.W. “Chief” Wilson, who lead the Bridge City Cardinals to the 1966 State Championship in football, died Monday morning at age 86 in College Station. Wilson coached at Bridge City from 1962-73. With Steve Worster in the backfield, the Cardinals reached the State Championship game in 1965, losing to Brownwood 14-0. They returned with a vengeance in ’66 as they rolled over opponents to the 3A title game, beating McKinney 30-6. Wilson gave longtime BC Coach Troy Woodall, his first coaching job in 1964. “What I remember going into that game, was that McKinney had only given up 16 points all season, and we scored 30 on them in one game,” he said. “Of course we were led by Steve but we had some great athletes during that run. I believe we had five others that played at the University of Houston.” A young Woodall also recalled another interesting moment about the championship game. “We’re about to start the game and I look on the track behind our bench and Darrell Royal, Gene Stallings, and Bum Phillips were standing there.” Woodall said Chief Wilson was a great coach and mentor. “He was so determined to succeed. He was a great disciplinarian and the kids responded to him. And he was smart enough to change his offense to suit the players we had. Of course we ran out of the I-formation with Steve. Then we switched to the veer that they were running at Houston. And then he went to Austin to learn the wishbone when we had a good fullback.” The Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs after the state title but Woodall said that didn’t mean Wilson’s teams weren’t successful. “You have to remember we only took one team to the playoffs back then. I figured it out one time. If we had three teams make the postseason like today, we would’ve gone to the playoffs ten years while Chief was coaching.” When Wilson left BC in 1973, he did not coach at another school. Services will be Wednesday in College Station.

Going into the 2012 football season the Bridge City Cardinals set as their goal to make the playoffs for a school record fourth consecutive season. Coach Cris Stump admits the Cardinals had their up and downs through last season finishing the year with 5 wins and 6 losses, but they did reach their goal of making the playoffs again. Making the playoffs has not been the problem for Bridge City the last four seasons. The problem is the Coldspring Trojans have been the opponent in those playoffs, and that has spelled early elimination for the Cardinals each year. Coach Stump says his team has a new goal for this season. “The guys set a goal back in February to get past the first round go two, three, four rounds deep,” Stump admitted. Coming into this season the Bridge City faithful were counting on big things from outstanding running back Ashton Hunter who ran for 1355 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2012. A freak accident during a workout caused a knee injury that will cost the Cardinals the use of Ashton for the season. Coach Stump is proud of the work Hunter is still putting in to rehab the knee, but meanwhile Stump is looking for a replacement. Among the possible candidates to replace Hunter are senior Jonah Lemoine who saw some playing time last season, Jett Simmons is a junior, and sophomore Colt Poole will get a chance to start. Stump speculated some freshmen may even carry the ball some this season. more

Baylor catcher Matt Menard has been named to the inaugural Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, which honors conference competitors who are new, incoming freshman at their respective league institution. Texas led all teams with 65 honorees, while Baylor (46), West Virginia (45), Oklahoma State (44) and TCU (40) had 40 or more members. Menard received a medical redshirt after missing most of the season after he was accidentally hit in the eye with a baseball. The BC grad is playing summer ball in Eau Claire, WI with the Express in the Northwoods League.