As the baseball and softball playoffs are underway, I didn’t want to forget to recognize LCM’s only team State Champion. It has been 20 years since the 2006 “One Team One Dream” won the State Title. At the time it was the only State Champion I would have the pleasure of broadcasting in my career.
It was a great group of girls that had been playing together since they were young and they were lead by Cody Trahan, who would go on to pitch at LSU. The other team members included Miriam Richards, Sara Schoenberg, Katie Harrell, Karlie Harrell, Angela Zimmerman, Alison Clary, Joi Oldbury, Debra Hamor, Alyssa Breshears, Amber Bryan, Kaycie Tilley, Britni Collins, Jessica Wells, Whitley Richards, Sarah Hines, Chelsea Riley, Brittani Chance, and Erin Karasik. Samara Bean was the head coach, assisted by Mark Parsons and Amanda Ellerbee.
The Lady Bears gave the fans their money’s worth in the playoffs. After receiving a first round bye back then for being the district champ, five of their nine playoff games went to extra innings, and that included both games at the State Tournament. Three other games were one run seven inning affairs. They defeated Kilgore, Brenham, Angleton, Klein Oak, Cleburne and Dripping Springs for the title. In the two games at State Trahan would have 34 strikeouts.
Shoutout to the group at the Mauriceville Heritage Association for putting on another great Mauriceville Crawfish Bash. That festival was on life support when they took it over and now they seem to outdo themselves each year, even dealing with the rain.
Speaking of which, the Kings of the Rainmaker, the Lions Club is on deck. The carnival is May 13-16 and 20-23. The only Lions Club in America still putting on their own carnival, they are turning a page and bringing in carnival rides to go with their games and great food. There should be more rides which means more fun. And admission is free on Opening Night courtesy of Claybar Funeral Home.
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I try my best to keep The Juice positive but sometimes I just have to get stuff off my chest. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to comment on social media. I have read some of the dumbest posts lately and I’m not even talking about political posts. I’m talking posts that make you wonder how these people function on a daily basis. And the worst of it is Facebook and the others encourage it because it makes others react. If yall ever get together and decided to pull the plug, count me in.
And now I’m jumping to another rant that most of you normal folks will think I’m lying but I have visual proof. My wife Angie was in Kroger’s the other day and came back wide eyed and said, “You’re not going to believe this.” She was looking for a coloring book for the kids and came across “Coloring Cat Farts.” Yes you read that correctly. Have we really run out of good ideas? Since I’m old, I even used AI to see if I was missing something. It said the $10 book was illustrations of cats passing gas for “stress relief” and entertainment. Yeh, ok.
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Some more shoutouts…glad to see Kevin Stone returning to LCM as the Band Director. His success with the band the first time around allowed him the opportunity to make big money over in Barbers Hill. The program has had some issues despite the kids still having success on the field. Having Stone back should right the ship.
Congrats to another Kevin. Orangefield grad Kevin Kirby, who’s daughter attends Hardin-Jefferson. Paige Kirby was District MVP and an All-Stater and this week she signed to play basketball at Tyler JC.
Glad to see Earl Thomas still attracting a crowd in Seattle. The former captain of the Legion of Boom was in Seattle for the draft and had fans standing in a long line that went past the front doors to get autographs and photos.
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So if you’re wondering what they are clearing the land for at the corner of Bear Path and Hwy. 87, sources tell me it’s going to be an ATM location for Neches Credit Union.
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You’ve been asking what the next Behind the Mic podcast will be and I thought we were ready to go last week but there was a technical issue. But we hope to have a new one for you within the next week.
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Saturday is Election Day and as usual KOGT will cover the results after the polls close at 7pm. I know having the option of voting at any location is for convenience but it keeps us from knowing exactly where the votes are coming from.
Stay dry!
-Gary Stelly-
gstelly66@gmail.com
Volume 2 No. 5
The Juice is a column where Gary Stelly discusses things that’s happened in the area and mixes it with 40 years of being involved in the Orange County community. (If we think of a better way to explain it we’ll change it) You can also check out his podcast by clicking on the Behind the Mic banner on the KOGT.com front page.
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