CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Last season Calallen baseball won their fourth State Championship in program history. Although they graduated a few seniors, they're looking to be the first team to win it all back-to-back.
"We are returning eight ball players," said Calallen baseball co-head coach Joe Luis Lopez. "You know from last year's group we're very healthy and we're just hoping to represent South Texas well."
Calallen enters the season ranked No. 1 in 4A according to Texas High School Baseball. One of the Wildcat's returners is first baseman Blake Quinn. The senior topped the charts last season in 4A with a .582 batting average and 55 RBI's. He learned a lot from 2025 grad and right fielder Chase Lynch who did not lead the charts, but could hit in clutch moments.
"We've been looking real good every day in batting practice," Quinn said. "Chase (Lynch) helped a lot last year, so we're just looking to fill his shoes this year."
Calallen returns their two aces on the mound, Drayton Mitchell and Coll Carroll. Both seniors are lefty and signed to play Division 1 ball at Texas State.
"We've got two quality starters that we know that can pitch that are proven guys, but we've got 8 or 9 guys that are trying to fill the 3, 4, 5 and 6 hole spot," said Calallen baseball head coach Steve Chapman."We've had several kids that have pitched well in the scrimmages and we expect them to pitch well down the road."
This year's roster is senior heavy, and they've played together for a long time. Third baseman Aidan Flores has been on Calallen varsity all four years, and he's learned a lot from Texas high school baseball's winningest head coach.
"It means a lot. Very happy to be a part of Steve Chapman's program and to be able to be playing for him," Flores said.
Calallen baseball starts their season at the McAllen ISD tournament on Thurs., Feb. 19 with a tough matchup against La Joya Palmview at 3:30 p.m.
