Wall baseball continues to rely on youth entering UIL state tournament

Paul Witwer
San Angelo Standard-Times

WALL — There are no seniors on the Wall baseball team. All the players on the current state-bound team were in elementary school the last time the Hawks (34-6-1) made it to the state tournament in 2019.

Despite being one of the youngest teams Wall coach Jason Schniers has had in his 15 years with the program, most of the athletes are returning players from last year’s team that was eliminated in the regional quarterfinals.

But with some significant injury problems to tenured players causing inconsistency in the lineup, the Hawks had to adjust on the fly and lean on younger players.

“I think a big part of it was just being thrown into the fire,” Schniers said. “They had no other choice … They were basically fed to the wolves, and they’ve had to learn sometimes through their mistakes and trial and error, but those experiences have definitely helped us. And, you know, they had to step up and be the leaders. And so, I think that’s kind of carried over into our team and every guy on this team is a leader somehow (or) someway. Some do it by example and some do it from the dugout, and that’s the reason we’ve been so successful.”

One of those players was junior Augden Hallmark, who, after missing the first part of the season playing basketball, returned as the team’s shortstop and pitcher during the middle of the season.

“Whenever I get back from basketball, I’m a little bit rusty and I definitely do some work to get back into rhythm,” Hallmark said. "So, It really means a lot just hearing that coach trusts me as a player.”

Wall baseball junior short stop and pitcher Augden Hallmark

With their backs against the wall in a rubber match against Bushland in the regional semifinal, Schniers called Hallmark's number. With Wall leading 4-2 going into the sixth, Hallmark came to the mound in relief needing five outs to advance. He answered the call and shut the door on Bushland to secure the 4-2 win.

In the final game against Brock in the regional final, Hallmark’s RBI triple in the top of the first inning gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead that helped put the game out of reach before the Eagles had an at-bat.

“Augden does such a good job of being ready all the time,” Schniers said. “… The kid has been a really valuable player for our team. And when he came back to us (from basketball), he becomes that other coach on the field.”

Sophomore Gunnar Dillard, who took over as catcher after Will Scherr’s injury left him sidelined until the playoffs, led the Hawk offense as their No. 3 hitter. In an 11-0 shutout victory over Brock, he went 2 of 3 from the plate with two RBI and a double.

Wall baseball sophomore catcher Gunnar Dillard.

Dillard sparked the Hawks offense which outscored the Eagles 17-2 in their two matchups and sent them to state where they will face Corpus Christi London (32-3-1) at noon on Friday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The winner will advance to the 3A state championship game, which is set for a 9 a.m. on Saturday.

As the Hawks head to Round Rock needing two more wins to take home their second state title, the team is going to continue relying on the young players who stepped up throughout the season and got them to this point.

“(Inexperience) is an advantage and a disadvantage,” Dillard said. “(It’s a disadvantage) just because a lot of us don’t have the experience that these other guys at the state tournament have. But also, I think it’s an advantage because we’re going in there fresh. It’s a new experience and we get to soak it all in and I think it’ll be just really cool that we are this young and going to state.”