After a very abbreviated 2020 schedule, the 2021 season is just underway with pretty much every team in the area getting started over the weekend - some already with a handful of games under their belts.
The mostly lost season a year ago has baseball coaches, players and fans/parents antsy to make sure the entire year plays out, culminating with crowning state champions across all classifications and organizations.
With that said, we're going to try a new spin on the previews. We'll introduce power rankings in a couple weeks after a good amount of games have been played.
What we'll do instead is highlight a team we think has a high chance to win state, a team that could be dark horse in that class as well as a preseason player to watch in each class.
Class 5A
Team to Beat: Cleburne
Just like 6A, the top-ranked 5A team in the state heralds from the DFW area. Cleburne was off to an impressive start last year, going 12-0-2 before things shut down.
For the 2021 season, Cleburne brings back eight starters, including senior outfield Ethan Flores who had 23 RBI in those 14 games.
5A Dark Horse: Mansfield Legacy
A Top 10 state-ranked team, Mansfield Legacy is a deep team that started the 2020 season at 10-2. Legacy brings backs seven returning starters from last year, including senior shortstop Raef Wright, who batted .395 with a homer and four triples, and senior Griffin Brinkley, who had 14 strikeouts in nine innings of work last year.
Legacy is already off to a 4-0 start this year after an 18-2 drubbing over Midland Christian this weekend.
Preseason Player to Watch: Creed Williams, Aledo
The senior is committed to TCU and is looking to continue what he was building on from last year. In the abbreviated season, Williams was hitting .408 with two round-trippers, seven doubles, one triple and 23 RBI. All of that basically mirrored or surpassed his sophomore season output, which was a full season.
