10/3/2011 10:21:20 AM
AUSTIN, Texas - One semifinal is in the books and the other is reaching its halfway point as the WWBA South Qualifier comes rolling to a close here today. The semis and championship game are being played at UT's historic Disch-Falk Field, where the Longhorns drew an average of about 6,500 fans to every one of their home games this spring. The playing field is FieldTurf with UT's orange Longhorn logo prominent in center field. The scoreboard boasts of the Longhorn's NCAA National Championships in 1949, 1950, 1975, 1983, 2002 and 2005 and the hallway leading into the Longhorn's clubhouse is lined with bulging trophy cases.
I got a chance to walk around down on the field a good hour before the first semifinal got under way, and was able to do an interview with former Longhorn All-American and big-league right-hander Calvin Schiraldi. Schiraldi is now a high school coach in Austin and was also coaching the Action Baseball Club 17u White squad. You can find my story elsewhere on pg.org's home page.
Disch-Falk truly is an amazing college baseball stadium, and the FieldTurf shined a startling bright green under the equally bright Texas sunshine. The weather here in Austin the past two days has been absolutely awesome, without a cloud in the sky and a light breeze. As I type this at 11:30 a.m. (CDT) the scoreboard reads 78 degrees.
The Travelblog is getting ready to live up to its name by heading out on the last leg of its journey at about 6:30 tomorrow morning. The PG crew's next destination is where it all began three weeks ago - Fort Myers, Fla. The next event is the WWBA Underclass World Championship that will run Friday through the following Monday. It should be a great capper to what has been an excellent adventure so far.
After the WWBA Underclass World championship is in the books, I will return to my home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a week before taking off to Jupiter, Fla., and the "Big Show", the WWBA World Championship. Before that happens, try to check back to this space from time-to-time as I hope to have frequent updates from my upcoming week in Fort Myers.
Happy trails!