Central Catholic varsity baseball has captured the district championship after defeating St. John’s 2-1, and will play Katy Concordia on May 6 in the regional playoffs to earn a berth in the TAPPS state finals.

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It’s that time of year again- high school baseball playoffs are in full swing. This season, Central Catholic’s varsity baseball team has been no stranger to finding themselves in the win column. In fact, MaxPreps is reporting an overall record of 24-5 for the Buttons, and a win percentage of 0.83%. In district competition, the Buttons are 8-1, making them 1st in the respective district. The rival West Avenue school is 2nd, with a record of 7-2.

Led by Head Coach Danny Heep and Coach Matt Flores, the team is optimistic and always has been throughout the season, even after getting robbed of their season last year due to the start of pandemic and shutdown.

Tony DeJesus, Junior and starting shortstop on the team, shares some of his thoughts on the team’s success this season. He claims that belief in the process, has taken them places when it comes to success. “I think the biggest thing that has defined our success this season is understanding that it’s going to take all of us to be on the same page.” He continues, “Not only to work hard to win, but to believe and trust in the process…plain and simple.”

The process has indeed been working for them, as they finished 2-1 in the series vs Antonian this season. DeJesus says, “Getting through Antonian was huge and I believe we were well prepared for it.” He continues, “Our pitchers did an amazing job keeping us in the game and we all executed on our jobs to get the job done. However our focus goes way further than just beating Antonian, and we have all the confidence to compete with the best.”

Obviously, a year was taken off due to COVID-19. This season, along with many other sports were debated on whether they should be played or not. DeJesus reflects heavily upon that and says while the pandemic is starting to slow down, nothing should be taken for granted. “With how covid shut down the season last year, I think in the back of all our minds we all feel like it could happen again so we can’t take this season for granted.” He continues, “We need to bring energy and play every game like it’s our last and that’s what we have been doing.”

Finally, DeJesus shares some personal thoughts about the season, and thanks the coaching staff and fellow teammates for the success this season. “I feel like after everything that has happened it just brought us that much more closer which has allowed us to focus that much more on our goal…and that is to compete and leave it all out on the field to win ball games. Our coaches and staff have done a amazing job keeping us motivated and pushing the best out of us as a TEAM. We definitely have something special going on for all of us this season.”

As of now, the playoff schedule with St. John’s of Houston isn’t firm, but it’s expected that the game will be played Monday, April 3, at Kahlig Field, weather and field conditions permitting.