Athletes Connection - Veteran and newbie: Westside, Bellaire prepare for regional semifinals

	Veteran and newbie: Westside, Bellaire prepare for regional semifinals
	Monday May 19, 2008
	Written by Dave Purpura

District 20-5A's reputation as one of the best, if not top-heavy, baseball districts in the state is alive and well for at least one more week.

On one end of the spectrum is perennial power Bellaire, which is two rounds away from appearing in its 10th state tournament. The Cardinals ousted district champion and downstreet rival Lamar to advance to this weekend's 5A-Region III semifinal matchup with Alvin, its first regional semifinal berth in six years.

Then there's Westside, an eight-year school that never has been this far into the postseason. A two-game upending of 18-5A champion Memorial advanced the Wolves into a semifinal series against Baytown Sterling, the programs’ first-ever meeting.

“These kids are excited about being somewhere we’ve never been,” Westside coach Emrick Jagneaux said. “We only had three guys back from last year. This year has been a maturing process and we’re settling in.”

Westside finished third in 20-5A.

Baytown Sterling is paced by pitchers Hunter Cervenka and Brett Marshall. They combined for 19 wins during the regular-season; Cervenka, a Texas signee, was undefeated until a 12-3 loss to Fort Bend Elkins in Game 1 of their regional quarterfinal series.

Marshall has hit 11 home runs.

“They’re a lot like us with the lefty and righty in their rotation; they have (lefthander Cervenka and Marshall) and we have Taylor Wall and Michael Goodnight,” Jagneaux said. “We’re close to spitting images of each other.”

Sterling shared the 21-5A championship with Atascocita.

Alvin advanced by eliminating District 24-5A rivals Brazoswood in three games.

Those schools' softball teams will meet in the regional finals. Both teams won their semifinal matchups in three games; Brazoswood eliminated Katy Taylor and Alvin ousted Bellaire.

The Bucs are seeking their first state tournament berth since 2002 and first championship since 2000, when they went 34-0 and didn't allow an earned run the entire season.

Brazoswood is 3-0 against Alvin this year, winning each game 1-0.

A full schedule of sites and times for this weekend's games is expected to be available later Monday.

Chad Washington contributed.