CORPUS CHRISTI – For an 18th consecutive year, the Hooks have polled high school coaches to honor the top student-athletes in the area. The 2022 South Texas Preseason All-Star Team – Large School Baseball Division – features a Calallen trio as well as three standouts from Veterans Memorial.
Wildcats senior Justin Lamkin anchors the three-man pitching staff. Lamkin, a repeat selection committed to Texas-A&M, won all 11 decisions while posting a 0.83 ERA to go along with 167 strikeouts in 84 innings for Calallen last year. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound southpaw tossed a pair of no-hitters en route to Class 4A first-team all-state honors by the Texas Sports Writers Association.
Lamkin is joined on the preseason all-star squad by Calallen teammates Brayden Sprencel, a senior selected as the first baseman, and senior outfielder Terik Hickmon. The Wildcats are ranked third – right behind rival Sinton – in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 4A Preseason Poll. The Pirates dispatched Calallen in the regional finals last year.
Veterans Memorial, tabbed No. 7 in the THSBCA 5A preseason poll, is represented by senior pitcher Xavier Perez, senior second baseman Jake Martinez and senior outfielder Nick Reyes. Perez, a Florida commit, was honored on this all-star team last year. He responded by going 7-2 with a 1.27 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. Also an outfielder, Perez batted .351 with 18 extra-base hits and 31 RBIs. Like Perez, Reyes earned first-team all-29-5A honors in 2021.
Keevyn Goss of Ray accounts for the remainder of the Large School Baseball pitching staff. Goss, slated to play college ball at Houston Baptist, posted a 10-2 record and 2.68 ERA while fanning 108 in 75 2/3 innings as a sophomore in 2021. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound southpaw took home first team All-South Texas honors by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Fellow Texan junior Jack Bell is listed as the all-star team’s shortstop. Bell is committed to Arizona State.
Gregory-Portland’s Easton Dowell repeats as a preseason all-star at third base. Dowell, a Texas Tech signee, batted .400 and clubbed 17 extra-base hits as a junior for the Wildcats a year ago, earning Caller-Times All-South Texas first-team acclaim. G-P advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs, falling to Leander Rouse in the regional semifinals.
Carroll, undone by G-P in the third round of the postseason, accounts for the honor squad’s designated hitter, junior Easton Hewitt.
Senior Nash Villegas, who quarterbacked the Flour Bluff football Hornets to their first regional championship this winter, was the leading vote-getter at catcher. Camdyn Rozypal of Tuloso-Midway rounds out the outfield with Victoria East's Kaden Kolle earning a spot at utility. Rozypal was the 31-4A MVP in 2021, batting .393 with 37 runs scored, seven doubles, seven triples, two dingers, 40 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.
High school baseball at Whataburger Field, presented by Corpus Christi Medical Center, begins March 5 with the final two rounds of the Mira’s Sports & More Classic. The schedule is comprised of 20 games in 27 days. Click Here for more info.
2022 South Texas Preseason All-Star Team – Large School Baseball Division
Pitchers
Keevyn Goss | Ray | Jr.
Justin Lamkin | Calallen | Sr.
Xavier Perez | Veterans Memorial | Sr.
Catcher
Nash Villegas | Flour Bluff | Sr.
First Base
Brayden Sprencel | Calallen | Sr.
Second Base
Jake Martinez | Veterans Memorial | Sr.
Third Base
Easton Dowell | G-P | Sr.
Shortstop
Jack Bell | Ray | Jr.
Outfield
Terik Hickmon | Calallen | Sr.
Nick Reyes | Veterans Memorial | Sr.
Camdyn Rozypal | Tuloso-Midway | Sr.
Designated Hitter
Easton Hewitt | Carroll | Jr.
Utility
Kaden Kolle | Victoria East | Sr.