Concluding Wednesday’s practice, Coppell coach Ryan Howard gave a clear message to the Coppell baseball team: most teams in Texas were not playing for a district championship on the last day of district play and half of all the teams in Texas will play their last baseball game of the season this week.

Coppell, however, is not one of those teams and the Cowboys are given an opportunity to play for their first district championship under Howard and their first since 2018 at home on the last night of district play. 

“We play to win every single game we go out for and our players have earned the right to play for a championship,” Howard said. “It’s something we set out to do in the beginning of the year so it is a good accomplishment and it’s a good spot to be in so I’m excited to watch our guys go play, I feel like they’re ready to go and this is why you do it; this is why you do all the offseason stuff and why you do everything in the season is to get to these games that mean a lot and you can win championships by winning them,”

In a clash of state-ranked teams, Class 6A  No.11 Coppell returns home to host game two of a District 6-6A series against No. 22 Flower Mound at Coppell ISD Baseball/Softball Complex on Friday with first pitch at 7:30 p.m.

The Cowboys (19-6-1, 12-1 in District 6-6A) have raced Flower Mound Marcus (22-5-2, 12-1) for the District 6-6A Championship all season and that, plus playoff opponents, bragging rights and seeding will all be to play for on Friday. 

“Walking out being the District 6-6A champion is huge,” Howard said. “Our district is one of the toughest in the state and if we prove that we can play, compete and finish on top of this district then we can play and compete with a lot of schools in the state.”

Coppell defeated Flower Mound, 4-2, in game one of the series on Tuesday in a chippy, gritty and intense contest behind clutch RBIs in the top of the sixth from junior first baseman Andrew Schultz and senior catcher Bradley Castillo. 

“Schultz had a big night for us at the plate with three RBIs and getting his confidence going was big because he is going to be a big bat for us in the lineup on Friday,” Howard said. “We had several guys in our line up that had key at-bats and they were able to execute so hopefully we’re getting some guys hot at the right time.” 

Senior Andrew Nester expects to get the start on the mound against Flower Mound,

“I’m excited and ready to compete,” Nester said. “The animosity brings out a lot of emotion, it gives us an extra drive to compete and put the other team on the ground. We need to win and, as coach says, this is the first championship we need to get this year and I’m really excited that we get the chance to go and do that at home.”

According to Howard, if the Cowboys and Marauders, who play Plano East, either both win or both lose, there will be a seeding game on Saturday with time and location to be determined. However, as long as the Marauders and Cowboys match each others’ results, they are guaranteed Co-District 6-6A champions. If either team wins and the other does not then they will be crowned District 6-6A champions. 

Follow Meer (@mahfuz_meer) and @SidekickSports on Twitter.