BRYAN, Texas — We'll never know how the 2020 baseball season would have ended for Texas A&M, but the results we do have were promising.
The Aggies were 15-3 before Covid-19 caused the NCAA to cancel the rest of the season, but A&M was the lone team in America with multiple First Team All-Americans and three players drafted in the first 50 picks of the MLB Draft.
On top of that, eight Aggies are playing for the Brazos Valley Bombers this summer, and are now just one win away from the Texas Collegiate League Championship.
Bryce Blaum, Taylor Smith and Logan Sartori are mainstays in the Bombers lineup, while Mikey Hoehner (who just joined the team last week) and Austin Bost fill secondary roles. Bryce Miller and Will Johnston combined to throw nine scoreless innings in the Bombers playoff series sweep over San Antonio, while Dustin Saenz and Candler Jozwiak come out of the bullpen.
Not only is the influx of A&M talent helping lead the Bombers to another TCL Championship Game, but it's also helping build valuable team chemistry for when the Aggies season resumes.
"We had a lot of new guys who played this year, like Logan Sartori and we were just starting to build that chemistry before the season was cut short," Bryce Blaum, a senior infielder says. "Just to play on this infield with [Sartori], Austin Bost, Mikey Hoehner, Taylor Smith behind the plate... it's just cool to grow the friendship and relationships we were building on."
"It's been good playing with the Aggies and get the feeling that everything is normal again," Hoehner, a senior catcher, says. "It's been a lot of fun playing with these guys and building relationships."
The Bombers are still waiting to figure out their opponent in the championship game. If Amarillo beats Tulsa Thursday night, the Bombers will travel to Amarillo for the championship game. If Tulsa wins, the Bombers will host the game on Saturday night at Travis Field.
