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Record: District 3-9 Season 11-14
Preston Newman signs NLI to play at Howard Payne University
Alex Gonzalez signs NLI to play at Ventura College
Youth spells bright future for Bell baseball
Despite missing the baseball playoffs for a second straight season, L.D. Bell baseball coach Paul Gibson believes his team is moving in the direction of a return to the postseason.
Gibson is already anticipating next season and the push for a return as they enter a new district with optimism and some solid returning talent.
“When I look ahead, I see a lot of kids (five returning starters and five returning lettermen) coming back,” Gibson said. “The last two seasons we have had only three total returning.”
The Raiders finished 11-14 overall and 3-9 in District 7-6A. A lack of offense hampered them, especially in league play.
The loss of senior outfielder/pitcher Mason Peterson, a four-year starter who has signed to play for Howard Junior College, was also a factor. He missed the season to have Tommy John surgery on his arm.
Still, in Peterson’s absence, Gibson praised the seniors on his team for doing what is expected of leaders.
“We had very good leadership from our seniors. I felt like the kids played hard every night,” he said. “The injury to Mason and lack of depth seemed to hurt us late in games.”
That lack of depth, however, will turn into experience next season. There are several underclassmen to whom Gibson can turn for leadership next season.
Three sophomores who will be juniors next season will provide a lot of pitching potential. Jacob Rose averaged a strikeout per inning (12 with three walks in 12.2 innings, a 1-1 record, 4.42 earned run average). Blake Empkey posted a 2.05 ERA, and Johnny Sifuentes was 1-for-1 in a save opportunity.
Sophomore-to-be Mason Ornelas, a third baseman and pitcher, showed strong potential at both positions. He drove in a team-best 11 RBI, batted .250, and was 1-3 pitching with a 3.35 ERA, 18 strikeouts and nine walks in 31.1 innings.
Gibson listed the highlight of the season being when the Raiders went 6-0 in a tournament the second weekend of the season. That and the progress made by the younger players who will provide the future of the program were the best things to come from the 2016 campaign, he said.
“We’ve got several players that hopefully learned the speed of a varsity game and what it’s going to take to win,” he said.
The Bell junior varsity went 6-5 against what Gibson called “some very good teams.”
The Raiders will lose nine seniors to graduation, including their top three hitters, Preston Newman (.292), Jarrett Fuller (.292) and Nathanial Bassett (.273). The top returning hitter will be senior-to-be catcher Collin Killough (.268).
The Raiders will move into a new district next season. Along with Bell and rival Trinity, it will feature Lewisville, Flower Mound, Lewisville Hebron, Lewisville Marcus, Northwest Nelson and Southlake Carroll. Of those, Flower Mound, Hebron, Carroll and Trinity advanced to the playoffs this season, with only Trinity not getting past bi-district.
One of Bell’s district wins was 3-2 over Trinity.
“It’s going to be two more years of very competitive baseball every game,” Gibson said.
Nathanial Bassett signs NLI to play at St. Gregory's University.
Son of former Bell baseball assistant coach thrives under pressure
BY Rick Mauch - Special to the Star-Telegram - April 4, 2016
Jarrett Fuller is a coach’s son.
But he’s not coached by Dad. Maybe if he’d been born a decade sooner, but ...
Even so, as the son of former L.D. Bell assistant coach Ray Fuller, Jarrett came to the varsity with a sturdy knowledge of the game and what was expected of him.
“The fact that my dad was a coach has given me insight into certain expectations that Coach [Paul] Gibson wants and allowed me to be prepared for Coach Gibson’s philosophy,” Jarrett said.
Ray Fuller was an assistant for the Blue Raiders from 1994 to 2005. Now he an assistant principal at the school.
While he may not be in the dugout, Bell baseball is still a popular topic in the Fuller household. In fact, sports in general is a regular point of conversation between dad and son.
“We talk about various sports and try to watch whatever game is on together,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett is a senior in his second varsity season. He plays second base and pitches in relief. Although he’s not had his dad for either junior varsity or varsity ball as a coach, he learned plenty from him in the years prior.
“Whenever I was little, he was very active in coaching me in baseball, and if he wasn’t able to be the formal coach for my team, he was still able to help me develop my skills,” Jarrett said.
Those skills have him handling himself well at two pressure-packed positions. Through the first 17 games, he had been a part of six double plays and had committed one error in 50 chances for a .980 fielding percentage. On the mound, he entered the week with a 2-0 record with a 0.70 earned run average.
“He has played a great second base this year,” said Gibson. “He grew up around the program and has a pretty good idea about what is expected of him.”
Not only have Jarrett and his dad been a big part of the baseball program, his older sister Jaymie played softball for the Lady Raiders from 2010 to 2013. Like Jarrett, she had a starting position her final two years, as catcher.
Jarrett said he doesn’t prefer one position over the other but enjoys playing both tremendously. And he thrives under the pressure of both.
“There is definitely pressure and intensity in both positions,” he said. “At second base, I have to try to stay calm and relaxed and be aware of everything that is going on.
“While pitching and trying to close a game, the intensity is definitely heightened because of the importance of the situation.”
And while Jarrett has given his dad, the former baseball coach, plenty of reasons to be proud of his play on the field, he has also given his dad, the assistant principal, ample reasons to boast about him scholastically. Aside from baseball, Jarrett is involved in the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta and class council while being in the International Baccalaureate program.
He’s also ranked 54th in his class out of 630 students.
“Maintaining the high standards for grades that I have for myself requires constant effort and focus, but I still have time to be with my family and enjoy baseball,” he said.
MaxPreps/USA Players of the Week for February 29-March 6, 2016
DURHAM, N.C. -- USA Baseball and MaxPreps announced on Monday, the MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher and Player of the Week Award winners for the week of March 1 – 6, 2016, bringing national recognition to the top-performing high school athletes in the country.
Representing eight national regions, -- Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and West -- players are selected based upon stats that are submitted to MaxPreps.com by coaches and team administrators. For players to be nominated each week, their coach must enter the athlete's game stats into MaxPreps by Sunday evening. High school coaches may obtain an access code to enter stats for their teams at maxpreps.com/cl.
Due to season start dates, the Great Lakes, Northeast, and Northwest regions will not have a Pitcher or Player of the Week Award recipients for the week of March 1 – 6.
The winners for MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week Award are as follows:
Mid-Atlantic Region
Pitcher of the Week: Gage Herring, a junior out of Hobbton High School (Newton Grove, N.C.), threw six innings of no-hit baseball to earn the Mid-Atlantic MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher of the Week. Herring struck out 15 batters and surrendered 0 walks in the victory.
Player of the Week: Kameron Batten, a junior from West Montgomery High School (Mt. Gilead, N.C.), hit .778 on the week to be named the Mid-Atlantic MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week. Batten was 7-for-9 with six RBIs, two walks, and three runs scored. He posted a 1.111 slugging percentage for the week.
Midwest Region
Pitcher of the Week: Dawson Armstrong, a junior out of Siloam Springs High School (Siloam Springs, Ark.), earned Midwest MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out 12 batters in seven innings pitched. Armstrong gave up one unearned run and surrendered just four hits in his team's victory.
Player of the Week: Hunter Gautreaux, a junior from Bauxite High School (Bauxite, Ark.), hit two home runs in his five at-bats to earn Midwest MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week honors. Gautreaux finished the week batting .800 with two RBIs and two walks.
Southeast Region
Pitcher of the Week: Miguel Gonzalez, a senior out of South Broward High School (Hollywood, Fla.), pitched five innings of no-hit baseball to earn Southeast MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors. Gonzalez struck out 12 batters and gave up one walk to earn the victory for his team.
Player of the Week: Brock Nelson, a sophomore out of Dalton High School (Dalton, Ga.), went 8-for-9 at the plate with two home runs to accumulate a 1.555 slugging percentage to earn the Southeast MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week award. Nelson tallied seven RBIs and three runs and held a .900 on-base percentage.
Southwest Region
Pitcher of the Week: Devon Willett, a senior out of Bell High School (Hurst, Texas), struck out nine batters in seven innings to earn the Southwest MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher of the Week award. In the victory, Willet gave up no earned runs, one walk, and only two hits.
Player of the Week: Marshall Anderson, a senior from Sulphur Bluff (Sulphur Bluff, Texas), went a perfect 9-for-9 with 11 RBIs to be named the Southwest MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week award recipient. In addition to his nine hits, Anderson hit two home runs and had one walk to secure a 1.000 on-base percentage and an astounding 2.111 slugging percentage.
West Region
Pitcher of the Week: Anthony Gomez, a junior out of Lennox Academy (Lennox, Calif.), pitched five innings of no-hit baseball to earn the West MaxPreps USA Baseball Pitcher of the Week award. Gomez struck out 12 players and gave up just one walk on the week, leading his team to a victory.
Player of the Week: Robert Reeves, a senior from Hart High School (Newhall, Calif.), picked up 10 hits in 11 at-bats to be named the West MaxPreps USA Baseball Player of the Week. Reeves scored four runs and had two RBIs while holding an on-base percentage of .917.
About MaxPreps
Founded in August 2002, MaxPreps.com is headquartered in Cameron Park, California, and is a unit of CBS Interactive. MaxPreps is proud to be involved with America's hometown heroes – the young men and women working hard to improve their skills, place team above self and serve as inspirations to their local communities. MaxPreps aspires to cover every team, every game and every player, doing so in collaboration with nearly 100,000 varsity coaches throughout the United States.
About USA Baseball
USA Baseball is the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseball Classic, Premier12 and Pan Am teams (and all other USA Baseball Professional Teams); the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team; the USA Baseball 18U, 15U and 12U National Teams; and the USA Baseball Women's National Team, all of which participate in various international competitions each year. The organization is responsible for the continued proliferation and health of the sport, and leads a number of amateur initiatives including PLAYBALL and Pitch Smart. USA Baseball also presents the Golden Spikes Award annually to the top amateur baseball player in the country. For more information, please visit the organization's official websites: USABaseball.com, PLAYBALL.org, PitchSmart.org, GoldenSpikesAward.com and USABaseballShop.com.
Killough Walk Off!!
Blue Raiders 2 Denton Guyer 1
Last season was a little different, and perhaps even a shock to the system, for the L.D. Bell baseball team.
It was the exact opposite of what the program has enjoyed for many years.
After four straight seasons of reaching the playoffs, players emptied their lockers after the final regular-season game. And, surprisingly, they were never even in contention for a postseason berth.
Just two seasons after reaching the regional semifinals for a third straight (including a regional finals berth in 2011), they slipped to 10-13 overall and just 3-9 in District 7-6A.
Blue Raiders coach Paul Gibson is counting on senior leadership to get his team back into postseason contention. However, he does acknowledge his team plays in one of the toughest districts to be found, 7-6A.
Seniors back for their second varsity season include pitcher/second baseman Jarret Fuller, first baseman/pitcher Preston Newman and outfielder Nathaniel Bassett. Also back for a second varsity year are junior catcher/designated hitter Collin Killough and sophomore shortstop Michael Bernhardt.
Fuller was the only full-time starter of the aforementioned.
One senior, however, will not be on the roster this season. Pitcher Mason Peterson, a four-year starter, is out due to Tommy John surgery.
Peterson was a second-team all-district selection last season.
“Pitching will be a work in progress, with a couple of young arms in the mix,” Gibson said.
Ditto for hitting, he said. The Raiders will likely have to manufacture runs by playing small ball, getting runners on base and finding ways to move them around to score.
“Hitting will be a work in progress. Not a lot of power.”
Scoring runs was a challenge for the Raiders last season. In district they were outscored 72-27, an average of 6-2.25.
And while the returning experience can only help, Gibson said it’s “too early to tell what our strengths will be this year.”
If the Raiders can put things together this season, they will nonetheless be facing a tall challenge each time they take the field for a district contest. But then, so will everyone else in the league, Gibson said.
Quite simply, District 7-6A is one of the toughest to be found. Last season, no team went through unscathed. Even champion Coppell had a couple of losses.
But to the survivors who advance into the playoffs go some spoils. That toughness continued well into the postseason in 2015.
Coppell was eliminated in the postseason by Southlake Carroll, third in district, when the two met in the regional quarterfinals. Carroll was ousted the next week by Arlington Martin.
“District is going to be a dogfight every week,” Gibson said. “You try to play a tough nondistrict schedule every year to prepare for battle.”
Since 1995, the Raiders have reached the playoffs 14 times. In those appearances, they have enjoyed much success.
Bell has reached the area (second) round 10 times, the regional quarterfinals (third round) four times, the regional semifinals three times (including 2011, 2012, 2013), and the regional finals in 2011.
Mason Peterson signs NLI to play at Howard College
2016 Alumni Game - 2/6/2016
Field Day -- 1/23/2016
6Stones Night of Hope Celebration
Stonegate Elementary
12/14/2015
L. D. Bell Head Coach Paul Gibson and the Blue Raider Baseball team continue their rich tradition of giving back to the community by purchasing and delivering complete Thanksgiving meals. This is the 17th year Coaches and players of the L.D. Bell Baseball team have donated meals to families in the H-E-B area.
L.D. Bell Baseball will also partner with 6 Stones Mission Network in December and adopt three local families.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Homecoming Parade 2015
2015 Homecoming Parade!!
Monday September 14, 2015 6:00pm
Players and parents, please meet - 4:30pm at Bell field to help decorate the trailer.
Also, Congratulations to JR Choate- Basketball Representative, Mason Peterson-Baseball Representative, Tyler Townsend-Cheerleading Representative for Homecoming King.
#RedeemIN16 #BleedBlue
Pre-Participation Forms
There will be two online forms, athlete information and all the pre-participation forms. These two will be completed online and will automatically be placed into Rank One. The physical form will be the ONLY form that will need to be turned into the athletic trainers. We will then “check off” the athlete into Rank One. On the website this will be a fillable PDF form that can be filled in and printed then taken with them to the Dr. They can also print a blank form. Please click link below to get started.
