{"id":553343,"date":"2026-02-04T01:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/553343\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T01:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T01:23:11","slug":"pirates-reload-with-title-expectations-state-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/553343\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates reload with title expectations | State News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pirates<\/p>\n

With a seasoned core and one of the state\u2019s most demanding pre-district slates ahead, the Sinton Pirates enter the 2026 season with championship expectations firmly intact.<\/p>\n

Sinton returns a deep group of impact starters from last year\u2019s regional final run, led by a junior-heavy pitching staff and a lineup anchored by proven run producers.<\/p>\n

On the mound, juniors Keldon Kemp, Dylan Arriaga and Julian Suarez headline a trio that powered the Pirates four rounds deep into the playoffs a season ago.<\/p>\n

Kemp went 8-2 with a 1.70 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 65.2 innings, earning first-team all-district honors as a pitcher. At the plate, he hit .291 with 25 RBIs.<\/p>\n

Suarez brings versatility as a catcher, infielder and pitcher after batting .327 with 26 RBIs, 28 runs scored and 20 stolen bases, while also going 2-0 on the mound. Arriaga adds another front-line arm after posting a 6-3 record with 71 strikeouts and a 2.34 ERA, while hitting .427 with 23 RBIs.<\/p>\n

Behind the plate, sophomore Karsen McCoy returns after handling major catching duties as a freshman, batting .293 with 15 RBIs and earning first-team all-district honors at third base. Sinton also expects contributions from newcomers Ace Fuentes and DJ Rodriguez, both seniors in the infield, along with juniors Roland Galvan and Connor Davis and sophomores Austin Mutchler and Augie Castillo.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n \"Arrest
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe return a good core from last year’s team that I am really excited about,\u201d said coach Adrian Alaniz, who has compiled a 271-69-4 record in 10 seasons at Sinton, that includes one state title (2022). “Our players that had smaller roles last year will fit right into starter roles this year. We may be a youthful group in areas, but as the season progresses I expect our team to hit its stride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expectations remain unchanged for a program accustomed to deep postseason runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery year the goal is to get back to the state tournament, make some noise in Round Rock and win another state championship,\u201d Alaniz said. \u201cThat’s what these kids, our coaches and the community sign up for when baseball season comes around. A lot of things have to go right in order for that to happen, but the fans can expect this group to gel at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinton\u2019s preparation will be tested early. The Pirates are scheduled to face a slate that includes Smithson Valley, Lake Travis, Corpus Christi Calallen, China Spring, Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway and Corpus Christi London before district play begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe we play one of the toughest pre-season schedules in the state throughout any classification,\u201d Alaniz said. \u201cOur work is cut out for us but in order to get where we want to be we have to play high caliber ball clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pirates will open the season on Feb. 19 at the Sinton Invitational.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a seasoned core and one of the state\u2019s most demanding pre-district slates ahead, the Sinton Pirates enter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2288],"tags":[72847,72850,2315,72839,72841,2309,5,2316,2314,2313,2325,3518,2413,16574,3272,72845,72848,72838,58974,2333,72846,72842,4285,72849,72852,72843,72851,36002,4532,19,2310,2328,2304,2318,2308,2319,4,2305,2303,2307,2320,72836,72835,72840,72837,2327,2321,12038,72844,185,2350,2311,2312,1039],"class_list":{"0":"post-553343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-ace-fuentes","9":"tag-adrian-alaniz","10":"tag-athletic-sports","11":"tag-augie-castillo","12":"tag-austin-mutchler","13":"tag-ball-and-bat-games","14":"tag-baseball","15":"tag-baseball-competitions","16":"tag-baseball-finals","17":"tag-baseball-playoffs-and-champions","18":"tag-baseball-teams","19":"tag-catcher","20":"tag-champion-seasons-in-major-league-baseball","21":"tag-christi","22":"tag-coach","23":"tag-connor-davis","24":"tag-dj-rodriguez","25":"tag-dylan-arriaga","26":"tag-expectation","27":"tag-grass-field-surfaces","28":"tag-julian-suarez","29":"tag-karsen-mccoy","30":"tag-kemp","31":"tag-lake-china-spring","32":"tag-lake-corpus-christi-calallen","33":"tag-lake-corpus-christi-london","34":"tag-lake-corpus-christi-tuloso-midway","35":"tag-lake-travis","36":"tag-major","37":"tag-major-league-baseball","38":"tag-major-league-baseball-competitions","39":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","40":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","41":"tag-major-league-baseball-seasons","42":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams","43":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams-seasons","44":"tag-mlb","45":"tag-mlb-playoffs","46":"tag-mlb-postseason","47":"tag-outdoor-sports","48":"tag-pitcher","49":"tag-ppk","50":"tag-reload","51":"tag-roland-galvan","52":"tag-saiyuki","53":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","54":"tag-seasons-in-baseball","55":"tag-sinton","56":"tag-smithson-valley","57":"tag-sports","58":"tag-strikeout","59":"tag-team-sports","60":"tag-turf-sports","61":"tag-world-series"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}