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Top sports stories of the year: No. 5

Published: Monday, December 31, 2012 2:12 PM CST

Baseball: The lone Lone Star-staters: Cougars shine in national tryout

By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com

Lifelong friends and The Colony baseball players Christion Smith and Austin Ferguson have spent a majority of their young athletic careers competing on many of the same teams in multiple sports as far back as when they were 4 years old.

Now the duo has something else in common. Smith - a junior - and Ferguson - a sophomore - are the only two players from Texas that were selected to the USSSA National High School Team.

The pair attended the tryout individually after receiving their respective invitations and are 2-of-20 athletes who made the final cut out of 180 invites.

"We're very proud of them," said Martin Dean, The Colony head baseball coach. "They've worked hard since they've been here and have continued to improve. It's good to see how the work has paid off. I think they're better now than they were even a couple of months ago during the tryout."

Dean believes the pair is the first Cougars to make the squad, at least in the eight years he has been coach. He also noted the amount of credibility the honors could bring The Colony as they prepare for their upcoming season.

"It's something the other guys can look up to and see the work ethic they have had as leaders," he said. "Hopefully it's something we can all carry into the season. I'm proud of them and it is a great honor for two great kids."

Smith, a three-year letterman, is a catcher and right-handed submarine pitcher, and also plays on the Denton County Raptors 18U select team. Ferguson, meanwhile, is a sophomore and two-year letterman who plays third base and is a member of the North Texas Longhorns 17U select team.

Now when the Cougars' season and their respective select schedules end, the pair will head to Kissimmee, Fla. for international competition at the 2013 USSSA Gold Medal Games.

It was in Kissimmee in August where Smith and Ferguson earned their spots on the team. The four-day tryout featured a day where players were drilled on hitting and fielding with their positional groups before players were broken off into teams for three days of scrimmaging.

"I think my select coach sent in some information and I got an e-mail saying I had been invited to the tryout," Smith said. "I wasn't really familiar with anyone down there. Austin was the only guy I knew."

Smith said he was able to interact with Ferguson during the tryout, including facing off against each other on multiple occasions.

"It was exciting," he said. "When the tryout was over, I felt I played well and thought I had a pretty good chance of making the team."

Days later, Smith received his invite.

Ferguson, who received his invite to the tryout on the phone while heading to the batting cages with his father, found out he was on the squad while he was still in Kissimmee.

"They announced what I guess you could say was the starting nine," he said. "I was the third name they called. It was so exciting. And to hear later that Christion had made the team was awesome. It's exciting to get do something like this with my best friend there."

Like Smith, Ferguson was pleased with his performance at the tryout.

"It went really well," he said. "I was very relaxed going down there. I wasn't really feeling any pressure and my bat was on fire."

Both Smith and Ferguson made the most of their trip to Florida when they weren't on the diamond as well.

"It was fun," Ferguson said. "My family and I went down a couple of days early and went to Cocoa Beach, ate dinner on a boat and went to an alligator park."

"We stayed a couple days after, too," Smith added. "The weather was great and it was a good time."

The pair's international experience may not end in Kissimmee, however, because if the team and players perform well, they could receive invites to the 17U National Team.

"It's almost like another tryout," Smith said. "It's going to be fun and I've never done anything like it before."

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