Despite posting a 24-8-1 overall record and capturing the District 6-4A baseball championship in 2024, the Brownwood Lions were bounced from the playoffs in the second round. The lack of postseason success a year ago has been the rallying cry heading into the 2025 campaign, which begins at 6 p.m. Monday at the new Morris Southall Field against San Angelo Lake View

“We won a lot of ball games last year but our thing right now is getting past the second round,” said Lions head coach Blake Sandford. “Our goal is to get past the second round and get deep in the playoffs. That’s how we’re going to quantify and how we gauge our success.”

The Lions return a solid nucleus from last year’s squad, who have been thrust into the role of program leaders in anticipation of the spring season.

“Our middle infield is coming back with Antonio Ybarra, who signed with Clarendon, and Austin Pittman,” Sandford said. “We’ve got Noah Gonzalez on the mound, Austin Wright is going to move to first base and Dario Rodriguez is over at third. Jack Field is coming back in the outfield for us, and they were all-district guys for us that are returning.

“I was telling this year’s seniors, we had some success last year, but when you look backward it’s good to have that memory and those thoughts of success, but now it’s your turn and you have to prove and validate yourself and move forward and be leaders for the mass of youngsters we do have. We have a great core of upperclassmen that are really, really good at baseball. They’re like field rats, they never go home, they’re leading by example and they’re blessed with knowledge to help our youngsters and I’m really thankful for that.”

As for Morris Southall Field, the only things that remain from a year ago are the dugouts. An entirely new turf field, fencing, lighting, bleachers, press box and parking lot are among the highlights, with construction of a new concession stand and restrooms on the way.

“This is definitely not a bad place to come to work,” Sandford said with a laugh. “There’s a lot of history that has happened at Morris Southall Field and we certainly are respectful and want to uphold that history, but now when you have a facility and new turf and lights and fencing and everything that goes along with it, now we can service some kids and give them a really great baseball experience. When the fans come in now they’re right on top of the action. There’s a not a bad view from the new stands, you can see everything.”

After hosting San Angelo Lake View Monday, the annual Brown County baseball tournament will take place at the new complex Thursday, Feb. 20 through Saturday, Feb. 22.

Looking ahead to the District 6-4A race, the reigning champion Lions welcome Brock to a mix that already features Stephenville, Graham, Glen Rose and Mineral Wells.

“It’s a good district, but we’re playing everybody twice instead of three times,” Sandford said. “I got outvoted by everyone in the district, so we have to be on when we play everyone. Any time when you’re at the top of the heap everybody’s going to be trying to get you, and I expect us to be on the top of the heap again. We didn’t schedule easy, kind of like what we did with football. We’re not playing a patty cake schedule, we’re getting after it and we’re going to see what we’re made of early in preparation for that district.”

The Lions’ first district contest is March 25 at Stephenville.

Regarding the keys to reaching their goals in 2025, Sandford said, “We need to have more run production and we started that in the fall with the weight program and our toughness factor. We have to make sure we’re a savage at the plate and produce runs. I think our pitching staff is going to be really good, I think our defensive guys are going to get outs. It’s a race to 21 outs and they understand that concept. But by and large, the thing we have to work on is producing runs.”