The Mount Pleasant Tigers put up their best season since 2014 and were strongly rewarded with a stout showing on the District 15-5A All-District team this week. Head coach Tommy Stewart led the Tigers to an overall finish of 14-10-3 and a second-place district finish at 8-4. The Tigers took Nacogdoches to three games in the first round of the playoffs, narrowly missing out on their first playoff series win in 8 years. Mount Pleasant notched 11 district awards, a testament to the player’s hard work and team-first mentality that led to their success on the field.

Mount Pleasant running back Edward Wilder had plenty of games where he showcased what Athletic Director Ritchie Pinckard called the “it factor.” “Ed had a really special lean as a runner,” he said. “He knew how to get north and south and make you miss.

As Rivercrest baseball coach Laytner Kennedy impressed on his players, the deeper you go in the UIL playoffs, the tougher the competition will be. “We’ll try to play our baseball, no matter who we play,” Coach Kennedy said after his Rebels defeated Alba-Golden in the bi-district round.

The Mount Pleasant boys’ soccer team had another historic run this season advancing all the way to the regional tournament. The Tigers finished the season 20-4-4 overall and went 11-0-1 in district to complete the undefeated district championship. Mount Pleasant was rewarded for their efforts with three players earning superlatives and eight players named to first and second teams.

The CHAAMP Hawks varsity baseball team traveled to Marshall this past weekend for the NTAA district tournament, where they won their first game before falling in the tournament semi-finals. In their first game of the tournament the Hawks took on the King’s Academy Knights.

The Rivercrest Lady Rebels knew they would have a tough matchup in the area round, taking on the Kerens Lady Bobcats, a team with 24 wins on the season against only six losses and a tie. Kerens had scored in double digits 16 times on the year and had wins over four different 5A schools (Tyler High, Greenville, Dallas Adams and Skyline), a 6A school (Richardson Berkner) and a tie against a 5A school (Ennis). RIvercrest refused to back down in their area round series, played over the weekend at Tyler Legacy High School.

The Rivercrest Rebels found themselves in playoff mode early this year. Battling for the final spot out of the district with Linden-Kildare, Rivercrest finished off a sweep of eventual top seed Maud, then defeated the Tigers in their district playoff.

The bi-district round baseball playoff series between the Pewitt Brahmas and Winnsboro Red Raiders was an even affair for the entirety of the series. The series practically came down to a coin flip, but in the end, the Red Raiders edged the Brahmas, 2-0, in the best of three series played at Longview High School Friday.

The Mount Pleasant Tigers could have been called the “Cardiac Cats” this season with several games coming down to the wire and wins coming in the game’s final at-bats. That spirit and unwillingness to give up served the Tigers well in their bi-district playoff series against Nacogdoches.