Abilene High School

Former Cooper baseball standout Caleb Freeman was called up to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, becoming the first Abilene ISD graduate to play in the major leagues since former Abilene High School standout John Lackey retired following the 2017 season.

Freeman will join the White Sox on Monday, May 5, as the Sox open a four-game series in Kansas City against the Royals. A right-handed reliever, Freeman will work out of the bullpen. He earned the call-up to the big leagues after posting a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA in 10 1/3 innings with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights of the International League.

He was a 15th-round draft choice out of Texas Tech in 2019 and spent the last few years working his way up through the team’s minor-league organization. Freeman started with the Double-A Birmingham Barons this season before moving to Triple-A Charlotte.

Freeman played football and baseball at Cooper, and as a senior in 2016, he was 5-3 with a 3.08 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings. In three years at Texas Tech, Freeman was 3-1 in 51 appearances (49 in relief) with a 6.53 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings of work.

Freeman will be the ninth Abilenian player to appear in a major league game as either a player or manager. He joins Lackey, former Cooper pitcher David Johnson, former Abilene High first baseman Chuck Harrison, former Abilene High catcher Hack Harrison, former catcher Phil Lombardi, current White Sox pitcher Davis Martin, former Abilene Christian Schools and ACU pitcher Bill Gilbreth, and former Boston manager Grady Little.

Johnson played for Baltimore and Minnesota from 1974-78, while Gilbreth played for the Detroit Tigers and California Angels. Miller was born in Celeste but grew up in Abilene, graduating from AHS before joining the Tigers from 1944-45, winning a World Series title in 1945 with the Tigers.

Harrison played first base at Abilene High and later in the big leagues for the Houston Astros (1965-67) and the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1971). Martin was born in Abilene but grew up in San Angelo, where he played for Central High School before moving on to Texas Tech, where he and Freeman were teammates. 

Lombardi was born in Abilene, grew up in Granada Hills, California, and played for the New York Yankees and New York Mets from 1986 to 89. Little, who managed the Red Sox in 2002-03 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006-07, was born in Abilene but grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina.

SOFTBALL
The Abilene High Lady Eagles’ season continues this weekend in the regional quarterfinal round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs after they rallied past El Paso Americas last week in the area round.

AHS lost the first game of the best-of-three series last Friday, 5-4, but came back to win both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, 3-2 in eight innings and 4-2. The Lady Eagles won Saturday’s first game on a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the eighth before pitcher Avah Reyes dominated Americas in the decisive third game.

Reyes pitched a complete-game two-hitter, giving up four walks and striking out five hitters en route to the series-clinching victory.

AHS (20-9) will play Birdville (28-3) this weekend in the regional quarterfinals in a three-game series starting Thursday in Graham. The teams will play at 7 p.m. Thursday and 7 p.m. Friday, with a potential decisive third game set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

BASEBALL
The baseball seasons for Abilene High and Cooper ended last weekend with losses in the Class 5A Division I bi-district round. Abilene High lost to Amarillo High, and Cooper lost to Lubbock Coronado.

The Eagles, who finish the season 17-12-1, split the first two games against the Sandies, falling 2-1 in the first game before beating them, 2-0, behind pitcher George Ferguson. The Sandies, however, pounded out 19 hits in the decisive third game on their way to a 10-5 win in the series-clinching victory.

The Cougars dropped two heartbreakers to Lubbock Coronado, falling 3-0 in the first game and 2-1 in eight innings last Saturday in the game that sealed their fate. An error in the bottom of the eighth inning led to a bloop hit that drove in the series-winning run.

Cooper, which made the playoffs for the first time since 2019, finished the season 20-10.

TENNIS
Abilene High and Cooper tennis players will play in the Region I-5A tournament this week at Texas Tech’s McLeod Tennis Center in Lubbock. The Cooper duo of Jayden Palacios and Trae Foster won the boys’ doubles District 4-5A championship two weeks ago to earn their spot in the regional tournament.

Abilene High’s mixed doubles team of Cynthia Grace Darby and Henry Ferguson finished second at the district meet and will play in the regional tournament. And the Eagles’ girls’ doubles duo of Abby Bryan and Allie Dunn will play in the regional tournament.