ESPN RISE

Only a few days removed from the swine flu alert that briefly shut down high school sports in Texas, it seems the stoppage couldn't cool the bats of two of the state's hottest-hitting teams.

Rusty Shaw

M.P. Cokinos leads Memorial with 11 long balls.

Class 5A Memorial (Houston) and 4A Hays (Buda) near Austin have been cracking home runs at a staggering rate. Heading into this week's opening round of the UIL playoffs, the Memorial Mustangs appear to be the state leaders among big schools with 45 homers. The Hays Rebels were just behind with 44.

Memorial is 25-3, ranks second in the latest poll of state coaches behind nearby Bellaire in 5A and hasn't lost since mid-March. Hays is 23-1, ranks third in 4A and hasn't lost since late February.

Hays senior pitcher/third baseman Jon Gonzales has hit 16 home runs, followed by senior catcher Nick De Santiago with eight and senior shortstop Colten Boothe with seven. For Memorial, senior catcher M.P. Cokinos leads the way with 11, followed by senior shortstop Michael Ratterree with 10. Senior center fielder Daniel Neumann has hit "only" six, after he blasted 14 last season.

Hays coach Doug Ragsdale is convinced the performances of his top home run hitters affect the other players on the team.

"I call it 'black cat offense,' like those firecrackers that you get at the Fourth of July," Ragsdale said. "When you light one off, they're all going off. Not just those three guys, but the others, too. It's been an amazing, enjoyable year."

Ragsdale and his counterpart at Memorial, Jeremy York, admit to preferring small ball. But at Memorial, this is just the latest incarnation of home run hubris. The 2007 Mustangs featured Cliff Vaughn with 12 homers (he's now a redshirt freshman at the University of Mississippi) and Kevin Ahrens with 11 (he was the No. 11 pick in the '07 pro draft and signed with Toronto).

"This is an ungodly amount of home runs," said York, in his fourth season as the Mustangs' head coach.

Memorial plays in a cozy on-campus park that York said is 300 feet down the lines and 365 to the power alleys. But the Mustangs have played only their seven District 18-5A home games there; all others came in tournaments or true road games.

"It doesn't matter where we play," York said. "They'll hit 'em out of any yard."

Last weekend was an example. The Mustangs traveled to Spring Woods (Houston) and hit four in a 21-6 victory.

Ratterree, a Rice signee, has conflicting opinions about home run hitting being contagious.

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Rusty Shaw

Michael Ratterree will take his sweet swing to Rice.

"If the guy in front of you hits a home run and the crowd's going crazy, the momentum helps you a little bit to try and hit another one," he said. "But if I try to go out there and hit a home run, it usually doesn't happen. I just try to look for a good pitch and swing hard and hopefully hit it on the sweet spot."

Said teammate Cokinos, who is headed to the University of Houston: "I just put a good swing on it and see what happens. I guess I get lucky sometimes. I guess the wind helps."

Neumann said the Mustangs' power affects how they're pitched.

"It probably makes them stay away from the fastball more, keep the pitches low and not out over the plate," he said.

Hays' Gonzales, who is 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, has seemingly recovered from surgery on his right shoulder in November of his junior year. For the 2008 baseball season, he played only first base and often tossed the ball underhanded.

Ragsdale said he brought Gonzales along slowly early this season as a pitcher. But there was no doubt about his hitting in early March, when the Rebels headed south to the San Antonio suburb of Converse to play in 5A Judson High's tournament. Gonzales hit six homers in a four-game span, including two back-to-backs. Overall, he was 11-for-14 with 16 RBIs as Hays won five games and the tournament title.

"We babied him along [returning to the mound]," Ragsdale said. "One inning. Then two. Then three. He pitched seven in our first district game and now gets stronger and stronger." Gonzales is 5-0 with two saves.

Gonzales plans to attend two-year Tyler College and play for former major league pitcher Craig McMurtry. He said he wants to concentrate on pitching but will be allowed to play the field and hit when not on the mound.

De Santiago, the one left-handed hitter in the bunch, has signed with the University of Texas. He said the Rebels can be a little intimidating, especially on the road in front of fans who aren't familiar with their ability.

"We usually hit at least 30 balls out of the park during batting practice," De Santiago said.

Hays' home park features a 20-foot wall in straightaway center -- the "blue wall," in the tradition of Fenway Park's green monster. Boothe has cleared the wall twice in his first season as a full-time player.

Hays will face Waller in a best-of-three bi-district series scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Memorial's first-round opponent, Cinco Ranch (Katy), won a coin flip to have the round played in just one game, on Thursday night.

Note to Waller and Cinco Ranch: Play deep.

Jeff Miller is a freelance writer in Texas and can be reached at miller.jeff55@gmail.com.