The Allen Eagles baseball team participated in the Collin County Invitational on March 3-5. Allen came into the second tournament of the year after going 1 and 4 in the Houston Memorial Tournament. Things weren’t looking up for the Eagles as a couple of the team’s starting players were not going to play in the second tournament of the year; centerfielder Josh Simpson is transferring and second baseman Holden Sutton had some family matters to attend.

Allen started off by losing to the Sachse Mustangs in their first game at the invitational, however, the Eagles did have the advantage of playing this tournament at home and behind the Eagle faithful Allen won the last five games of the tournament. The confidence for the team is at an all new high now heading into district play.

“It’s definitely an advantage [to play at home] to a certain degree because we practice here everyday and we know the field and we are used to it,” Junior third baseman Dylan Ditzenburg said.

The Eagles have bounced back with a 5 and 1 record in the Collin County Invitational. This run has put them in a good place going into district.

 “[We’re] trying to establish [that] we are a team that tries to put pressure on the opposing team,” Head Coach Paul Coe said. “Take extra bases, play catch the best, play the game hard and not afraid to get dirty.”

Allen has a little bit of a break until district play begins, the guys are working hard to make this winning thing a habit from here on out and prove the invitational was not a fluke.

“We need to improve on stopping the big inning, bouncing back from mistakes and taking what we can get [instead of] trying to do too much,” Coe said.

The Eagles are preparing for district play now and look to change the narrative for Allen baseball. The Allen baseball program has only making the playoffs one time in the last 13 years.

“[We are] constantly working, a lot of guys are in early to get extra hitting and a lot are staying late,” Junior Pitcher Colin Mcclure said.

The Invitational does not give out an overall winner but Allen’s 5 and 1 record put them at the top of the leaderboards after the three days of play. Now sitting at a record of 6 and 5 overall they are a formidable competitor heading into the rest of the 2016 season.

“We will try to put as much pressure on the [guys] in practice as possible,” Coe said. “Competitive situations with consequences.”