2006 TCL High Profile – First in a Series Denton Outfielder Aljay Davis, 5-10, 180, So., Lakewood, Calif. (Oklahoma) Aljay Davis, the Most Valuable Player in the 2006 TCL, definitely showed his promise as a 2007 Oklahoma Sooner and sported a league-leading .355 batting average in the pitching-rich summer amateur circuit. Davis led Coach Derek Matlock’s Denton Outlaws to their second Hornsby Division title in succession and a repeat bid to the TCL championship round against eventual champion McKinney. Along the way, the speedy 2B was among the Top Five in practically every Texas Collegiate League category on offense. Besides going 60-for-169 at the plate to produce the loop’s top ’06 average, he had the most runs (47), hits (60) and top on-base percentage (.580) for any league competitor with 100-plus times at-bat. Davis also was third in stolen bases with 23, tied for second in triples with two, racked up 27 bases-on-balls (tied for third among TCL everyday players), tied for sixth in RBI with 27, smashed eight doubles, and hit two home runs. He produced his lion’s share of game-winning hits and rally-starting safeties for the Outlaws, who closed the regular season at 28-20 to roll past runner-up Graham by seven games in the Hornsby Division standings and then went 2-2 in postseason play. Oklahoma head coach Sunny Golloway is more than happy to see the California resident come into the fold of the Sooners’ defending NCAA Houston Super Regional team in spring 2007. 2006 TCL High Profile – Second in a Series Coppell Pitcher Randy Boone, 6-3, 210, Jr., Yoakum, Texas (Texas) 2006 TCL Pitcher of the Year Randy Boone of the Coppell Copperheads had a season some only dream of on the mound last summer. He pitched 58 innings this summer, had a 1.09 ERA, struck out 65 (10.1 every nine innings), allowed 31 hits and 10 runs (seven earned), and had a pair of complete games. Boone also led coach Skip Johnson/Whoa Dill’s charges with 31 regular-season victories and a league-topping 16-8 road record with his quality starts. He averaged 7 1/3 innings every time he took the hill. The righthander, who was 4-2 with a 3.59 earned run average for the Texas Longhorns’ 2006 NCAA-qualifying crew under coach Augie Garrido, will be among familiar faces in ’07 for the Longhorns. Skip Johnson has become an assistant coach on the UT staff and hopes to bring some of the Coppell and Navarro (Texas) College magic with him to the 40 Acres. Boone also was a teammate of TCL Legends honoree Huston Street on the 2004 Longhorns before the latter nailed down Rookie of the Year honors with Oakland in 2005. It’s no secret that Randy Boone, a ’06 TCL All-Star as well, has a bright future ahead after his stellar summer showing in the Texas Collegiate League. 2006 TCL High Profile – Third in a Series Euless 2B-Outfielder Aaron Luna, 5-10, 200, Fr., Southlake, Texas (Rice) If one combines Aaron Luna’s NCAA World Series-achieving Freshman All-America statistics at Rice and his Euless Lonestars’ numbers in an abbreviated season (due to the length of collegiate postseason play), there are some big league numbers for a college freshman. Luna opened 2006 by starting 61 of 64 games for Coach Wayne Graham’s 57-13 and Conference USA champion Owls. He also batted by going 64-for-199 with 48 runs, a school-yearling-record 16 home runs, 50 RBI, 127 total bases, a solid .638 slugging percentage and 4-of-7 stolen bases. Combine that with his TCL Freshman of the Year showing in 26 games with 87 trips to the plate, 19 runs, 26 hits, nine doubles, two homers, 14 RBI and a .299 batting average in just over half a TCL campaign, and his Feb.-Aug. totals include 92 games, a .315 average, 90 hits, 22 doubles, 18 home runs, and 64 RBI to go along with he intangibles he provided for the Lonestars. The former Southlake Carroll (Texas) football RB star and All-State baseball performer also won the third annual Compass Bank Home Run Derby with six clouts during the 2006 TCL Brookshire-McCormick’s All-Star Game in Weatherford and impressed just about every coach, fan and teammate who saw him play. His Euless head coach Rob Penders also marveled at Luna’s endurance as the first-year collegiate standout stepped practically off the team charter jet and onto the TCL playing fields to continue his road to baseball stardom. His future is brighter than bright. 2006 TCL High Profile – Fourth in a Series Denton Head Coach Derek Matlock Back-to-back TCL Coach of the Year Derek Matlock of the Denton Outlaws keeps an even keel and teaching strategy, which place him a notch above several people in his profession. His teams always produce in the clutch, and the last two Denton squads advanced to the TCL Championship Round with a mixture of sound coaching, better-than-average pitching and run-producing offense. Matlock, who recently took over the successful Lake Dallas (Texas) High School diamond program in Denton County, guided the ’05 Outlaws to a pair of road wins over higher-seeded McKinney for the league crown. His 2006 squad finished second to McKinney in the best 2-of-3 finals but captured the Rogers Hornsby Division by seven games over runner-up Graham. He also increased the Outlaws’ win total from 26 to 28 in spite of playing against some of the nation’s top college pitchers. He has piloted six high school teams to a composite 251-67 record at Flower Mound from 1999-04 and spent the 2005 and ’06 seasons assisting NCAA regional qualifiers and Mountain West Conference champs at TCU. The only TCL mentor to guide his first two teams in the league into the league finals has been associated with winning programs wherever he has been since ’99. The 10 TCL, college (TCU) and high school squads with which he has been associated are a composite 395-152 for a .722 winning percentage with nine conference, TCL or high school district titles.