Like Fathers, Like Sons

Shane Michna and Reece Riddle seek Pearland's second state baseball title; their dads won the trophy in 1980

June 14, 2009, By SAM KHAN JR. Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Melissa Phillip, Chronicle
Two generations of Pearland state baseball: Mark
Michna, left, with Shane and Larry Riddle and Reece.

   

ROUND ROCK — Mark Michna and Larry Riddle have long thought about this day.

As their kids grew up and became successful on the baseball diamond, Michna and Riddle wondered if their sons would get the chance to follow in their footsteps. To experience the same struggles. The same emotions. The same success.

The road Michna and Riddle traveled as members of Pearland’s only state baseball championship squad in 1980 was special.

Today, Shane Michna and Reece Riddle will follow in their fathers’ footsteps as Pearland returns to the state baseball tournament for the first time since 1984. The Oilers (30-7) meet Lufkin (29-9) in the Class 5A state semifinals at 10 a.m. at Dell Diamond in hopes of taking one more step toward Pearland’s second state baseball championship.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Mark, who was a four-year letterman and starting center fielder for the 1980 Oilers. “Larry and I grew up together and have known each other since high school. It was in the back of our minds if our kids would ever get the chance to do this.”

Thanks to an impressive but unexpected run through Region III-5A, Shane and Reece have that opportunity.

“It’s like a dream,” Reece said. “I didn’t know if we were really going to make it. I knew we could, but the dream is reality now.”

Big shoes to fill

Reece had thought about this before he stepped on the Pearland campus. Growing up in the same community where his father and his teammates made history, he heard plenty about it.

“When I was 12, people would say, ‘Your dad was on the team, and they won state. Maybe it’s your turn when you get up there,’” said Reece, a senior designated hitter. “It did add a little pressure because you don’t want to let everyone down, or let yourself down.”

Shane experienced similar emotions.

“It didn’t add more pressure but you do want to kind of live up to your dad,” said Shane, a junior pitcher. “When we won (the Region III-5A title), the first thing I thought about was, ‘Hey, my old man went to state and we’re doing the same thing.’ It’s pretty cool.”

For Mark and Larry, it has given them more opportunities to stroll down memory lane. Whether it’s their on-field success, off-field shenanigans or the experience of playing for high school baseball’s ultimate prize, the two dads have savored the chance to revisit the old days.

“Any time I look at pictures or my championship ring, it all starts coming back,” said Larry, who started at third base for the 1980 team. “It’s hard to put that in words. It’s something you always remember and never forget.”

It also has allowed the two to develop closer bonds with their sons, whether it’s offering advice or just relating to the experiences Shane and Reece are having.

“It has brought us closer, no doubt about that,” Mark said. “Shane and I are a little bit closer. We’re a baseball family.”

Added Larry: “I’ve talked to (Reece) quite often about what we went through and what we did to get there. He knows everything that I’ve been able to tell him and what it was like to win. Of course, telling him and him experiencing it are different things.”

The Michnas and Riddles are truly baseball families. Mark and Larry coach in youth leagues and have other baseball-playing sons. Shane has two younger brothers — Cody (a sophomore) and Casey (a seventh-grader), who are future Oilers. Reece’s older brother Ryan, is a former Oiler and his younger brother, Nathan, is a Pearland freshman. Larry met his wife, Theresa, while on the team (she was the statistician).

Pearland pride shows

“Everything in our house is Pearland,” Reece said. “We have so many shirts that say ‘Pearland baseball.’ Whenever we go out, we wear Pearland stuff. It’s baseball in the summer, winter and the spring. It never stops.”

Of course, things have changed since Mark and Larry hoisted the trophy. Class 4A was the highest classification at the time — Class 5A play didn’t begin until the next season. The University of Texas’ UFCU Disch-Falk Field — with its infamous artificial turf — was the site of the state tournament. Now the 5A and 4A championships are contested on the well-manicured grass at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

“It’s a different generation,” Larry said. “The equipment is better now. We didn’t have bat bags. I carried my cleats and my glove, and that’s all we had. We didn’t use batting gloves back then. We had four bats on the team — they were the team bats. That’s what we used. Now you have 15 bats in the dugout that run from $200 $400 apiece and some players have two or three of them. And the boys are bigger and stronger now.”

Bigger and better

The program has changed, too. In a way, the 1980 Pearland run was unexpected; the Oilers hadn’t experienced a ton of success prior to that era.

The title kicked off a run of three state tournament berths in a five-year span, and now the Oilers are a perennial playoff team with the talent and tools to make a run at the state tournament from time to time.

One thing hasn’t changed though — the joy experienced by players who accomplish what the 1980 Oilers did. Mark remembers it well.

“We had set out to achieve a goal and dang it, we did it,” Mark said. “There are a bunch of old players from the ’80 team that still hang around and talk about it to this day. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and it will never, ever leave your mind.”

Early this season, Larry pulled out his 1980 championship ring and let Reece wear it to the team banquet. Now, Reece, Shane and the rest of the Oilers hope to score one themselves.

“It’s pretty big — I haven’t seen a ring that big before,” Reece said. “He had some big fingers. I guess I could fill one out if I get my own.”

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