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Victoria Generals Team History

The Victoria Baseball Club, LLC was formed in 2007 with the intent of bringing summer baseball back to the city of Victoria. In November of 2008, local businessman Tracy Young decided to place a team in the Texas Collegiate League. The organization signed a lease agreement with historic Riverside Stadium to be the home field for the new team. In December of 2008, management decided on the team name of the Victoria Generals. Former big leaguer Chris Clemons was named the General’s first head coach and the foundation for summer collegiate baseball in Victoria was in place.

The Generals opened their inaugural season with a loss on June 5, 2009 in Kilgore, TX against the East Texas Pump Jacks. The next night the Generals earned their first victory in team history, defeating the Pump Jacks 9-1. On June 11, 2009, a crowd of over 1,000 people were on hand to witness the first home game in team history. With the fans at Riverside on their feet cheering, closer Zach Nuding notched his first save of the season on a strike out to end the game as the Generals won 9-7.

The Generals started the season on a tear, winning seven games in a row after their opening loss. Their hot start earned them #21 ranking by Perfect Game Crosscheckers in the first national poll of the season. The Generals were ranked as high as #16 during the year and finished the season at #22.

The Generals finished the regular season with a record of 30-14, making them the TCL Regular Season Champions. After quickly disposing of the Brazos Valley Bombers in the opening round of the playoffs, the Generals fell to the Coppell Copperheads in the Championship Series.

All in all, the Generals had a phenomenal inaugural season, exceeding everyone’s expectations on the field and off. If there was one thing that was certainly clear following the 2009 season, it was that the Victoria Generals were here to stay and would be a force to be reckoned with in the Texas Collegiate League for many years to come.

In 2010, the Generals returned under the guidance of second-year head coach Chris Clemons with a clear mission: win the Texas Collegiate League championship that eluded them the year before. The Generals wasted no time, getting to work, jumping out to a first-place lead by going 13-7 during the month of June.

The Generals were once again not only gaining recognition in the TCL, but also across the nation. The Generals had a league-high eight players named to the TCL South All-Star Team. The team’s national ranking kept improving week by week as they stayed in the top 30 all season long. The Generals also captured the First-Half TCL Championship, securing their spot in the post-season for the second straight year.

The 2010 TCL All-Star game was hosted by the Generals at Riverside Stadium on July 5. With a great crowd on hand of over 1,200, the game ended in a 7-7 tie.

The Generals picked up right where they left off after the all-star break and continued their hot streak. The Generals continued to stay at the top of the standings and continued to climb in the national rankings.

By the beginning of August, the Generals had secured the TCL Regular-Season Championship for the second straight season and locked up the #1 seed in the TCL playoffs.

The Generals opened the post season on the road in Weimar, TX against the fourth seeded Texas Tomcats. The Generals made quick work of the Tomcats in game one, winning 8-0 on the road. The Tomcats then came back to defeat the Generals 6-2 in Victoria to force a decisive game three. The Generals were able to hold off the Tomcats to win the series by beating them in game three by a final score of 4-2.

The Generals moved onto the TCL Championship series for the second time in two years. This time they would face a new opponent in the championship round: the East Texas Pump Jacks.

The Generals were on the ropes in game one in Kilgore, trailing 5-0 heading into the eighth inning. However, the Pump Jacks could only hold the hot Generals bats at bay for long, as the Generals struck for five runs in the eighth to tie the game at 5-5. The Generals then added the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth that proved to be the game winner as the Generals took game one 6-5.

With the TCL Championship one win away, the Generals wasted no time in game two at home in Victoria. The Generals dominated the game from the start as the game was well in hand early on. The Generals won game two 10-2, securing their first TCL Championship in team history.

In the final national poll of the season, the Victoria Generals finished with the highest team ranking in Texas Collegiate League history at #14.

In 2011, the Generals hired former big leaguer Ryan Wagner to replace Chris Clemons as the team’s head coach after Clemons resigned his post in the fall. The Generals built another strong roster, but the injury bug struck the team quickly during the summer of 2011.

The Generals record hovered around .500 for much of the first-half of the season before finishing 12-17. With the addition of a few new players around the All-Star break, the Generals had a better second-half, finishing at 16-14. The Generals needed to win one of their final two games of the season to earn a spot in the TCL playoffs, but failed to do so and ended the year with a final record of 28-31.

Despite poor results in the standings, there were still several bright spots during the Generals 2011 season. Utility man Chad Kruse broke the TCL record for hits (77) and at-bats (237) in a season while closer Covey Morrow broke the TCL record for appearances (30) in a season.

In 2012, Chris Clemons made his return to Victoria as the team’s head coach. Despite losing their top three players to the draft in the first week of the season, the Generals were able to make some key additions and finished the first-half with a record of 19-9 which was good enough for second-place and an automatic bid to the TCL post-season.

The Generals hosted the TCL All-Star Game in Victoria for the second time in three years and once again put on quite a display. With a league-high nine Generals and the Generals coaching staff representing the South, the TCL South-All-Star Team defeated the North 10-2. Generals’outfielder Jude Vidrine was tabbed the game’s MVP after going 3-for-4 on the night with two home runs, five RBIs, and three runs scored. Generals’ pitcher Covey Morrow was credited with the win for the South.

The Generals stayed hot in the second-half and finished the season with an overall record of 34-20. The Generals drew the Brazos Valley Bombers at home in Victoria in a winner-take-all opening round game that turned out to be one of the most historic games in TCL post-season history.

With the Generals leading the Bombers 4-3 heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Bombers struck for 4 runs in the top of the inning to take a 7-4 lead. Down to their final out in the bottom of the ninth, the Generals mounted a historic comeback as Eric Weiss hit a two-run home run and Ryan Guedry drilled an RBI double to score Trace Knoblauch all the way from first base on the play to tie the game at 7-7. Guedry was the hero in the bottom of the 11^th inning as he hit a walk-off single to score Eric Weiss from second to send the Generals to their third TCL Championship Series in four years.

The Generals drew a familiar foe in the TCL Championship Series in the East Texas Pump Jacks whom they defeated in 2010 to win the TCL title. The Generals took game one in Victoria 5-3 behind a dominant pitching performance by Victoria native Jordan Pacheco who allowed just one run on three hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts.

With the Generals one win away from their second TCL title, they held leads in both game two and game three of the series, but were unable to hold on for victories as the East Texas Pump Jacks won the 2012 TCL Championship.

In 2014, the Generals began the season with a familiar face at the helm as former assistant coach Jonathan Burns became the fourth head coach in team history. Burns and the Generals started the season hot and went on to finish up the first-half of the TCL season with a record of 23-7 which was good for second place and secured the Generals as the #2 seed in the TCL postseason.

The second-half of the season was a bit of a struggle for the Generals as injuries would again play a factor in their 15-15 record for the second half of the season. The Generals would go on to compile a regular season record of 38-22, setting a franchise record for wins in a season with 38 wins.

The Generals would again host the Acadiana Cane Cutters for a winner-take-all, first-round game of the TCL playoffs. The Generals would get out to an early 3-0 lead that would hold until the 8th when the Cane Cutters tied the game at three. The game would go into extra innings when in the bottom of the 12th, the Generals would score a run in walk-off fashion and win the game by a score of 4-3.

The Generals would host the Bombers in a rematch of the championship series from 2013 in game one of a best of three series at Riverside Stadium.  This game was also a back and forth contest with the Bombers taking an early lead only to have the Generals fight back to keep it close. It would come down to the bottom of the 9th with the game all tied up at five when David Paiz would single up the middle that would score Brian Portelli and the Generals would take game one by a score of 6-5.

The Generals would travel to take on the Bombers in Bryan  for game two of the series. The Generals would take a 3-2 lead to the bottom of the 9th with two outs only to see the Bombers score two runs and even the series at one game each with a 4-3 victory. 

It would come down to a final game for the TCL Championship and the Generals would lose a close one by a score of 2-1. With the win, the Bombers became the first TCL franchise to win back to back championships. 

In 2015, the Generals began the season with several familiar faces in their coaching staff with former Victoria Generals Michael Oros became the fifth head coach in team history and former player Kenny Jackson as assistant coach.  Both Oros and Jackson were players in the first few season for the Generals.  Oros and the Generals would struggle out of the gate to start the season but would later get things rolling and finish the first-half of the season with a record of 13-11 (third in the TCL).

The second-half of the season the Generals would continue their hot play as they built momentum and would eventually be nationally ranked #31 in the nation in late July.  The Generals would finish up the second half with a 22-8 record as they would nail down a playoff spot as the #3 seed.  The Generals would go on to compile a regular season record of 35-19, setting a franchise record for winning percentage at .648.

The Generals would travel to the Acadiana Cane Cutters for a winner-take-all first-round game of the TCL playoffs.  The Generals would get out to an early 3-0 lead that would hold until the 5th when the Cane Cutters would have a big inning putting seven runs on the board to take the lead from the Generals. The Generals would battle back to put a run on the board but would come up short with a 9-4 loss to the Cane Cutters, ending the Generals season.  The Cane Cutters would go on to face the defending TCL champion Brazos Valley Bombers who would sweep the Cane Cutters for their 3rd TCL championship in a row.

In 2016, the Generals began the season with head coach Michael Oros returning for his second season at home for the first time in franchise  history.  Mother Nature would take game one as the Generals would play a double header to start the season.  The Generals would once again struggle out of the gate and would finish up the first half of the season with a record of 11-15 (third in the TCL).

The second-half of the season the Generals would get things going with the addition of several key additions to the Generals roster.  The Generals would string together several winning streaks and would finish up the second-half with a record of 17-13 (second in the TCL) and would wrap up the regular season with a record of 28-28 of the season (third in the TCL).

The Generals would qualify for post-season play as the Generals were set to travel to Lafayette to take on the Acadiana Cane Cutters in a one game winner-take-all first-round match-up.  Once again, Mother Nature would play a part in the season as the playoffs would be shortened to a three game series as the top two teams record-wise would battle it out for the championship.  Acadiana Cane Cutters and the Brazos Valley Bombers would open up the championship series in Lafayette with the Bombers dominating game 2 of the series.  The Bombers would go on to take the series and win the TCL championship for the fourth straight year. 

The 2017 season would begin once again with head coach Michael Oros returning for his third season as Generals head coach. The Generals would start out hot, winning their first four games and going 7-3 in their first 10 games to start the season. The first game of the season would see the Generals travel to Texarkana to take on the TCL's newest franchise. The Generals bats would get hot as the Generals would beat the Twins by the score of 18-3. The Generals would wrap up the first half of the season with a record of 16-12 (second in the TCL) and would clinch a home playoff game in the post season in August. 

The second half of the season would see the Generals struggle a bit out of the gate, but would get back on track and go 6-4 through the first 10 games of the second half. They would finish the second half with a record of 18-10 (best in the TCL) and overall on the season with a 34-22 record (second overall in the TCL)

The Generals would host the Acadiana Cane Cutters in a winner take all, first round game of the TCL playoffs. The Cane Cutters would get out to an early 3-0 lead that would hold until the 7th when the Generals would tie the game at three. The game would go into extra innings when in the top of the 10th, the Cane Cutters would score a run to make the score 4-3. The Generals would threaten in the bottom of the 10th but would fail to score a run and the Cane Cutters would win the game and advance to the TCL Championship to face the Brazos Valley Bombers. The Bombers would rout the Cane Cutters and would win the TCL Championship for the fifth straight season. 

In 2018, the Generals would begin the season with head coach Michael Oros returning for his fourth season at the helm. The Generals would start out the season on the road winning the first two games to open up the season at the Texas Marshals and would finish up the first 10 games with a record of 5-5. The Generals would then get hot finishing up the first half of the season with a record of 17-9 (first in the TCL), clinching a home playoff game in the post season in August.  

The second-half of the season, the Generals would keep things going stringing together a six-game win streak heading into the final series of the season. The Bombers would visit Riverside Stadium with the number one seed on the line.  The Generals would need a two-game sweep of the Bombers to seal the top seed in the TCL. The teams would split the series with game one 3-2 and game two 7-6 and the Bombers would end up with the top seed by percentage points.   

The Generals would host the Texarkana Twins in a winner-take-all, first-round game of the TCL playoffs for a chance to advance to the Championship Series. The Generals would get out to an early 3-0 lead before the Twins would get on the board in the fourth running the score to 3-2. The Generals would put the game away with a pair of runs in the fifth and would hold on for a 5-3 win to advance to play the Cane Cutters for the TCL Championship. 

The Generals traveled to Lafayette to open the Championship Series in the first game of a three-game series. The Cane Cutters would jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the second before the Generals would get on the board with a run in the seventh. The Generals threatened in the ninth but fell short with the Cane Cutters taking a one-game lead in the series heading back to Victoria. The Generals would use their home field advantage and jump out to a 9-0 lead on the Cane Cutters who would rally late to end the game as the Generals even up the series with a 12-6 victory. With the Championship on the line, both teams would suit up for the final game that would see the Cane Cutters jump out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Generals bats would finally wake up in the fifth as they would score three runs to bring the score to 4-3. The Generals would take the game over with three more in the sixth and one in the seventh to take a 7-4 lead. The Generals would never look back with three scoreless innings of relief from Garrett Alexander as the Generals would win the title. This was the Generals second title (2010)  in franchise history. 

In 2019, the Generals were set to defend the championship as they entered the season with head coach Michael Oros returning for his fifth season.  The Generals would open the season at home against the Acadiana Cane Cutters, the team they defeated for the 2018 championship. The sellout opening day crowd would be treated to a tight ball game that would see the Generals take the opening day game 4-3 for the victory. The Generals would stay hot getting off to a great start winning their first six games of the season with series sweeps from the Cane Cutters, Rougarou and Twins.  the Generals would wrap up the first half of the season  with a record of 18-8 (second in the TCL).

The second half of the season, the Generals would open up with a series sweep of the Rougarou. The Generals would head into the final series of the season in a dead heat with the Brazos Valley Bombers for the best record in the TCL and home field  throughout the playoffs on the line. The Generals would come up a little short landing in second place in the TCL, but home field for the opening playoff series. 

The Generals would hit the road as the playoffs opened up for a single game at the Texarkana Twins.  The Generals would get on the board first with an RBI single by Coby Potvin to score Tanner Roach as the Generals would lead 1-0 as the Twins would come up to bat.  The Twins would also get on the board in the first as the game would be tied 1-1 heading to the second inning. It would be a pitching duel to the end as Matthew Swick pitched a gem going seven strong innings allowing only one run. The game would stay tied 1-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth where the Twins would scratch a run across to win game 1 of the series. 

The Generals would look to even up the series as they returned to Riverside Stadium the following day. The Generals would  score five runs in the 5th inning and would never look back taking a 9-1 victory on an outstanding pitching effort from Gabe Sequeria, pushing the series to a deciding game 3. In the final game, the Generals would fall behind in the game 3-0 before their bats woke up in the 7th inning getting on the board trailing 3-1. The Generals would allow another run in the 8th and would trail 4-2 as they headed to the bottom of the 9th.  The Generals would score a run with two outs and had a chance to tie the game, however, the Twins left fielder would make a diving play to end the season for the Generals. 

The Twins and Bombers would head to the Championship game in Bryan as the Bombers would come from behind to win the TCL Championship. 

In 2020, the Generals were hopeful for a full 2020 season but the Covid 19 pandemic would steer the league in another direction as the TCL season would be reduced to a half season. The TCL was one of only a few leagues that were able to play Summer collegiate baseball in 2020.   The 2020 season would offer some exciting expansion for the TCL as minor league baseball would field collegiate teams in the TCL. The San Antonio Flying Chanclas, Round Rock Hairy Men, Amarillo Sod Squad, Amarillo Sod Dogs, and the Tulsa Drillers would all join the TCL for the Summer. 

The season would be shortened to a half season of 30 games beginning June 30th and would wrap up in early August. The Generals would begin the season on the road for a three-game series at the Acadiana Cane Cutters. The Generals would find success taking two of three games to win the first series against the Cane Cutters.  It would be a tough season for the Generals as they would finish up with a 9-21 record and would fail to make the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history.

In 2021, the Generals would look to get back on track after a tough 2020 Covid shortened season. The season was set for a full schedule of 44 games. There would be six teams this season including a pair of minor league affiliates that would field collegiate teams once again. The San Antonio Flying Chanclas and the Amarillo Sod Squad along with the Brazos Valley, Acadiana, and Baton Rouge all would battle with the Generals for the 2021 TCL Championship. 

The Generals would hit the road to start the season with a three game series with the Flying Chanclas on opening weekend. The Generals would lose the first two games by a run and would look to rebound in the final game of the series. The Generals would take an early 3-0 lead but Mother Nature would get the win as the game was eventually called due to heavy rains. The Generals would have a strong first half of the season and would wrap up the #2 seed and a home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The second half of the season was a bit rough as the Generals would fall below .500 as the season would come to an end with a record of 16-22.

The Generals would take on the Acadiana Cane Cutters in the first round matchup. The Generals would travel to Acadiana for the first game of the series and would get an early jump with a four run first inning to take the early lead. The Generals would have a tough second inning as the Cane Cutters would plate seven runs to a 9-5 lead and would never look back and take game one by the score of 15-8. The Generals would return home for game two in a must win game. It was a pitching duel as the game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the fifth as the Generals would score three runs and tack on two more in the sixth to take a 5-0 lead heading to the eighth. The Cane Cutters would scratch their first run in the eighth and one more in the ninth as they would drop game two by the score of 5-2. It would come down to a deciding game three to see who would advance to the championship game. The Generals would plate a pair of runs in the first to take a 2-0 lead that would hold up until the fourth innings. The Cane Cutters would get things going in the fourth as they would cut the lead in half at 2-1 heading to the bottom of the innings. The Generals would tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth and take a 3-1 lead. Pitching would hold up for both team as the game was scoreless after the fourth inning and the Generals would take the game 3-1 to advance to the championship game. 

The Flying Chanclas were the #1 seed and would host the winner-take-all game in San Antonio. The game began as a pitching duel as neither team would score until the Flying Chanclas would scratch across a run to take a 1-0 lead as the game headed to the sixth inning. Generals pitcher Brett Brown would throw five strong innings as the Generals would head to the sixth inning. The Flying Chanclas would tack on three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh as the Flying Chanclas would take a 8-0 lead. Strong pitching by the Flying Chanclas would silence the Generals bats as the Generals would lose by a final score of 8-0. 

In 2022, the Generals would look to build on a successful 2021 season that saw them playing in the championship game to end the season. The Generals would hit the road to open the season, heading to the TCL’s newest franchise Seguin River Monsters. The Generals would fall behind early and never recover, handing the River Monsters their first win in franchise history. The Generals would return to Riverside Stadium for their home opener the following day and get their first win of the season, beating the Brazos Valley Bombers. The Generals would get off to a slow start on the season, going 4-6 through the first 10 games. The Generals would start to get things going after a slow start and would finish the first half in 3rd place with a record of 11-12 heading to the second half of the season.

The Generals would open up on fire to start the second half going 8-1-1 through the first 10 games. The Generals would rattle off 11 straight games without a loss moving them into first place in the second half. The Generals would wrap up the second half of the season with a 16-6-1 record as they would head into the playoffs with an overall record of 25-17-1.

The Generals would open up the playoffs hosting the Brazos Valley Bombers in a best of three opening round.  The Generals would come out on fire, scoring seven runs in the first inning to take a 7-0 lead heading into the second inning. The Bombers would make a game out of it, adding runs in the next three innings to pull the game to 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Generals would continue to tack on runs and would eventually hold on to a 12-8 final taking the series to Brazos Valley. The Bombers would get going early, scoring a run in the first and second inning and would carry a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning, The Generals would score a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead and would never look back, winning the game by a score of 5-2. The Generals would take the series and would move to the championship game, taking on the Cane Cutters in a winner take all game at Riverside Stadium. 

A record crowd would pack Riverside Stadium for the championship game as the Generals would take on a familiar playoff foe in the Acadiana Cane Cutters. The Cane Cutters would score a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead as the Generals would come to the plate and take a 3-1 lead heading into the third inning. The Cane Cutters would pull back into the lead, scoring three runs and taking a 4-3 lead as the game would head to the fourth inning. The Generals would score a pair of runs and would take a 5-4 lead heading into the seventh inning. The Cane cutters would plate a run in the seventh to tie the game headed to the eighth with a score of 5-5. The Generals would have a costly error in the eighth that would give the Cane Cutters a 6-5 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth. Generals bats would go silent and the Cane Cutters would go on to win their first championship in their franchise history. 

In just 19 years of existence, the Texas Collegiate League has continued to gain national exposure and is considered one of the top Summer collegiate leagues in the nation.  

The Generals have seen several of their former players selected in the Major League Baseball draft over the course of the past nine seasons. During that span, more than 40 former Generals have been selected and many continue to play affiliated minor league baseball.  In 2015, the Generals had their first former player, David Rollins, make his major league debut with the Seattle Mariners as a relief pitcher. Rollins, a left-handed pitcher, played for the Generals during their 2010 Championship season.  In 2017, a second player for the Generals made his debut as Glen Sparkman made his major league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Sparkman, a right-handed pitcher, played for the Generals in the 2013 season before being selected in the 20th round by the Kansas City Royals in the 2013 MLB draft.  Texas Rangers pitcher Taylor Hearn made his major league debut on April 25, 2019 against the Seattle Mariners. Taylor was part of the 2014 Generals pitching staff.  Most recently, pitcher Kyle Tyler from the the Generals 2016 team would make his Major League debut with the Anaheim Angels in 2020.