“Tradition of Excellence”

In the fall of 1981, the two lanes of US highway 183 headed northwest out of Austin, passing the Round Rock school district’s newest high school, Westwood, home of the Warriors. Built in an area cleared of brush and cedar, Westwood virtually sat in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Under the supervision of Joe Means, the Round Rock ISD Athletic Director, Kelly Reeves, the head football coach, and Norman Sansom, the school’s first principal, a young coach was selected to mold a baseball program, without a field, in the middle of nowhere, out of nothing. Eight years before America flirted with the romantic past of baseball, in the movie Field of Dreams, “And is there enough magic in the moonlight to make this dream come true?” Westwood’s first and only baseball coach, Bart Bratcher, had his own dream. A dream and a vision to not only play ball at where there was no place to play, but to take the opportunity to influence the lives of young men, “on the base paths to winning” through character, commitment, leadership and T.E.A.M. (Together, Encourage, Attitude, Mental Game).

Twenty-seven seasons later, from Warrior Field you can see the flyovers of one of Austin’s major roadways, Research Blvd. or US highway 183. Perhaps, even Coach Bratcher couldn’t see this in his dreams, but as one of the fastest growing regions in the United States, the city of Austin, Travis and Williamson counties soon engulfed Westwood High School. Through that rapid growth, the Westwood community has witnessed the establishment of a tradition of excellence. You can’t see it in wins and losses, but you can see it in the lives of our sons, friends and others. You can see it in a commitment to the quality of instruction and the quality of baseball played on the field. You can also see it in a commitment to an unrelenting competitive spirit, which has provided the spark and enthusiasm for more than one great Warrior team over the years and many memorable individual performances. A commitment to exemplary behavior, character, and strength that was to be manifested in all walks of life. This is Westwood Warriors Baseball.