By Bobby Allen

SDN Sports Editor

The two best teams with the two best records will decide who really is the best tonight.

The District 3-3A baseball championship is on the line when the Tigers close out the season against rival Sweetwater in the final game of the 2004 regular season.

Both Snyder (18-4, 8-1) and Sweetwater (19-4, 8-1) have clinched a postseason berth, with the winner of tonight’s game earning the top seed and a first-round bye.

Sweetwater is ranked eighth in the latest Texas High School Baseball magazine poll, while the Tigers sit at 16, despite topping Sweetwater, 12-2, on April 9 in a game that ended in six innings on the 10-run mercy rule.

The Tigers, however, have had two tough games in a row, losing at Merkel last Tuesday, 8-6, before slipping past Seminole, 6-5, on Friday despite collecting only three hits.

Snyder brings a potent line-up to bear tonight against Mustang starter Kendall Carrillo (6-1).

Three regulars -- Marcus Villarreal, Blake Grimmett and Jordan Dea -- are batting over .450, with senior Dea leading the pack at .517.

Dea also is tops in runs batted in, plating 29 on the season, while Grimmett has driven in 26 from the leadoff spot.

Bradley Price and Villarreal have been the most prolific base stealers in the aggressive Snyder lineup with 17 each. Grimmett has swiped 15 bases this year.

The Tigers have not played a complete game since April 16 when they roughed up district cellar-dweller Denver City.

The defense doomed them in their only district loss of the season at Merkel, and the offense took a break in the Seminole game. The Tigers took that game, thanks to four Seminole errors.

Sweetwater has reeled off four straight wins since losing to Snyder, the last a 5-1 victory over Merkel on Friday.

Snyder head coach Charles Bollinger said the team just needs to stay relaxed and stay cool under the pressure tonight.

He also said the team hasn’t shown any nerves thus far awaiting its biggest game in over a year.

“I don’t think have to motivate them much to get ready for Sweetwater,” he said. “Knowing these guys the way I do, they’ll be gung-ho and fired up. Right now, they are pretty calm, but I know attitude and focus will be different with the district title on the line.”

Bollinger said he does not want to see his players pressing.

“This is time where we want to be hitting peak and doing everything right, but you can’t put too much pressure on them -- you have to let them play,” he said.

Bollinger also said his team has evolved over the course of the season, becoming better than he imagined before the start of the season.

“To be 18-4 right now has exceeded my expectations,” he said. “We’ve beaten good teams and we have become a really good team. These guys believe they can play with and beat anyone.”

The Tigers and Mustangs take the field at 7 tonight at Sportsman’s Park in Newman Park in Sweetwater.