HOUSTON - Before Jeremy Schramm pulled on a Lake Creek Lions jersey three years ago, the previous 13 seasons Schramm donned the purple of Montgomery as an assistant coach.
As fate would have it, as Schramm's Lions make history with every playoff series win in 2021 - the first playoff appearance in program history - and to continue it and reach the Region III-5A Semifinals they will have to go through Montgomery.
"I think it's neat," Schramm said of the playoff matchup. "We have the same expectations. We want our kids to play hard, work hard and to excel. But at the end of the day our kids are playing for Lake Creek and they want to win for our school and our community over here."
The two schools separated by a mere 5.4 miles (a nine-minute drive with good traffic) will make the 45-minute drive up the road to Sam Houston on Thursday to open their best-of-three series.
Following them will be the fans of each school and with the communities being so close, including the schools being in the same school district, tickets will be highly sought after for this series.
"There's a lot of excitement in the community for this game," Schramm said. "There's a lot of people talking about it and wanting to come to the games. Everybody wants to come out and see and good series and I think they will."
Being in the same district, Montgomery and Lake Creek are familiar with each other - playing each other four times over the previous three seasons, but never in a playoff series.
Montgomery has been here before.
The Bears last reached this round in 2018 and are seeking their first Regional Semifinals trip since the 2013 season. In 2012, Montgomery reached the 5A State Semifinals.
"We're going to have to play good baseball because they are going to be a very well-coached team," Schramm said. "They have a lot of pitching over there. We're going to have to play good baseball and play well in all three areas to get two wins against them this weekend.
"Our kids just want an opportunity to go play, Montgomery they are talented. They have a lot of talented players over there and we're aware of that. I don't think we put anything extra into it that it's Montgomery, it's just an opportunity to play in the playoffs and move on to the next round."
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Houston-Area Playoff Baseball Matchups (Games played Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Region III-5A
Barbers Hill vs Santa Fe: GM 1 on Thursday at Barbers Hill at 7 pm, GM 2 on Friday at Santa Fe at 7 pm; GM 3* on Saturday at Baytown Sterling at 1 pm
Porter vs College Station @ Navasota: GM 1 on Thurs. at 7:30 p.m.; GM 2 on Friday at 5 pm; GM 3* on Friday at 7:30 pm
Friendswood vs Port Neches-Groves @ Baytown Sterling; GM 1 on Thurs. at 7 pm, GM 2 on Friday at 7 pm, GM 3* on Saturday at Baytown Lee HS at 1 pm
Lake Creek vs Montgomery at Sam Houston: GM 1 on Thursday at 7 pm, GM 2 on Friday at 7 pm, GM 3* on Saturday at 1 pm
Region II-6A
Bridgeland vs Tomball: GM 1 at Cy Woods 7 pm, GM 2 at Tomball 7 pm, GM 3* at Cy Falls 12 pm
The Woodlands vs Grand Oaks at Humble HS: GM 1 Thursday at 6 pm, GM 2 Friday at 6 pm, GM 3* (Sat.) if needed TBD)
Region III-6A
North Shore vs Pearland at University of Houston: GM 1 on Thursday at 7 p.m., GM 2 on Friday at 7 pm and GM 3* on Saturday at 1 pm
Shadow Creek vs Strake Jesuit at Goose Creek Memorial: GM 1 on Thursday at 6:30 pm, GM 2 on Friday at 6:30 pm, GM 3* on Saturday at Noon
Tompkins vs Cy-Fair: GM 1 on Thursday at Tomball Memorial at 6:30 pm, GM 2 on Friday at Cy Woods at 7 pm, GM 3* on Saturday at Tomball Memorial
Jersey Village vs Katy: GM 1 on Thursday at Cy Ranch at 7 pm, GM 2 on Friday at Tomball Memorial at 7 p.m, GM 3* on Saturday at Cy Ranch at Noon