Hook 'em Easton ...
Or better yet, make that Texas hooks Easton.
That's what happened recently when Corsicana's Easton Autrey, one of the top-rated elite players from the Class of 2026, committed to continue his career on the diamond at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Longhorns and new coach Jim Schlossnagle are thrilled to get Autrey, who had earlier made an oral commitment to Texas A&M as a freshman when Schlossnagle was the Aggie coach.
Easton opened up his commitment to A&M when the coaching staff changed in July to explore other schools and landed in Austin, where Schlossnagle added three new commitments in the past week.
Easton's just a junior and still two years from playing at Disch Falk, but the way Autrey swings the bat leaves little doubt that he may still have a huge decision to make if and when he is chosen in the MLB draft in the summer of 2026.
His powerful swing and his discipline at the plate were all but predictable because he grew up with one of the best hitting coaches in the country -- his father, Corsicana Coach Heath Autrey, who has won more than 400 high school games in his legendary career.
Easton's older brother, Hunter, was also a left-handed power hitter and All-State player for the Tigers who helped lead Corsicana to the 2019 State Tournament as a sophomore. His junior season was wiped out by the 2020 COVID pandemic, but he stormed back and was the District and Golden Circle MVP and a Dallas Morning News All-Metroplex First-Team and 5A All-State first baseman as a senior.
Hunter is now a senior and a career .283 hitter at Sam Houston State, where he has 10 homers and 58 RBIs and a .337 career on-base-percentage.
Easton, who has played on Select Teams all over the country, was ranked in the Top 50 sophomores in the nation last spring. He has carved out a monster career at Corsicana, where he was the 2024 District 14-5A Offensive Player of the Year and the 2024 Golden Circle Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.
He's a tremendous .400 hitter who had a .583 on-base-percentage, a .693 slugging percentage and a whopping 1.276 OPS last spring. Easton scored 26 runs and drove in 31 runs in 39 games.
He was also half of Corsicana's 1-2 punch on the mound, going 3-0 with a save and a 1.12 ERA last spring. He committed to Texas A&M as a freshman and made the 5A All-State team as a sophomore.
On Friday, Easton committed to UT.
He posted this on X:
"I am honored and excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and baseball career at the University of Texas. I would like to thank all of my family, friends, and my coaches for all of the support. Thank you God for blessing me with this opportunity. Hook em."