Filmmaker Richard Linklater's feature films have often debuted in prestigious film festivals and venues, from Sundance to Cannes, but he's trying something different with his first documentary feature. After a splashy premiere in Austin last week, Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach will be released ... not in theaters, but on a cable sports channel. You can watch the film on ESPN2 or ESPN2 HD at 10:00 pm EST on Sunday, June 15.

Inning by Inning is a profile of Augie Garrido, considered one of the "winningest" coaches in NCAA baseball. The film focuses on the 69-year-old coach's most recent seasons with the Texas Longhorns team. Linklater and his crew were given access to the team from 2005-2006, and it's fascinating to see personal, almost intimate moments when Garrido talks to the college players one-on-one, or as a team. Linklater had originally set out to make a documentary about the Longhorns' back-to-back winning seasons (2004-2005), but said (in a Q&A after the film's press screening) that he became interested in Garrido's coaching techniques and shifted the film's focus accordingly. Interviews with former Texas and Cal State-Fullerton players coached by Garrido, and other sports figures like Darrell Royal and Roger Clemens (Kevin Costner appears briefly too), round out the documentary.

Does Richard Linklater ever take a break? The Austin filmmaker seems to prefer to line up his film projects one after another, or even overlapping. Earlier this week, Linklater announced he's working on a new feature film, Chesney, one of the Chet Baker biopics. Now the latest news is that he's been producing a documentary about the University of Texas baseball team.

Although the Texas Longhorns have won six national college baseball championships over the years, the team has never won consecutive championships. That might change this year, depending on the team's showing in the NCAA regional tournament currently taking place in Austin. Linklater was interested in the team's recent efforts to win back-to-back championships, which will be the focus of the documentary. Linklater's crew has been filming the team for the past seven months. No one is certain where the film might eventually play -- PBS, cable, or theaters -- and the fate of the movie may rest in the fate of the Longhorns in upcoming games.

[via Matt Dentler's Blog]