2/28/02  Mustangs Defeat Katy Tigers 9-6

 Kingwood’s record improved to 5-1 with a 9-6 victory over Katy High School in the first game of the Klein tournament.  Inclement weather prevented any further tournament games.  Michael Hopper was the star of the game, both on the mound and at the plate.  Hopper pitched 5 innings of 4 hit baseball. His only blemish was giving up a first inning solo homerun. Hopper also drove in 4 runs with two ground ball doubles into the right field corner as well as making a leaping snag of a line drive that was hit back to the box in the third inning.

 Kingwood trailed 1-0 going into the fourth inning, as the offense struggled against a strong Katy right hander.  But, Kingwood tied the game in the fourth at 1-1 with Hopper’s first double driving in Lance Pendleton who had singled.  In the fifth, Kingwood broke the game open. Michael Buckalo walked leading off the inning.  Ricky Cratty then lined a single to center for his second hit of the game.  Pendleton then reached on an error by the first baseman who misplayed his ground ball. With bases loaded and two outs, David Hoke worked a walk to drive in the first run of the inning.  Hopper then delivered his second double of the game, which cleared the bases. Both of Hopper’s hits came after being down in the count with 2 strikes.  Kingwood scored again in the sixth with Ryan McQuarrie delivering a pinch-hit single to left to score Michael Buckalo who had doubled to deep right center. Ricky Cratty pitched the sixth inning and allowed one Tiger to score, making the score 6-2.  Kingwood scored three more in the seventh increasing Kingwood’s lead to 9-2.  Hopper and Raymond Inn walked and with one out Michael Flower hit a long double to center field to score Hopper. A second run scored on a Katy error on a Michael Buckalo ground ball to third.  The final run was driven in by a sacrifice fly by Ricky Cratty.  What should have been a “laugher” got tense in the final frame.  David Hoke who pitched well in his previous relief stints was handed the ball to pitch the seventh.  Hoke was tagged for three straight hits.   Coach Denny wasted no time and went straight to his bullpen and called on junior John Nicholson.   Nicholson threw the ball well but was victimized by some “seeing eye” singles.  The Katy team was gaining momentum and they had a comeback in their sights.  With the entire Katy team on their feet cheering, as well as a number of Katy fans, the potential tying run came to the plate, with two outs and runners on first and third.  The emotional level reached a crescendo when Nicholson, drilled the Katy player on the shoulder with his first pitch to apparently load the bases. The umpire however appropriately ruled that the Katy player made no attempt to get out of the way and did not award the player first base. The Katy coach protested loudly and was ejected from the game.  Nicholson ended up walking the Katy player to load the bases thus eliminating the call’s impact on the game.  Coach Denny showed his confidence in Nicholson by keeping him in the game and Nicholson stood tall striking out the next batter to give Kingwood its fifth win while running Hopper’s record to 2-0.  Kingwood will travel to Lufkin next weekend for a tournament.