Kingwood Mustang JV Baseball Team Begins 2002 Season

Last Wednesday the Kingwood Junior Varsity baseball team won their second district game of the 2002 season by beating Sam Rayburn 6-5.  The JV Mustangs are now 2-0 in their district games.  After accumulating a 6-2 record during their pre-district games the Mustangs started the district season with a 14-5 victory against Dobie here in Kingwood at Andy Wells Field last Tuesday. The Mustangs pre-district success was attributed to sound defensive plays and strong pitching by Daniel Edwards, Chase Falk, Jonathan Beaty, Mike Striech, Zach Tumlinson and Jimmy Jordan.

In the Mustang’s district opener, Dobie came on strong in the first inning with three doubles and led the game at the end of the inning 3-0.  In the bottom of the third the Mustangs, behind by four runs, exploded with six hits by Matt Grundy, Robert Hayes, Johnny Whittleman, Stefan Savarino, Ryan Williams, and Kyle Edge. The rally continued until the Mustangs ended the inning ahead 9-4.  Kingwood never looked back. Help from the relief pitcher Renato Bringas and three more Mustang hits including a two-run home run by Johnny Whittleman allowed Kingwood to finish the game 14-5.

The Kingwood Mustang JV’s extended their District success playing Sam Rayburn in Pasadena.  Pitching six and a third innings, Zach Tumlinson guided the Mustangs in this close contest.  Three up-three down from both teams in the first inning set the pace in this tit-for-tat game. In the top of the second inning Kingwood scored two runs on two hits by Casey Stoub and Johnny Whittleman.  Sam Rayburn answered back with two runs on two hits.  With one out in the third, Ryan Williams, after doubling into the gap, was driven home by a Renato Bringas single.  The Mustangs enjoyed a one run lead until the fifth.  Matt Grundy led off the inning with a single and after two outs he had advanced to third.  Andrew Brooks, after walking, got into an intentional “run down” allowing the run to score from third. In the bottom of the fifth Sam Rayburn again answered back and tied the game 4-4 with two runs on two hits.  In the top of the sixth, John Seitz doubled to the fence, Robert Hayes singled over the head of the first baseman, and a fielding error loaded the bases. With one away Matt Grundy singled up the middle scoring two runs giving the Mustangs a 6-4 advantage. Sam Rayburn tried to win back the lead in the bottom of the seventh by scoring one run on two hits, but with the tying run on second base and with help from relief pitcher Jimmy Jordan, the Mustangs ended the game with 6-5 victory.