Kingwood Goes to 5-0 in

District 22-5A Beats Baytown Lee on the Road

Friday afternoon, March 26, 2004, the Kingwood Mustangs made the trip to Baytown for the 5^th District game of the year versus the Baytown Lee Ganders.

The visiting Mustangs got on the board first as lead off hitter Senior third baseman Greg Gossett walked and stole second base. Junior left fielder Kenneth Negron walked. On a wild pitch, both Gossett and Negron advanced to third and second respectively. Cleanup hitter Sophomore Doug Simmons grounded out to the third baseman while driving in Gossett. Junior lefthander Blake Hancock started on the mound for Kingwood and sent the Ganders 3 up and 3 down. The score after one full inning was Kingwood 1 - Baytown Lee 0.

The Mustangs would go back to work in the top of the 2^nd inning as Senior catcher Andrew Brooks singled with one out. Senior outfielder Steffan Savarino came in as a courtesy runner for Brooks. Savarino “manufactured” Kingwood’s second run by stealing second and third base and scoring on a wild pitch. The score after 1 ½ innings was Mustangs 2 - Ganders 0.

The Baytown team would get on the board in the bottom of the 2^nd inning and score 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk. The score after 2 full innings was Lee 3 and Kingwood 2.

The Mustangs answered again in the top of the 3^rd inning as Gossett reached on an infield ground ball, stole second and was sacrificed to third base by Negron. Gossett then scored on a ground out to first base by Junior shortstop Johnny Whittleman, making the score tied at 3 after 2 ½ innings.

Senior pitcher Jimmy Jordan came in with 1 out in the bottom of the 2^nd inning and went 5 2/3 innings giving up 2 hits and no earned runs while striking out 7 Ganders.

The Mustangs would give Jordan the lead in the top of the 7^th inning. Brooks singled to lead off the inning. Savarino, running for Brooks, stole second base, his third stolen base of the day. With no out, Junior second baseman Josh Fountain laid down a perfect bunt to move Savarino to third base. In a hurry to get the speedy Fountain at first base, a Baytown infielder threw the ball into right field, which allowed Savarino to score with the go ahead run and moved Fountain all the way to third base. That would be all Jordan needed as he retired the Ganders smoothly in the bottom of the 7^th inning to make the final score Kingwood 4 and Baytown Lee 3.

Defensively for the Mustangs, Gossett made two big plays to close out the difficult bottom of the 2^nd inning as he fielded ground balls and threw out runners at first base with runners moving around. The final out of the inning coming on an excellent backhand stop down the third base line of a hard hit grounder that Gossett turned into the final out. The pitcher, Jordan (also an infielder), played like a 5^th infielder in the 4^th inning by coming off the mound twice to pick up trouble ground balls and throw out Baytown runners. Kyle Denney, whom seems to be listed in this section for defensive excellence every week, made his best play of the season to record the last out of the 6^th inning in the following manner.

With two outs, a “Texas leaguer” that had double written all over it, was hit over shortstop. Denney sprinting from the crack of the bat never gave up and made a headlong dive and miraculous catch to end the inning. Jordan closed out the 7^th inning with a strikeout and a 4-6-3 double play started by Fountain, turned by Whittleman, and received by Junior first baseman, Austin Wood. Senior catcher Andrew Brooks continued to be energetic behind the plate handling the wide variety of Mustang pitches.

Offensively:

Brooks 2-3

Savarino Running for Brooks, 3 stolen bases, 2 runs

Gossett 1-3, on base 3-4, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases

Whittleman 1-3, 1 RBI

Simmons 1 RBI

Fountain 1-3

Negron on base 2-3, 1 sac bunt