Kingwood Mustangs Close Out

Minute Maid High School Classic with “Gut Check” Win Over the Tomball Cougars

Kingwood entered the Minute Maid High School Classic, played at the home of the National League Houston Astros with many questions – and they found a number of answers - the Mustangs can play with the best of them. Cy Creek rated in preseason #3 in the Houston area, fell to Kingwood in the opener Thursday night (March 4^th) 12-2 in six innings. Friday (March 5^th) the Mustangs lost a hard fought contest to the preseason #10 ranked Katy Tigers 4-1. Saturday night (March 6^th) the Kingwood nine bested preseason #4 ranked Tomball Cougars in an intense 10 inning contest.

During the three game tournament, Kingwood defense gave up a total of 9 runs in 23 innings, an average of 2.74 runs per game against three Houston area preseason top 10 teams.

Outstanding pitching performances were turned by Senior starting pitchers Daniel Edwards, Zach Tumlinson, and Junior Blake Hancock. Strong closing performances were posted by Sophomore Ryan Torres, Senior Jimmy Jordan, and Senior closer Jonathan “The Iceman” Beatty.

Good pitching needs good defense and the Minute Maid Classic was no exception. Senior catcher Andrew Brooks handled the pitching staff with confidence and threw runners out almost at will. Base runners beware if you try to run on Brooks this year. How could we forget the diving stop and pop up throw to nail a Cy Creek runner in game one by third baseman Greg Gossett or the clutch no out backhand stop by shortstop Johnny Whittleman in the 9^th inning versus Tomball that prevented a run from scoring and provided a huge piece to the Mustangs battle back? Kyle Denny seemed to be every where in centerfield making several clutch catches and throws versus Tomball when every base counted.

Offensively, the Mustangs scored from all over the line up in the Minute Maid Classic lead by Junior shortstop Johnny Whittleman 3-9 – 2B – 3B on base 6-12 and Senior third baseman Greg Gossett 3-7 – 2B on base 6-10 with 2 sacs. Other significant contributions coming from Senior DH/1B Ryan Mize, Junior 1B Austin Wood, Sophomore RF Doug Simmons, Junior LF’s A.J. Pendelton and Thomas McCormick and outfielder Kenneth Negron – clutch hits and offense were also provided by second baseman Josh Fountain and catcher Andrew Brooks.

22 5A beware the Mustangs are coming around!