5A State Championship

Kingwood vs Rockwall

June 11, 2005

In the state finals, the Mustangs faced Rockwall, who advanced to the finals with a 5-2 semi-final win over Smithson Valley. In the bottom of the first, the Mustang bats were as hot as the temperature. On the first pitch of the inning Johnny Whittleman singled to left. Josh Fountain and Doug Simmons singled loading the bases. Kenneth Negron then lined a shot past the third baseman that went to the corner as all three runners scored and Negron ended up on third with a triple and a 3-0 Mustang lead. An out later A.J. Pendleton brought home the fourth run of the inning giving the Mustangs a 4-0 lead after one. Rockwall got one back in the top of the second but Kingwood answered right back. Kyle Denney led off the bottom of the second with a single. Johnny Whittleman doubled driving home Denney. Josh Fountain laid down a great sacrifice bunt moving Whittleman to third. Doug Simmons was hit by a pitch and Negron singled driving home Whittleman. Austin Wood then doubled driving home the seventh Mustang run of the game giving Kingwood a 7-1 led after two full innings. In the bottom of the third Kingwood added one more as Kyle Denney singled with one out. Johnny Whittleman doubled and Josh Fountain drove in Denney with run number eight of the afternoon. Rockwall cut the lead to 8-2 with a run in the top of the fourth but each time they would get a rally going, the Mustangs would turn a double play as they had four on the afternoon. The Mustangs added a little breathing room with two more in the bottom of the fifth. Pinch hitter Brian Shelton led off the inning reaching second on a Rockwall error. Clint Stover entered as a pinch runner for Shelton and scored on a double by John Seitz. Bruce Williams entered as a pinch runner for Seitz and scored on Josh Fountains third hit of the game giving Kingwood a 10-2 lead heading into the seventh. Kingwood starter Mike Ojala pitched brilliantly all day. But a hit batter and single brought on a pitching change as John Touchton entered the game. Two more Rockwall singles had cut the score to 10-5 with a runner on second with only one out. The next Rockwall hitter then hit a fly ball to center. The Rockwall runner broke for third on the play and Kyle Denney settled under the fly ball, relayed to Johnny Whittleman who flipped the ball to Josh Fountain to complete the game ending double play and give the Kingwood Mustangs their first ever state championship in baseball with a 10-5 victory. Mike Ojala was the winning pitcher in the final game giving him a 12-2 record on the year. Ojala went six innings, allowed four runs on seven hits, two walks and had six strikeouts. John Touchton got the final three outs giving up one run and two hits. The Mustangs rapped out thirteen hits on the day. Fountain(3-3) Denney(2-2) Whittleman(3-4) Negron(2-4) Wood(1-3) Seitz(1-1) and Simmons(1-3) had the Mustang hits.

Kenneth Negron was named the championship game MVP with his two hits and four RBI’s. Pitcher Austin Wood, second baseman Josh Fountain, short stop Johnny Whittleman and left fielder A.J. Pendleton were also named to the All Tournament Team. The Mustangs finished the year 35-6-1 for the most successful season ever for Kingwood Mustang baseball as they are your 2005 Class 5A State Baseball Champions.