Kingwood Mustangs 11, Channelview Falcons  0  - May 5, 2023 @ Dorothy Wilson Memorial Stadium (Channelview)

The Kingwood Mustangs, winners of District 21-6A, began their 2023 playoff season by travelling to Channelview to face the Falcons, the fourth place team in District 22-6A.  The Mustangs had Josh Pelfrey starting on the mound as Channelview went with Christian Valdez.

Playing on the road in front of their now customary big crowd, Kingwood looked to get a quick start in the game.  After Brian Schumacher led off by grounding out to second, Braelon Richardson was hit by a pitch to give the Mustangs their first base runner.  Richardson stole second and moved to third on a passed ball before Caden Wellmann walked.  Richardson then scored and Wellmann moved to second when Valdez was called for a balk.    Wellmann then advanced another ninety feet when the pitcher threw away a pickoff attempt at second base.  Josh Arquette singled to left to plate Wellmann and give Kingwood an early 2-0 lead.  Arquette stole second on a play where he initially looked like he would be picked off at first.  He then moved to third and eventually scored on two separate wild pitches.  Braden Fuentes walked and raced to third on Ty Boatright's single to left.  Fuentes then scored and Boatright reached second when Valdez made a bad throw to second.  After the Falcons brought in Sebastian Espinoza to pitch, Boatright stole third and scored on Sammy Soto's single up the middle.  Liam O'Leary's sac bunt (though he looked safe at first) moved Soto to second where he was stranded after a groundout to third but not before the Mustangs jumped out to a 5-0 lead after just one half of an inning.  Pelfrey got the Channelview leadoff hitter down 0-2 before he laced a single to left.  The next hitter singled to right to give the Falcons two on with no one out.  A fielder's choice grounder to Arquette, who threw to Wellmann at second, recorded the inning's first out.  Pelfrey then got a strikeout looking and an unassisted groundout to Soto at first to retire the side.

Schumacher singled to right centerfield and Richardson reached on a bunt single to the pitcher to quickly give the Mustangs two more base runners.  Wellmann singled past a diving shortstop to drive in Schumacher and move Richardson to second.  An Arquette single to left knocked in Richardson while Wellmann coasted into third.  On the play, the left fielder misplayed the ball allowing Wellmann to score and Arquette to reach second base.  Three consecutive outs after that kept the game at 8-0.  Pelfrey made quick work of the Falcons in the bottom of the second with a fly ball to Caden Callaway in left, a pop up to Wellmann in short right field and a foul pop to Soto at first.

Channelview brought on their third pitcher of the night in Diego Martinez.  O'Leary greeted him with a single to right and was replaced by courtesy runner, Dylan Key.  Key moved to second on Callaway's groundout before Richardson was hit by a pitch for the second time on the night.  Key and Richardson completed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position.  Key and Richardson both then scored on Wellmann's line drive single over the shortstop bumping the lead to 10-0 Kingwood.  Arquette's double over the head of the centerfield plated Wellmann to increase the lead to 11-0.  Despite a Mustangs runner looking safe at first, Fuentes was called out on a grounder to the left side to close things out in the third.  Cole Brewer entered the game behind the dish to start the bottom of the third.  Pelfrey walked the leadoff and a wild pitch moved him to second before a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a soft liner to Richardson at short kept the shutout intact.

Matthew Estes reached when the shortstop failed to come up with his ground ball.  After a caught stealing, a strikeout and a foul pop to the catcher moved things to the bottom of the fourth.  Wesley Lawson entered to pitch along with number of defensive substitutions behind him.  John Hebert took over at first, Dylan Key at third, Will Fiedler in left, Estes in center and Logan Eckert in right field.  Lawson wasted little time, recording the Mustangs first three up, three down inning by getting two fly balls to Estes in center and a swinging strikeout.

After three quick outs, Kingwood made a couple more defensive moves.  Landon Morman came on to pitch while Bryce Baker entered at second base.  A groundout to Richardson at short, a single over the third baseman and two strikeouts looking ended the inning and the game as Kingwood ended the game early with a run rule, 11-0.

In the win, Pelfrey posted three strikeouts in three innings.  Lawson got one of his own in his inning and Morman posted two in his inning.

The steaking Mustangs have now won 13 straight games and 17 of their last 18 overall. 

They again face Channelview Saturday at Andy Wells Field at 2pm.

Kingwood Mustangs
Overall record:   23-7-3
District record:   13-1
Playoff record:       1-0