Kingwood Mustangs 11, Channelview Falcons 0  - May 6, 2023 @ Andy Wells Field

Needing a win to advance to round two of the playoffs, the Kingwood Mustangs had David Ward on the hill while the Channelview Falcons hoped Jose Silva could keep their post season alive in a mid-afternoon matchup at Andy Wells Field on a hot Kingwood day.

Ward wasted little time, getting the leadoff hitter to pop up in foul ground to Liam O'Leary near the Falcons dugout and then a fly ball to Caden Callaway in left field on his first two pitches of the game.  The next hitter took more than one pitch but he was eventually retired on a ground ball to Josh Arquette at third.  Brian Schumacher led off the home half of the first with a sharp single up the middle and moved to third on an errant pickoff at first.  A pair of Mustangs struck out before Arquette walked.  Arquette broke for second to allow Schumacher to sneak home with game's first run before a third strikeout in the inning finished things off, though Kingwood did start with a 1-0 lead.

Ward walked the lead off hitter in the second but rebounded to strike out the next hitter.  A ground ball to short that looked like a potential inning ending double play was instead misplayed and gave the Falcons runners at first and second.  After a ground ball to third, a bad throw to second on the fielder's choice pulled the second baseman off the bag for the Mustangs second consecutive error, loading the bases.  Faced with an early jam, Ward got a pop up to Sammy Soto at first and a groundout to Arquette at third to retire the side thanks to a nice scoop at first base by Soto.  Ty Boatright led off the second with a walk and like a teammate earlier in the game, attempted to go 180 feet on a bad pickoff throw.  Unfortunately, this time he was thrown out at third for the first out of the inning.  Soto immediately followed that with a solo home run inside the right field foul pole, extending the lead to 2-0.  O'Leary lined a single to center and was run for by Dylan Key.  A caught stealing and a strikeout ended things there though.

Again Ward was forced to work out of a bit of a jam in the third when the first two hitters reached on singles to the left side.  But as he did the previous inning, Ward buckled down and went to work, getting a foul pop to Soto at first and two consecutive swinging strikeouts.  Schumacher lined a single by the shortstop to reach and moved to second on Braelon Richardson's walk.  Each runner advanced a base when the pitcher's pickoff throw to second trickled into centerfield.  Caden Wellmann lifted a short pop fly down the third base line that the shortstop drifted back to catch but on the play, Schumacher was able to tag up and score to put Kingwood up 3-0.  Arquette was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners before Braden Fuentes lined a single in front of the left fielder to drive in Richardson and move Arquette to second.  Arquette and Fuentes completed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position again.  After lining a foul ball off the first base ump's stomach, Soto walked to load the bases but O’Leary’s deep fly to right was caught to close out the frame at 4-0.

Ward seemed to find a new gear in the fourth as he recorded two fly outs to Schumacher in right field and a swinging strikeout in between those two outs to retire the side in order for the first time.  Callaway walked and moved to third on a hard groundball Schumacher hit under the first baseman, putting Mustangs on the corners.  After a pickoff at first and a strikeout, the Falcons seemed poised to escape the inning without giving up a run.  However, Wellmann's slow roller to the mound was kicked by the pitcher into foul ground, plating Callaway.  Arquette doubled down the left field line, yet again putting two runners in scoring position.  Fuentes reached on an infield single to short, letting Wellmann race home with Kingwood's sixth run of the game.  The inning ended when Fuentes was called out on a pickoff that was an atrocious call.  Nonetheless, the Mustangs led 6-0 through four.

Channelview showed a little fight in the fifth with a leadoff single but a fielder's choice groundout to third and two more Ward swinging strikeouts shut things down quickly.  Boatright lined a ball that seemed to be caught on the short hop by the third base umpire disagreed and called it a catch.  Soto doubled off the right centerfield wall and moved to third on O'Leary's fly ball to right but couldn't score, giving Kingwood their first scoreless inning of the contest.

A fly ball to right gave Ward the first out in the sixth before a line drive single to right and a hit by pitch gave the Falcons some life.  But a groundball to Arquette at third was fired to Wellmann at second and on to Soto at first for the 5-4-3 double play to end the rally.  With Samir Gonzalez now pitching for the Falcons, Schumacher reached on an infield single to short.  Needing four runs for another run rule, a fly out and Wellmann's fielder's choice left the team with a runner at first with two outs.  Wellmann was able to move to second on a passed ball.  After a 2-0 count, Arquette was intentionally walked.  Both Wellmann and Arquette moved up on another passed ball before Fuentes walked to load the bases.  A balk pushed all runners up ninety feet, plating Wellmann for a 7-0 lead.  Boatright singled up the middle to drive in Arquette and increase that to 8-0 with two runners on.  With one swing of the bat, Soto ended the game with a walkoff three run home run to right field, his second of the game, giving Kingwood a 11-0 win in both games of the series.

In the complete game win, Ward posted six strikeouts.

The red hot Mustangs have  now won 14 straight games and 18 of their last 19 overall. 

The second round of the playoffs will be next week.  As of now, we only know the opponent will be the Strake Jesuit Crusaders.  Dates, times and locations are to be determined.

Kingwood Mustangs
Overall record:   24-7-3
District record:   13-1
Playoff record:       2-0