Needing one more win to move on to the third run, the Kingwood Mustangs hosted Strake Jesuit Friday night at Andy Wells Field.  David Ward started for the Mustangs with Harrison Acquaro going for the Crusaders.

Four pitches into the game, Ward had already induced two ground ball outs to Braelon Richardson at shortstop.  After two walks, a line drive snagged by Josh Arquette at third ended the top of the first inning.  Just as he had done the night before, Brian Schumacher led off the Mustangs first with a single.  He then stole second and moved to third on Caden Wellmann's single to left.  Wellmann then stole second and both runners moved up ninety feet on Arquette's sac fly to center, with Schumacher scoring on the play.  Fuentes singled to left, plating Wellmann with the second run of the inning.  He then stole second and scored on Ty Boatright's single down the left field line, giving the Mustangs a quick 3-0 lead after one.

The first two Crusaders hitters reached on a single to right and a walk.  A sacrifice bunt moved both into scoring position with one out.  Those two runners each scored on a throwing error, tightening the game to 3-2.  A pop up to short and a ground ball out ended the inning there though.

Ryan Bevington entered as the new pitcher for Jesuit to start the second.  On the first pitch he threw, Liam O'Leary laced a single to centerfield.  Dylan Key entered as a courtesy runner and moved to second on a sac bunt by Caden Callaway.  Key moved to third on a groundout by Schumacher before Richardson was hit by a pitch.  Key scored when the catcher overthrew the ball back to the pitcher but Richardson was thrown out at first on the play, leaving Kingwood with a 4-2 lead through two.

Ward breezed through the third, retiring them in order with his first two strikeouts.  An Arquette single to left was all Kingwood managed in the third as a caught stealing had them also retired in order, leaving the score at 4-2.

The fourth inning was another easy inning for Ward as he recorded two more strikeouts, one with the aid of O'Leary's throw to Soto, and a groundout to second.  The game kept moving quickly through the middle innings as Kingwood also again went three up, three down with two fly outs and a nice play by the first baseman on Sammy Soto's ground ball down the line.

The Crusaders got their first base runner in three innings on a walk, who then moved to second on a sac bunt back to the pitcher.  But a groundout to short and line drive to Arquette at third finished off Jesuit in the fifth.  Bevington continued to pitch well as he got a grounder to short, a flyout to right and a pop up to first to have faced the minimum number of Mustangs for a third straight inning.

The Crusaders lead off hitter in the sixth reached on a walk and moved to second, then third on wild pitches.  A second walk in the inning with two outs gave Jesuit runners on the corner before Ward's second strikeout in the inning retired the side without scoring.  Wellmann walked to start things off for the Mustangs as they looked to add to their two run lead.  Arquette's grounder to third forced Wellmann at second for the first out.  A passed ball let Arquette advance to second before he was replaced by pinch runner Bryce Baker.  Baker stole third but a pair of outs kept him from scoring, sending the game into the last frame with Kingwood clinging to a 4-2 lead.

With Ward still on the mound, the lead off hitter grounded to short, moving the Mustangs to within two outs of the third round.  A walk and a single to left gave the Crusaders hope before a Ward strikeout for the second out dashed them a little bit.  Another walk to load the bases however had both stands on their feet in the biggest at bat of the game.  Landon Morman came in to face the last batter and was able to strike him out swinging to end the game, preserve the victory and move the Mustangs to round three.

In the win, Ward recorded seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.  Morman struck out the only batter he faced for a save.

The Mustangs have  now won 16 straight games and 20 of their last 21 overall. 

The third round of the playoffs continues this week against Clear Springs.   Dates, times and locations to be determined.

Kingwood Mustangs
Overall record:   26-7-3
District record:   13-1
Playoff record:       4-0