KFDM COOP

Vaughan, Bears send Panthers packin' Van Wade Orange Leader LITTLE CYPRESS —  Redemption is sweet. Just ask Little Cypress-Mauriceville second baseman Scott Vaughan. With two outs in the top of the seventh inning Kingwood Park’s Sam Gee hit an extremely high flyball towards first base with his team down 4-3. Vaughan scrambled over to make the catch but the ball escaped his grasp as Panther Tanner Schovasja, who had a leadoff single, scored on the error to give Kingwood Park new life. Just when the Panthers thought they were ready to go on the prey, Vaughan sent Kingwood Park home reeling as he took a pitch from relief pitcher Josh Keller and sent a rocket solo home run over the leftfield fence to send the Bears to the Class 4A Region III area round with a 5-4 victory at Don Gibbens Field Saturday afternoon in Game Three of the Class 4A Region III bidistrict playoffs. “Wow, what a sigh of relief,” said Vaughan. “That pop fly was high and I lost it a little in the sun and I really felt bad. I took my frustration out on the first pitch I saw.” What kind of pitch did Vaughan see? “It was a fast ball but I really saw it all the way and I just crushed it,” said Vaughan. “My teammates, they were behind me all the way and said we could bounce back and I was able to come through quick. I didn’t want to see the game go into extra innings.” One thing for sure, the Panthers must have felt like the name “Vaughan” was stamped on their foreheads when they left Gibbens dejected. In the series, Vaughan went 7-for-10 with the home run, three doubles and five runs batted in. “I couldn’t be happier for the kid,” said LC-M coach Steve Griffith. “He could have had his head down after that play on the fly ball and it wasn’t an easy fly to catch either. But the kid is such a competitor, he went out and got the job done at the plate. Once he hit it, there really was no doubt.” Vaughan likes the way his hitting has improved. “I was struggling at the plate a lot until the last couple weeks,” said Vaughan. “We made a few tweaks in practice and I’ve really been seeing the ball well and have been much more patient.” “Really, the kids have improved across the board lately with the bats,”said Griffith. “Vaughan had a terriffic series. Hunter Gonzalez has hit the ball well along with Mason Dallas. It’s a good time to get hot.” The Bears will now face Magnolia in the 4A Region III area round next week. The Bears downed Kingwood Park 3-0 in Game One Thursday before falling to the Panthers 12-3 in Game Two. LC-M senior Shane Waddell had a superb outing on the hill after a rocky first inning. Waddell worked all seven frames, scattering five hits while striking out four and walking four. “After the first inning, Shane settled in pretty good,” said Griffith. “That’s what you expect from a senior.” Philip Keyes pitched the first 4 2/3 innings for the Panthers, allowing eight hits while striking out two and walking one. Keller hurled 1 1/3 innings, striking out one and walking one while giving up the Vaughan blast. The Panthers grabbed a 2-0 lead after the top half of the first, generating three hits off Waddell. Tanner Schovasja had a leadoff single to left and with one out Sam Gee ripped a tight double over the third-base line. Sam May then put down a perfect squeeze bunt that went for a base hit as both Schovasja and Gee were both able to score n the play. The Bears didn’t hibernate long, scoring three runs in the bottom half of the first by tagging Keyes for four hits. Dallas had a leadoff single to right and went to second on a nice sacrifice bunt by Jonathan Allen and Ryan Waddell followed with a single to right. Dallas trimmed the margin to 2-1 when he scored off a wild Keyes pitch. Brandon Landry tied things up, scoring Waddell with a single up the middle and Vaughan gave the Bears the lead with a deep double off the centerfield wall that plated Landry. The Panthers tied it up at 3-3 in the top of the second. Keller reached on an error at short and moved to second on a Keyes sac bunt and to third on a Schovasja groundout. Keller then scored on a passed ball. LC-M went up 4-3 in the bottom of the third frame. Vaughan was the instigator again, roping a leadoff double to left. Shane Waddell then reached on an error after he put down a bunt, moving Vaughan to third. Vaughan then scored off a Gonzalez fielder’s choice ground ball with Waddell being thrown out at second on the play.

Updates?

Not sure. Game 3 3pm

Dropped fly in Infield with 2 outs but KP ties it.

1 out

Crosby vs. Brenham One game at Langham Creek-7:30 pm Friday

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Noon

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[Hidden Content]

Mustangs capture bi-district victory Gabriel Pruett Orange Leader BEAUMONT —  The West Orange-Stark Mustangs proved Friday night they are not only satisfied with making the playoffs, they plan on sticking around. The Mustangs defeated the Tarkington Longhorns 7-3 in the Class 3A Region III Bi-district playoffs at Beaumont West Brook High School. Zane Anderson notched the win on the mound after hurling all seven innings. Anderson struck out eight batters, allowed seven hits and only walked one batter in the Mustangs’ first playoff game since 2005. WO-S has a bye through the area round and will meet either Orangefield or Rudder in the regional quarterfinals. Anderson admitted after the game he did not have his best game Friday yet was excited WO-S got the win. “The win was huge and it feels great,” Anderson said. “I hope I have better stuff next time out. My slider was flat but our defense works hard and they made some big plays behind me.” The biggest play came in the bottom of the third with the game tied at 1-1. WO-S coach Jesse Riojas elected to intentionally walk Tarkington’s Josh Consemiu with one out to load the bases. The move worked as Consemiu hit a shot to Mustangs’ second baseman James Thomas who flipped to shortstop Justin Sparrow for the second out. Sparrow then gunned to first baseman Clayton Gearhart to complete the 4-6-3 double play. “JT and Sparrow made a great play,” Anderson said. “When Coach called for the walk, I started to think a little too much. I was able to make a pitch and the defense made the play. That is all I can ever ask for.” Riojas said he is now 4-for-4 in that exact situation. “Honestly we have done that play in the past,” Riojas said. “We walked (Jacob) Felts in that exact situation and it worked.” The momentum switched as WO-S then scored three runs in the top of the fourth to grab a 4-1 lead. Taylor Turley had a RBI single as did Anderson in the top of the fourth. Jacory Finney had a RBI ground out. Jordan Darnall provided a bit of offense in the top of the fifth with a two-run homer which scored Zach Drouillard. Thomas scored WO-S’ last run when Sparrow had a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Sparrow scored in the top of the first after leading the game off with a single and moving all the way to third on two stolen bases. Darnall picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to right. “I have never been in this type of atmosphere,” Darnall said. “This is the best feeling in the world. We really were not nervous because we felt we had a great shot to win the game. We are ready to keep going and it is going to be a long week-and-a-half off between series.” Riojas was proud to see his team respond in their first playoff series. “I am not surprised by this win one bit,” Riojas said. “This team still has not reached their full potential. The main thing is we take pride in what we are doing. Tonight was awesome with the crowd cheering and how this team played. We are going to keep going regardless of who we play. We are going to enjoy this, rest up and then see who we got next.”

WS advances! Congrats Sharks on a great season!

CONGRATS

Go Stangs!

Game 3 Noon Sat. at LC-M.

Loved it!!!!!  Poor Coach. :'(  Tim hates school.  :D

7PM start [Hidden Content]

Post scores here

Game 3 coming up

4 pm start

[Hidden Content]

Post game 2 and 3 scores here

Post game 2 scores here

Post scores here

Post game 2 scores here