HS Baseball: Highlanders Rally to Down Kingwood

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The Woodlands Highlanders showed exactly why they are ranked No. 7 in the state of Texas and No. 46 in the country on Tuesday night at Scotland Yard.

The Kingwood Mustangs also showed why they have one of the most tradition-rich baseball programs in the state of Texas.

So, what happened?

A miracle.

Well, make that two miracles.

The Highlanders, who were down to their final strike on two occasions, rallied for five runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to stun the Mustangs 9-7 in a spine tingling game between the two storied programs.

"It was a fun game,'' said The Woodlands head coach Ron Eastman after perhaps the game of the year in the Houston area. "I think I got a lot more gray hairs on my head, but it was fun.''

The Woodlands, 6-3, looked dead in the water after its first two batters went quietly to start the seventh.

But Nick Frey singled up the middle and pinch-hitter Garrett Hope beat out an infield single to shortstop to put men on first and second.

Kingwood head coach Kelly Mead then made one of the mostquestionable moves of the night when he pulled reliever Jacob French in favor of closer Kyle Finnegan.

The Woodlands' Alex Dunlap promptly deposited Finnegan's first pitch high and deep over the center field wall to knot the game at 7-7.

Finnegan, who was obviously still shaken from the blow, walked Jonathan Walthall, then left another fastball over the plate for southpaw Andrew Godail, who sent it sailing over the left-field wall for the two-run victory.

"I liked the fight in our guys (tonight),'' Eastman said. "I liked our approach at the plate. We had 12 hits against a good team. And in the end, we came through.''

The game was tied 1-1 before Kingwood's Michael Sheen hit Jameson Taillon's fastball for a three run home run to give the visiting Mustangs a 4-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

"Kingwood is a great hitting club,'' Eastman said of the Mustangs, who finished with nine hits. "They hit the fastball very well (tonight).''

The Woodlands rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth on Goodell's two-RBI single to right, but the Mustangs grabbed a 6-4 lead in the sixth when Blake Whitter scored on a slow roller to the mound, and Clay Porter ripped an RBI double to center field to plate Derek Vogl.

That was the end of the night for the 6-foot-7 Taillon, who gave up six runs on eight hits. The projected first-round Major League draft pick struck out 11 and walked two.

"Jame-o didn't have his best stuff tonight,'' admitted Eastman. "He left a few pitches up. But the kids really rallied behind him.''

Kingwood tacked on another run in the top of the seventh on Whitter's RBI single to grab a 7-4 lead and set the stage for the Highlanders' comeback.

Whitter pitched the first five innings for the Mustangs. He allowed four runs on 10 hits. He also struck out eight.

"I am very proud of our team,'' Eastman said. "This was a playoff-type game. All these type games should help us for district.''

The Woodlands will open District 14-5A play against College Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday (March 16) at Scotland Yard.

"College Park got us here last year,'' Eastman said. "Hopefully, we can return the favor this time around.''