HS Baseball: Grand Oaks Creates Worthy Send-Off For Seniors In Dominant Home Victory

SPRING, TX -- Grand Oaks’ final home game of the regular season ended in a dazzling display of hitting and pitching that rewarded the Grizzlies with a 14-4 run-rule victory over the visiting Caney Creek Panthers.

The playoff picture for the Grizzlies is narrow and requires them to win their final matchups against the Panthers while getting help from a Conroe loss.

With the pressure on in the last week of action, Grand Oaks quickly got to work and started to round the basepaths against the flat-footed Panther fielders.

Braden Sanches started the Grand Oaks scoring with a double in the bottom of the first. Kameron Webb brought that in to get the Grizzlies on the board 1-0 in just the first inning.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Grand Oaks Head Coach Lou Ferrell discussed his pleasure in the team’s early scoring and continued effort at the plate.

“I was impressed with the way we came out and scored early in the game and continued it each inning,” said Ferrell. “We kind of talk about winning each inning, and today, we added on a bit more each at-bat, and that’s big for us.”

While the Grizzlies got going at the plate, ace pitching from Mason Kinchen kept the Panthers playing behind for his entire four-inning tenure on the mound.

Back-to-back three-batter innings for Caney Creek saw no significant traction built by the Panthers against the impressive arm of Kinchen. When they did eventually get their first hit of the game in the top of the fourth, the Grand Oaks lead was so large that it made little difference in the outcome of the game.

Kinchen’s contributions were noticed on the scoreboard and by the crowd, shown through the standing ovation given to the Grizzly pitcher following his bow-out and final pitches in the fourth inning.

“I was super proud of him out there,” said Ferrell. “He had a really good, low pitch count. I could tell he was grooving early, had a couple quick innings, and he ultimately did a really good job.”

With Kinchen keeping the Panthers scoreless, the Grizzly hitters were free to ramp up the intensity through a second-inning barrage that put the game out of reach.

A full run-through of the Grizzly batting rotation and six total RBIs from the Grand Oaks batters left the home squad with 10 runs scored once the dust finally settled. Headlining the assault on the scoreboard was a three-run RBI triple from Caleb Barth that pushed the Grizzlies into a commanding lead.

“It was impressive to see the passing of the torch from one guy to the next,” said Ferrell. “Just trying to do their job, stay within themselves and let the next man up work.”

The 10 runs, seven hits, and six RBIs posted by the Grizzly batters threatened to push the game into a run rule before the end of the second, but pitching changes from Caney Creek allowed the team to limp out of the second with an 11-0 deficit.

Kinchen’s pitching did not allow the Panthers to chip into the deficit. Rather, the Grizzlies extended the lead by adding three more runs before the fifth to make it a 14-0 mountain of points for the Caney Creek batters to climb over in a single half inning.

The decision to pull Kinchen off the mound meant the mantle was taken up by Drew Johnson, who lasted just four batters before being pulled for Cade Calhoun.

The brief step away from Kinchen on the mound saw the replacement Grizzly pitchers concede four runs to no outs, getting the Panthers within striking distance of extending the game.

Luckily for the Grizzlies, even the replacements in the field were able to secure the last crucial outs to keep the game in a run-rule situation that benefited the Grizzlies.

A final grounder to short closed the window of opportunity for the Panther comeback and ended the game in a 14-4 win for the home team, as they hope to make the cut for postseason play.

“We’re going to try and carry over what we did today and ride that,” explained Ferrell. “Hopefully we can take some of those things from today and improve them in the next one, but if we stay hot at the plate and pitch well, we’ll be doing just fine.”

The conclusion of the regular season for both Grand Oaks and Caney Creek will take place on Friday night at the Panther Diamonds, with the opening pitch set for 6:00 P.M.

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