Sugar Land, Texas — The Tomball Kings built upon their opening-day success in the Fort Bend Christian Academy varsity baseball tournament, defeating the West Houston Thunder 11-2 at Fort Bend Christian Field in a five-inning game that ended by run rule.
Issac Gidden started off the game well, forcing the first two batters to ground out before drilling Thunder batsman McDonald. The next batter Cavazos then grounded out to second baseman Josh Hokenson. The Thunders starting pitcher Cavazos walked Hokenson, but managed to pull it together and record a strikeout and a fly out before walking Jarret Sweitzer. Hokenson scored on an unfortunate error made after an attempted throw down to second. Tyler Costas then came up to bat, swatting a fly ball single in front of the right fielder, driving in Sweitzer and making the score 2-0. Cavazos then forced the next batter to fly out, ending the inning.
The Thunder struck in the beginning of the second, following a hit by pitch and a single. Just after recording another strikeout, Gidden gave up a single to Gilson which put the Thunder up on the board. Following another three pitch punch out, another batter was hit to load the bases. One pitch later, Thunder baserunner took advantage of a passed ball to even the score at two. McDonald then hit a dribbler which Gidden grabbed, and flung to first to record the final out.
Following an early pitching change which brought in Thunder reliever Wilson, Marek Fleming lined out to third basemen Tincopa. Wilson then collected a couple of strikeouts to settle down the Kings early success. Gidden continued to pitch into the third, forcing Cavazos to fly out to centerfield to begin the inning. After a grounder single to the right fielder Costas, Gidden added another two strikeouts to his stat line, ending the inning.
Hokenson lead off the inning for the Kings by lining out to Gilson. Gidden reached first on an error made on a grounder he hit, and Collin England blooped a single in front of the Thunders centerfielder. After Sweitzer drew a four pitch walk, Costas reached first and drove in Gidden on an error made in center. Cook contributed to the rally by driving in another run on a fielders choice, making the score 4-2 Tomball. Fleming then slapped a frozen rope in front of the left fielder. Wilson then walked Hokenson, loading the bases again. Kings batter Owen Wilkins came up big, singling on a grounder to left field which drove in another three runs, and putting the Kings up 8-2. After batting a round, the rally finally ended when the Thunder brought in another reliever to record the final strikeout of the inning.
Gidden continued to pitch well in the fourth, retiring the first batter via a flyout. Collecting another three pitch strikeout, things were looking well in the inning until Thompson singled on a dribbler to the shortstop Fleming. Gidden managed to recover, and force the next batter to ground out. The Kings continued to enjoy success in the fourth, scraping across four straight singles to score another two runs. But pitcher Thompson forced a double play which ultimately scored another run, the Kings were up 11-2. Thompson then struck out the next batter to end the rally.
The Thunder entered their final inning down by nine runs, and they faced the Kings starting pitcher Gidden who was attempting to throw a complete game. The first out came to a fly out to first basemen England, and the second one was a sharp grounder to Fleming. Lavedar managed to single on a grounder to right field, and Sanford drew a walk to put a man in scoring position. But the game was ultimately ended when the final batter Koch flied out on the first pitch to Cook.
The Kings Lineup collected eight hits, with England and Costas leading the way to provide security for starting pitcher Gidden. The game was successful for Gidden, collecting five strikeouts across five innings.
The Thunder’s pitchers struggled throughout the game, allowing 11 runs in four innings. The lineup also failed to rally during the right times, letting the Kings run away unanswered throughout the game.
The Kings will play their final game of the double header later in the day, playing against the hometown Fort Bend Eagles. Hopefully the lineup will continue their success in this tournament through the finale.
