Friendswood falls short to Brenham in Region III final

June 8, 2010

FRIENDSWOOD — The fact that the Friendswood Mustangs forced a third and deciding game of their best-of-three series against one of the top teams in the state is a tribute to the gutsy effort by head coach Charlie Taylor's diamondmen.

Taylor would probably think that his troops belonged in a MASH unit than on a baseball diamond.

With sore arms and all, the Mustangs weren't going to go down without a fight and they almost knocked off one of the premier teams in the state that will be going to their record 15th 4A state baseball tournament. No other team in the state has had that many visits though Brenham hasn't had a state title since 1988.

The Mustangs have advanced to the region finals for the last two out of three years. Friendswood lost in the 4A state semifinals to eventual state champion Corpus Christi Calallen in 2008.

Friendswood shocked Brenham in the first game of the series.

Tyler Sullivan virtually single-handedly carried the Mustangs to the upset win. The senior limited Brenham’s vaunted offense to five hits and then hit the game-winning grand slam in extra innings to lift Friendswood past the No. 3 Cubs, 8-2, in an eight-inning shocker.

Brenham 4 - Friendswood 1

Brenham ace Chase Wellbrock silenced Friendswood hitters in a 4-1 Cubs victory to even the series at one game apiece in their best-of-three series forcing a third and deciding game.

Jared Gaspard went the distance for the Mustangs in a great effort to rest the other Friendswood pitchers.. The Mustangs used only two pitchers for two games.

Brandon Hollier drove in Michael Speck for Friendswood’s lone run.

Brenham 8 - Friendswood 6

Brenham scored six runs in the first inning on only one hit to put Friendswood in a hole and the Mustangs couldn't recover. Though the Mustangs attempted a strong come back, Friendswood fell short as Brenham hung on for an 8-6 victory to advance to the state tournament.

Walks and errors led to the disasterous first inning. But Friendswood had faced big deficits during the playoffs and rallied to pull out a win.

Michael Goodwin stretched a single into a double and scored on Matt Kennemer’s infield single in the second inning.

In the fifth frame, Turner Goodwin delivered a first-pitch pinch-hit RBI single. Goodwin added a sacrifice fly, and Michael Speck hit a run-scoring base hit to pull Friendswood within 6-4.

Trailing 8-4 in the sixth inning, Johnathon Johnson doubled and scored on Matt Kennemer’s double. Jordan Gibbs plated Kennemer on a single to cut the lead to 8-6, but that is as close as the Mustangs would come to end their season.

Brenham (35-4) advances to the state tournament while Friendswood finishes with a 24-16 mark.

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