Stratford Sophomore Baseball – March 2-4

The sophomore baseball team had a busy week as they played in their first round robin tournament of the season hosted by the Katy ISD schools. The tournament included roughly 20 of the biggest programs in the Houston area from Katy, Cy Fair, Spring Branch and Ft. Bend school districts. The Spartans were up for the challenge as they went 2-1-1 on the weekend versus some strong competition.

vs. Richmond Foster

Thursday’s first game versus Richmond Foster got off to a sloppy start as both teams struggled in the field and allowed several unearned runs early in the contest. The Spartans were down 4-0 after the first inning, but their bats continued to put pressure on the Foster defense and were able to climb back in the game and tie it up 4-4 in the third inning thanks to a 2-out RBI single by Cody Hanlen. The pitching and defense settled down, and William Coates had a solid relief outing, allowing no runs to preserve the tie.

Final Score - Spartans 6, Richmond Foster 6

Cody Hanlen – 1-2, BB, RBI

Brandon Phillips – 2 IP, 1 ER, 2 K’s, 2-4, R

Jackson Holz – 1-2/3 IP, 1 ER, K

William Coates – 1-1/3 IP, 0 ER, K

vs. Cinco Ranch

Thursday’s nightcap featured a matchup against a solid Cinco Ranch team on their home field. The Spartans’ bats started off hot and scored 3 runs in the top of the first. Brandon Phillips and Jax Blundell each reached base with singles, and Jackson Holz drove them in with a double to deep right center field. Cinco Ranch responded as they took advantage of Spartan errors, and added some timely hitting to take the lead 4-3. The Spartans would add 5 runs in the top of the third as Cinco Ranch struggled to find the strike zone, but the Cougars’ bats wouldn’t be denied as they would prevail in walk-off fashion. The Spartans wish they could have this one back as Cinco Ranch went on to go undefeated in the tourney.

Final Score – Cinco Ranch 9, Spartans 8

Jax Blundell – 2-2, BB, 2 R

Jackson Holz – 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, SB, 2 R

Anthony Castillo – 1-1, RBI

Will Tacker – 2 IP, 2 ER, 4 K’s

vs. Jordan

Friday afternoon the Spartans traveled to play the Jordan Warriors on their home turf in Fulshear, and Zach Christie came to spoil their party. The southpaw was outstanding on the bump for the Spartans as he kept the Warriors off-balance by changing speeds effectively with excellent command. Thanks to solid defense behind him, he would go on to pitch a complete game, 4-hitter. Jack Sullivan started a 2-out rally in the top of the sixth with an RBI single, as the Spartans would add 3 more runs to take a 7-0 lead. This was a complete team win as the Spartans handed the Warriors their only loss of the tournament.

Final Score – Spartans 11, Jordan 1

Zach Christie – 7 IP, CG, 6 K’s, 65% strikes, 2-3, 2B

Jack Sullivan – 2-2, 2 RBI, 2 SB, R

Brandon Phillips – 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI

Jack McAfee – 2-4, RBI, R

vs. Katy Tompkins

Saturday’s finale featured a matchup versus one of the top programs in the state last year – Katy Tompkins. The Spartans were somehow assigned the visiting team for the fourth time in four games, but it didn’t matter. They came ready to play and took advantage of Tompkins’ inability to find the strike zone early to score 2 runs in the first. They would tack on 2 more in the second and 4 more in the fourth with some timely hitting and smart base-running from Brandon Phillips, who stayed hot at the plate. Will Tacker came on in relief and shut down the Falcons. His nasty curveball fooled hitters (as well as the umpire) on several occasions. Anthony Castillo was a wall behind the plate and controlled the basepaths, while Jack McAfee made several key plays at shortstop to help seal the win.

Final Score – Spartans 8, Tompkins 4

Zach Christie – 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, R

Brandon Phillips – 1-3, 2 RBI, R

Will Tacker – 3-1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 K’s

The team is starting to hit its stride right before District play begins on March 13th at Cy Fair.

This Week

vs. Elsik:

The Spartans traveled to Alief for their last non-District game against the Elsik Rams. Grayson Granda, Stephen Hoover, and Will Tacker all had extra base hits and drove in multiple runs as the Spartans won 14-0 and improved their record to 3-2-1 on the season. Stratford pitchers Levi Lease, Iziah Delatorre, and Luke Tamez combined to shutout the Rams in four innings. The defense could have stayed in the dugout for this one, as all 12 outs in the game came by strikeout. The competition ramps up this week as District play begins on Monday at Cy Fair.