High School Baseball
Cy Ranch Blows By Atascocita; Will Face 17-6A Foe in Regional Final
Thomas Bingham
Jun 1, 2018, 6:38 pm
Cy Ranch vs Atascocita will be battle for trip to Austin
It’s been a special year for Cy-Fair ISD, and this weekend’s action was a great example of that. Cypress Ranch and Cy-Fair erased 1-0 series deficits against Atascocita and Clear Springs, so they'll renew a district rivalry in next week’s 6A Region III final.
"That just goes to show about the quality of baseball in our league," said Cypress Ranch head coach Corey Cephus. "That's a testament to everybody in our community. The Cy-Fair community is about baseball and getting it done."
Ranch jumped out to an early lead on Saturday and never looked back. It scored all six of its first inning runs with two outs, and ultimately prevailed 9-4. VYPE Player of the Game Westley Schields drove in two runs in the opening frame, so he was the difference maker in the series clincher.
"I was just trying to get good pitches to hit, put 'em in play [and] hit 'em hard," said Schields. "I knew our guy, JJ Goss, was going to be a dog on the mound, and we just came out and played our game."
Atascocita’s pitching was not on point, so runs came easy for the Mustangs. It started in the first when Colton Cowser and Jared Alvarez-Lopez walked with two outs, and Colton Owen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The productive at-bats continued, when Matt Thompson drove in the first run with a RBI walk. Passed balls drove in the next two runs, Fabian Mayfield added a RBI walk, and Schields concluded the frame with a two-run RBI single.
17-6A’s second seed extended its lead in the second, third and fifth. Brandon Griffin drove in a pair and Mayfield had a solo home run.
Atascocita answered in the third and fifth, but its rally was too late. The Eagles drove home Macrae Kendrick and Bryce Klosterboer twice to cut into the lead.
In Cy-Fair's game, there was also a fast start. The Bobcats scored four of their runs in the first inning and prevailed 5-3 against Clear Springs. This will be the school's second all-Cy-Fair ISD regional final appearance of the school year. The other was last December's 31-14 football win against Langham Creek.
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It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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