All the way to State
Cypress Ranch advances to State behind power performance by Thompson
Joshua Koch
Jun 6, 2018, 8:16 pm
The Mustangs will face Carroll in the state semi-final game Vype
OUSTON - RBI hits from Colton Cowser and Westley Shields backed the one hit, 13 strikeout performance of Matt Thompson as Cy Ranch punched their ticket to Austin with a 7-0 win over Cy Fair on Saturday night.
The pivotal game three victory came one night after Cy Fair forced the deciding game with a 5-3 win moving the Mustangs one step closer to a 2018 Class 6A Texas high school baseball title.
Through two innings, Cy Fair starter Rhett McCaffety matched Thompson pitch for pitch before the wheels began to fall off in the third. With one out and one on, McCaffety issued the second of his four walks in the inning setting the stage for Cowser.
The Sam Houston BearKat commit hit a 2-2 offering from McCaffety to the base of the right field wall scoring Shields and Scotty Scott. Cowser would later score on a wild pitch and Cy Ranch led 3-0 after three.
“They beat me with two fastballs and then he dropped the foul pop and I knew I had a second chance,” said Cowser following the game. “I got to 2-2 and I knew he was going to throw me a fastball and I just sat on it and the rest is history.”
Cowser finished the night 1 for three with two RBI’s and a run scored and the series with a .444 average and 5 RBI’s.
Cy Ranch was far from done though as they chased McCaffety in the fourth plating another run on an RBI hit by Shields.
Meanwhile Thompson had Cy Fair swinging and missing more times than they cared to count. The junior right-hander recorded nine of his 13 punches on a swinging third strike. The Texas A&M commit reached his pitch limit with two outs in the seventh and was replaced by reliever Kyle Gough who struck out Tyler Ashy to end the game.
“It starts on the mound,” said second year head coach Corey Cephus. “Thompson was dominant tonight. He had pinpoint accuracy all night.”
The Mustangs put the finishing touches on their 32nd win of the season with a three run sixth. This time it was Fabian Mayfield and Shields doing the damage. Mayfield doubled home Cy Ranch’s fifth run of the night before Shields rifled a 0-1 pitch into rightfield scoring Mayfield and Brandon Griffin.
The win marked the eighth time in 11 postseason games that Cy Ranch had scored at least seven runs and the victory gave them their third shutout of the playoffs.
Cy Ranch (32-8-2) moves to within two games of claiming its third Class 6A baseball title since winning it all in 2012 and 2015. The Mustangs will face Carroll (33-6) in the state semi-final game on Thursday.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.