Benavides strong on the mound strikes out ten Panthers
For the Tigers, work came quick and ended in like fashion. Coach Griffin had no problems with the duration of the game which lasted only two hours and five minutes.
Defeating Klein Oak, 3-1 on Tuesday night at Klein Collins mattered to the Tigers, who kept pace with the Woodlands in the top spot in district play.
Importantly, the Tigers (12-5, 10-2) are tied with the Woodlands for the top spot in District 15-6A and with four games left.
The two hours and five-minute contest were the least of Coach Griffin thoughts. After a couple of early district losses, Coach Griffin prepares Klein Collins for its remaining district foes.
Tigers ace pitcher Chris Benavides held Klein Oak to one run and struck out ten batters. The win runs improved his record to 8-1.
Benavides was on all evening edging the corners and turning over his curveball for strikes. He showed great velocity on his fastball, unwinding at 90 PMH. Klein Collins committed a pair of errors with runners on base, but Oak batters could not find a way to convert it into points.
Tigers’ first baseman Colby Powers led an 11-hit attack, finishing two of two at the plate with the winning RBI.
With the score tied at one, left fielder Reji Cubillo stroked a double to left field and Powers followed with a run-scoring scorer down the third base side. Despite being thrown out at second base rounding first, Powers gave Klein Collins the 2-1 lead and all it would need.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of first and held it until Panthers (10-16, 5-7) Kyle Bearden reached first on shortstop Jacob Evangeliste’s throwing error in the top of the third. Third baseman Kaden Kleinert struck out; right fielder Hunter Smith got aboard with an infield single. Then catcher Dalton Stevenson’s RBI single scored Bearden, tying the game at one.
Klein Oak had base runners in all but one inning. However, its uphill battle against Benavides proved to be too much.
In the bottom of the fifth Klein Collins added a cushion run when Cubillo’s lifted a sack fly, scoring Josh Cordova to increase the lead, 3-1.
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