It has been a good couple of weeks for the Kennedale Wildcat baseball team with 4 blowout wins against district opponents – Diamond Hill, Lake Worth, Springtown and Castleberry. {{more:READ MORE …}}
Wildcat Head Coach Paul Trantham had challenged his team after an early loss to Mineral Wells, to sweep the rest of the district schedule and bring home a district title. It is working so far.
no front runner … yet
As it stands now, no one team has broken out of the pack in District 7-4A. The top four teams are Kennedale 4-1, Benbrook 4-1, Castleberry 4-2 and Mineral Wells 3-2. Kennedale?s loss came to Mineral Wells. Benbrook lost to Springtown. Castleberry lost to Kennedale and Benbrook. Mineral Wells losses came from the bats of Castleberry and Benbrook.
A big tell in district play will be the game tonight (Tuesday. March 4) when Kennedale travels to Goldstein Field in Fort Worth to play the other front runner, Benbrook. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
rundown of recent games ?
March 17 (H) vs Castleberry 10-1 (W)
- The Cats out hit the Lions 16-2 in this error free game, taking a 5-0 lead in the first two innings and piled on with a 4 run 4th. Jared Taylor got the win allowing one run, two hits, striking out seven, and walking zero in 7 inning on the mound. JD Padgett had a 4 RBI day with two doubles and a triple. Others Cats with multiple hits included Ethan Wood (4/3), Austin Crabtree (3/2); Cole Carruthers (3/2), Bryce Hackett (3/2), Aaron Herrera (4/2).
March 21 (A) vs Diamond Hill 11-3 (W)
- The Wildcats visited Diamond Hill and clobbered the Eagles 18-3 off of 13 hits. Kennedale broke open a 2-0 game with 5 runs in the 3rd and 4 in 4th. The Cats rubbed it in with 7 runs in the 6th. JD Padgett had another great game driving in 5 runs on three hits coming off of two singles and one triple. Brayden Sewell got the win in three innings on the mound allowing no runs, striking out 7 and walking none. Also collecting multiple hits for Kennedale were Aaron Herrera (4-2 w triple), Reed Saenz (2-2) and Cole Carruthers (5/2). Both team committed errors with the Cats tagged for 2 and DH for 4. The Eagles did get 5 hits in the game.
March 31 (H) vs Lake Worth 12-2 (W)
- The Wildcats thumped the Bullfrogs from Lake Worth with a big 8 run 3rd after getting 2 runs in the 1st. Kennedale outhit Lake Worth 13-3 and committed no errors in 5 innings of play. Jared Taylor earned the win with 4 strikeouts, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs on 60 pitches while throwing 41 strikes. Aaron Herrera had good day in the box going 3/2 with a double and a triple. Others with multiples hits were JD Padgett (2/2) and Jared Taylor (3/2 w double). Cole Carruthers also pounded out a double.
April 1 (H) vs Springtown 13-3 (W)
- Kennedale blew past the Springtown PoJos in the bottom of the 6th with 6 runs to end the game in the bottom of the 6th. Kennedale had 13 runs on 11 hits with a single error. Springtown had 3 runs on 4 hits and recorded 3 errors. Brayden Sewell got the win in 6 innings on the mound, recording 7 strikeouts, 4 walks, 4 hits and 3 runs on 95 pitches. Hitting doubles for the Cats were Aaron Herrera, Jared Taylor and Ethan Woods (twice). Austin Crabtree recorded 3 RBIs while going 4 for 3. Cole Caruthers went 3 for 3 and 2 RBIs. Ethan Wood also had multiple hits, going 3 for 2.
Kennedale did record one heartbreaking non-district loss during this stretch, falling to Decatur.
March 18 (A) vs Decatur 4-3 (L)
- Kennedale scored first with two runs that were matched by Decatur in the bottom of the 1st. The score stayed tied through the next four innings of play. Kennedale managed 1 run in top of the 6th to take a short lead. Decatur scored 2 in the bottom for a one point lead and then held off the Cats to take the win. Kennedale had 3 runs on six hits and 1 error. Decatur had 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 errors. Ethan Wood on the mound threw five innings, allowing three runs, three hits, striking out four, and walking one. Bryce Hackett pitched one inning, giving up one run, two hits, and walking none. For the Wildcats, Reed Saenz did get a double in the game and an RBI while Bryce Hackett went 3 for 2. Others getting hits in the game included JD Padgett and Aaron Herrera.
Overall the Cats went 4-1 during this period, scoring 57 runs and allowing 12 while outhitting their opponents 59 to 19.
