CYPRESS – The Brenham Cubs’ (16-10-1, 6-4 district) bats are rounding into top form at the right time.
Brenham earned wins on back-to-back days this past weekend with a 9-2 district victory at Montgomery (15-9-2, 5-3 district) and an 8-1 non-district triumph at Cypress Woods (15-7-4) on Saturday.
Saturday’s game against the Wildcats featured Brenham taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to good baserunning from Dalton Hart, which allowed him to score on a sacrifice fly from Drake Bentke.
Grady Gee earned an RBI in the third inning with a groundout to first base. But, Brenham was left waiting for its first big breakthrough after a well-hit ball from Bentke into center field was caught to end the inning.
The Cubs got that breakthrough in the fourth inning with a four-run frame pushing Brenham into command. Second baseman Landry Mendoza started the inning with a double with Cannon Credeur earning a single to put runners on the corners.
Mendoza’s double highlighted a 2-for-4 game, good for his first multi-hit outing since March 21 against Lake Creek. The junior said Saturday’s non-district game allowed him to hit without the pressure of playing in an important district game.
“You just kind of go back to the basics of it is a simple game,” he said. “It is just see ball, hit ball. We got to practice that out here today (and) bring some confidence into of course the bye week, but into the Rudder (games) and then into the playoffs.”
Mendoza came home to score on a wild pitch with a Cypress Woods balk advancing Credeur to third. He later scored on a steal of home to make it 4-0 Brenham.
Hart brought home two with two away in the inning with a double into the left-center field gap.
Two more runs came home for Brenham in the fifth inning when right fielder Barrett Kohring was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and left fielder Brady Rau drew a bases-loaded walk.
Mendoza’s effort was Brenham’s only multi-hit game Saturday with six other Cubs recording one hit each, including catcher Blaine Bartlett with a double in the seventh. Three other Cubs provided walks.
“It is peaking at the right time,” Mendoza said of the Cub offense. “We really need it right now, and so that is a good sign as we move on into the end of the season.”
Starting pitcher Brody Hemann kept Brenham in a comfortable position with five innings of scoreless work, allowing just three hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts.
Hemann’s effort Saturday brought him back on track after giving up at least four runs in each of his last three district starts. He said his changeup was instrumental to his success in addition to being in the strike zone more.
“It is always important because the guys do not sit on one pitch and just can (not) sit on fastball and be like, ‘Oh, he is going to throw a fastball,” and just hit it,” Hemann said. “They have to be ready for both of them.”
Wheaton and Hemann both believe Saturday’s start will provide a major confidence boost heading into the final weeks of the regular season and the postseason.
“You get out there and you start filling up the strike zone, it can change for you,” Wheaton said. “It is a different feeling and I am telling you right now, those guys have seen Brody Hemann throw a lot of big innings for us and they are confident when he gets on the mound and he starts pounding the strike zone like that.”
Sophomore Luke Hardy put together a fabulous relief appearance with 1.2 innings of no-hit work with four strikeouts and one walk allowed. The only run he allowed came as a run charged to him on a bases-loaded walk allowed by Brady Boenker, who got the final out on a strikeout in the seventh.
Friday
Brenham 9, Montgomery 2
Brenham’s streak of Friday night wins extended into a fourth week after the top of the Cub lineup powered a District 17-5A win over Montgomery.
The Cubs trailed 1-0 heading into the fifth before the top of the Brenham lineup powered them into the lead. Hart delivered a two-RBI hit into left field to give Brenham the lead with Bentke adding an RBI single of his own to push the score to 3-1.
Hart delivered another RBI single in the sixth inning to kick-start a four-run inning for the Cubs. Catcher Brody Tucker drew a bases-loaded walk with Bentke earning two RBI on an infield single, pushing Brenham’s lead to six runs at 7-1.
Montgomery earned a run in the bottom of the sixth, but Brenham made up for it thanks to Ethan Aschenbeck scoring on a wild pitch.
Hart again added to Brenham’s tally with his third RBI single of the night, pushing his effort to a 3-for-5 performance with four RBI. The junior recorded his third three-hit game of the season Friday from the leadoff spot while producing his second-most RBI in a game this season.
Tucker and Bentke also earned three hits each at Montgomery to lead the Cubs alongside Hart in the No. 2 and 3 spots in the Brenham lineup. Tucker recorded his first three-hit game of the season Friday while Bentke earned his second three-hit performance of the year.
Credeur and Kohring also recorded hits Friday.
Friday and Saturday’s efforts pushed Brenham’s offense to four straight games with at least seven total hits.
“It is tough to navigate when you get nine of them pulling in the right direction and clicking at the right time,” Wheaton said.
Brenham will honor its seniors Thursday at Fireman’s Park with a non-district senior night matchup against Iowa Colony.