Friendswood rallies past Foster for sweep

May 12, 2010

FRIENDSWOOD — Trailing 8-1 against District 23-4A champion Foster at the end of four innings, things didn't look good for the Friendswood diamondmen and it appeared that the two would square off again for a third game in their best-of-three series to determine who would advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Facing Foster ace pitcher Wade Konvicka, who had a commanding lead, everyone in the stands figured the game was history. However, Konvicka ran out of gas, and the Friendswood offense finally got going in the late innings.

“I don’t know,” Friendswood coach Charlie Taylor said. “We hung in there and when they had to change pitchers, things started to roll our way. We were fired up once we got the momentum.”

The fifth inning provided the spark that the Mustangs needed to get back in the game as they scored four runs to cut the lead to 8-5.

The Friendswood comeback started in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Jordan Gibbs. The Mustangs tacked on four more runs in the fifth on RBIs by Brandon Hollier and Matt Kennemer, along with scoring a pair of runs on wild pitches to trail 8-5.

With two outs in the sixth inning, a throwing error by the Foster shortstop allowed Tyler Goodwin to score. The Mustangs proceeded to load the bases on a walk by Hollier and a single by Kennemer, bringing Gibbs up to the plate.

Gibbs drew a walk, scoring Johnathan Johnson and cutting the deficit to 8-7.

Kyle Singleton stepped up to the plate with a chance to be the hero and he delivered a two-run double to left field to put the Mustangs ahead 9-8. Singleton then took the mound to complete his heroics by striking out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the victory.

Friendswood beat the Falcons 5-1 in the first game.

Friendswood will face Davis in the area round in a best-of-three series. All games will be at Manvel High School beginning on Thursday, May 13 at 7:00 p.m. Game 2 will be on Friday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. and Game 3 (if needed) will be on Saturday, May 15 at noon.

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