Feb 07, 2012
Cuyos powers Oilers past Dobie in rout
May 19, 2009
PEARLAND — The Pearland Oilers are the defending Class 5A Region III champions and head coach Ben Pardo is seeing his current crop of diamondmen beginning to peak at just the right time of the season.
"We are hitting the ball well and our pitching and defense has been great the past couple of weeks," Pardo said.
The Oilers won the District 22-5A title with a sparkling 13-1 mark and closed out league action with a solid 12-5 win over the Longhorns.
Pearland's win knocked Dobie out of the playoffs giving Deer Park the fourth place slot in the district standings. Joining the Oilers in the post-season will be La Porte and South Houston.
The Oilers will face No. 4 seed Beaumont West Brook in the bi-district round. The games and times haven't been determined though it will be a best-of-three series. The schedule can be found at www.reporternewssports.com for all up-to-date playoff information and results.
Dobie was fighting for their playoff lives and it appeared they might upset the Oilers after Pearland scored a run in the top of the first, the Longhorns busted the game open with five runs in their half of the first for a 5-1 lead.
The 'Horns tagged Pearland starter Kelly Cross with four hits for five runs while the Oilers committed one error. Nine Dobie batters faced Cross in the opening frame before the Oilers retired the side.
But Cross would overcome his shaky start to go the distance allowing only two more hits and no runs while fanning five and issuing no walks.
On the other hand - Pearland rallied behind Cross and scored a run in the top of the second and third innings to close the gap to 5-3.
While Cross was tossing blanks, Pearland finally busted loose in the top of the sixth for five runs and added four more in the top of the seventh turning a close game into a 12-5 rout.
The Oilers were led by sophomore Brad Cuyos, who has had a monstrous year. Cuyos was 3-for-3 with six RBIs and three runs scored.
Cuyos knocked a solo home run in the top of the second and then blasted a grand slam, his second of the season, in the top of the seventh to wrap up the lead for good. Cuyos also had an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning.
Kelly Cross helped his own pitching cause going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.
"There isn't a hotter hitter on our team than Brad (Cuyos)," Pardo said. "We are swinging the bat well and hopefully we will continue to do so in the playoffs."