Baseball: Simmons homers, Baird pitches Caney Creek past Magnolia

CONROE, Texas – The Caney Creek High School baseball team tightened up the District 18-4A race on Wednesday with a 3-1 win at home, handing Magnolia its first district loss.

Kadon Simmons cracked a first-inning, three-run homer, and Panthers’ pitcher Kyle Baird made it stand up with a masterful complete-game three-hitter. Baird struck out six and did not walk a batter while improving to 3-2 (3.36 ERA) for the 2013 season.

Simmons, who is hitting .367 for the season, belted his third home run (16 RBI) of the season, one of four hits for Caney Creek (8-8, 2-2). Kevin Jolly (.324), Adam Vento (.320) and Justin Wilkinson (.435) added one hit apiece, all singles. Kyle Goolsby and Dylan Enriquez (.308) reached base via walks.

Magnolia slipped to 2-1 in district play and is tied with Brenham (2-1) for second place behind league-leading Montgomery (3-1). Caney Creek is tied for fourth place with Magnolia West and Bryan Rudder, all with 2-2 league marks. Waller and Huntsville follow with identical 1-2 district records and Willis is 1-3.

Wednesday’s contest was just the second home game of the season (both wins) for the Panthers, who play at Huntsville on Friday. Caney Creek will host Magnolia West at 7 p.m. Friday, March 22.