Baseball: Caney Creek takes 18-4A lead

CONROE, Texas – Don’t look now but there’s a new kid in the town of District 18-4A baseball.

The Caney Creek High School baseball team improved to 4-1 in district play (9-8 overall) with a 4-2 win at Huntsville on Friday. The Panthers now lead the league, a half-game ahead of both Brenham (3-1) and Magnolia (3-1) and a full game up on Montgomery (3-2).

The Panthers handed Magnolia its lone district defeat earlier in the week and host Brenham at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 28. But there are games to be played prior to that showdown. Caney Creek hosts Magnolia West at 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, and travels to Waller for a 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, game.

The Panthers moved into first place on Friday as senior Kadon Simmons pitched a perfect in 3 2/3 innings of relief and at the plate had two hits and a pair of RBIs.

Simmons (3-0, 2.36) entered in the fourth inning for starter Ryan Barfield to shut the door on a Hornets rally and keep the score tied 2-2. He went on to strike out four of the 11 batters he faced to pick up the win as the Panthers rallied for single markers in the fifth and seventh innings.

Adam Vento also had two hits and drove in a run while Kyle Baird tripled and scored twice. Kevin Jolly and Dylan Enriquez added to the Panthers’ seven-hit total with one apiece.