EIGHT GAME WINNING STREAK FINDS COUGARS CHALLENGING FOR 17-5A TITLE

BY RANDY BYERS © COPYRIGHT 2011 Houston5ABaseball.com

For Coach Michael McCollum and the Cy Creek Cougars the 2011 season couldn’t get here soon enough. The Cougars feel they left some unfinished business on the field in 2010 when they failed to make the play-offs in a season where expectations were, as usual, very high.

The Cougars 9-8 finish in the then 15-5A region II, left Cy Creek on the outside looking in by a whopping 4 games. As turn-a-rounds go, The Cougars knew they were better than their 2010 performance and the work towards success in 2011 started almost immediately.

The return of Bill Bay another year stronger and wiser, combined with move in Matt Sinclair, and a previously injured and now healthy Kevin Pappas, has certainly provided a shot in the arm for Cy Creek. Will Chenoweth who suffered a broken wrist is also back on the field for the Cougars in 2010.

So the stage was set for Cy Creek to be one of the powers in 2011-17-5A but after 3 district contests, the Cougars found themselves waning at a dismal 1-2 and needing to right the ship at once in a district where 9 other teams can beat you on any given night.

An H5AB #12 pre-season ranking was certainly questioned in the baseball community as the Cougars muddled their way through a tough week 4 dropping contests to Langham Creek (10-2), and Cy Ranch (6-5). That tough week was either going to destroy the Cougars or make them stronger? Creek Head Coach Michael McCollum thinks the latter; “Our week 4 loses I think is helping us out in the long run. We were still trying to find ourselves after the tournament season. After the 6-5 loss to Ranch our kids realized we could play with anyone”. And stronger they got running off an incredible 8 straight 17-5A victories (9-2) to vault them into second place and kicking at the cleats of perennial district power, Cy Fair (10-1).

The Cougars appear to be running on all cylinders with strong pitching from their seniors and juniors and swinging it as a team at the plate doing all the little things you need to do to win games in 17-5A. McCollum cites that exactly, “We basically have 5 pitchers that we rely on in district. Kevin Pappas has really come on for us on the mound. He had not pitched in 2 years so it was a nice surprise. Three juniors have emerged for us as well. Craig Carlson, Evan Thomas and Ryan Knebel. And senior Will Chenoweth is our senior leader and he is just now getting back into form after suffering a broken wrist in football season”.   “At the plate we are playing team baseball. Eight of our nine starters are hitting over .300. Each game we always have someone new to step up and get a big hit for us”.

McCollum and the Cougars have a very simple philosophy and approach to the season as a whole, and the pieces needed to field a winning program in the brutal 17-5A appear to be falling into place even after the punch in the gut they suffered in week 4. “This group is very laid back and we have great team chemistry. I never have to worry about them being ready to play a game. We approach each game the same way whether we are playing the first place team or the last place team. We play against the little white ball and not our opponent”.

As simple as it sounds, the Cougars are doing just that as they have piled up 8 district wins in a row knocking off Cy Ridge, Cy Springs, Cy Woods, Cy Lakes, CyFair, Cy Falls, Jersey Village & Langham Creek, in that span. Tuesday night finds the Cougars are facing another powerful opponent when they take the field in a rematch against Cy Ranch; a team that was part of that week 4 punch in the gut. But this appears to be a much different Cy Creek team; One that has found themselves and righted the ship matter-of-factly and are beating that little white ball. But McCollum is quick to point out his Cougars still have work to do as a team: “With 6 games to go we still have some improvement to do to become a complete team. But as long as we believe in each other the sky is the limit”.

The confidence level is high right now for the Cougars having run off a tremendous, and almost unheard of, streak in 17-5A that includes hanging the only 17-5A defeat on district leader Cy Fair; a team that has spelled disaster for the Cougars in the past. But Cy Creek is holding true to their 2011 philosophy and with 6 games to go, they appear to be well on their way to a play-off appearance in 2011.