HS Baseball: The Woodlands Takes Round 1 of the 'War of the Woods'

THE WOODLANDS, TX –- College Park hosted The Woodlands at The Diamonds on Friday night for the first “War of the Woods” matchup of the season. The Woodlands, coming off of a perfect game, go into this matchup confident and motivated for the win. College Park hopes to disrupt the 4-0 Woodlands team and get the upset.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, The Woodlands came to play and with a couple swings of the bat, they found themselves with the bases loaded. Throwing over 30 pitches in the first inning, College Park retired their first pitcher and brought in another to finish off the already leading Highlanders. By the end of the first inning, The Woodlands was able to chalk up 5 runs and shut out College Park.

There was a back and forward between the two teams for a couple of innings and the Woodlands was able to pull away even farther. With a couple of incredible double plays innings ended scoreless until the end of the game. The Woodlands pulled off another 2 runs while College Park struggled to connect with the ball.

“Ethan threw really well, it was the first game all year where we didn’t really play good defense,” said Ron Eastman, head coach for The Woodlands Highlanders.

With a highly anticipated game against rivals, it is hard to keep players under control and calm during the game. Sometimes nerves get the better of them but when asked what he did to keep his players calm, Coach Eastman responded, “Just relax. We try to stay in the moment and just play one pitch at a time and they are teenagers. Sometimes they do that well and sometimes, you know…”

The Woodlands is set to face Willis on the road next week, while College Park hosts Grand Oaks at the Diamonds. Final score, The Woodlands 7, College Park 0.