Wolves harboring trophy ambitions
Senior-laden baseball team has lofty goals for spring
The expectations were already high for the Westside baseball team and they’ve grown exponentially after the Wolves’ impressive start to the season.
After opening its District 20-6A title defense with a 17-0 shutout against Carnegie Vanguard, Westside claimed four of five games at the Laredo Tournament, notching victories over Laredo Martin, Eagle Pass, Corpus Christi King and San Antonio Reagan and losing only to Comal Smithson Valley.
The Wolves’ momentum continued with a 5-1 record at the Katy ISD Tournament, including wins against Pearland Dawson, Cy Lakes, Cy Springs, Katy Morton Ranchand Fort Bend Austin and a defeat to Katy.
“If you told me we’d be 10-2 at his point in the season, I’d be very happy and I am,” said Westside head baseball coach Mike Barrow. “We’ve shown we can compete with some of the top teams in Texas, but we’re still not where we need to be.”
Westside, the two-time defending District 20-6A champs, have lofty goals, including a run at the Class 6A-Region III crown and the program’s firstever state tournament appearance.
The Wolves’ quest began just over three years ago, when Barrowt ook his chances with a bunch of unproven freshmen. The majority of them are now seniors, with the collective experience to go deep in the Class 6A playoffs.
Four seniors have already signed national letters-of-intent – Brandt Belk and Quincy McAfee (both at Pepperdine University), Christian Long (Wake Forest University) and Mitchell Caskey (McLennan Community College) and there could be more in the coming months.
“A couple of these guys could be (major league) draft picks,” Barrow said.
Belk is a star utility player, while McAfee is the shortstop. Belk and McAfee also are outstanding pitchers, although they’ve been bothered by armand shoulder injuries, respectively.
“It’s a long season, so we’re taking it slow with them. They’ll probably pitch the second half of district,” Barrow said of Belk and McAfee. “But they’re dynamic players who can contribute in other ways.”
Belk is the starting left fielder and can fill in at shortstop when McAfee is on the mound. Mean- while, McAfee is the foundation of Westside’s infield. Both are offensive juggernauts for Westside.
“Brandt has a great swing. He always comes through with a big hit late in the game,” Barrow said. “Mac (McAfee) is the heart of the team and everyone knows that.”
Long, the right fielder, and Caskey, who starts at third base and occasionally plays first, are two big reasons why Westside is hitting close to .440 as a team.
“Christian might be the best athlete on the team. He put on weight and added strength during the offseason,” Barrow said. “I’m really proud of Mitchell. He cut his swing down and is hitting for a high average. He rarely strikes out. He’s playing with a lot more discipline.”
Other returning seniors include second baseman Kelwin Moore (University of Missouri-St. Louis), designated hitter/ first baseman Zach Cherry, center fielder/pitcher Chase Miller and catcher/ first baseman Nathan Drury.
“Kelwin hasn’t caught fire yet, but he’s always capable of stealing two or three bases and going on a 10-game hitting streak,” Barrow said. “Zach is a top college prospect and has produced in the four-hole. He’s going to hit .400 and score 35-40 runs. Chase has pitched well and been solid in the outfield. Nathan had a meniscus injury at the end of football season, but he’s starting to comearound, too.”
Providing extra depth in the infield are sophomore Christian Cherry at catcher, junior Alex Merrill at first base and senior Justin Shipos at third base. Meanwhile, junior Isaac Breedlove has been a parttime starter in left field.
Westside’s main question mark is pitching, but that might not be an issue once Belk and McAfee are back in the rotation.
Until now, Caskey (2-0, 0.90 earned run average) and Miller, a left-hander, have handled the load, with Zach Cherry, Drury and freshman Conley Strange logging a few innings during tournament play.
“Our pitching and defense have been there all season,” Barrow said. “Mitchell and Chase have done a nice job throwing strikes. When we have all of our pitchers, we’ll be tough to beat.”
Next up for the Wolves is a road game at Pearland at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24. Playoffs next
The Westside boys soccer team just missed winning the District 206A title. Last week’s 1-1 tie against Lamar – the Wolves’ eighth in league play – secured second place.
Westside head boys soccer coach Perea Ospina admitted it’s been that kind of regular season for the Wolves, who went 9-4-9 overall and 6-0-8 in league play.
“Our district was extremely tough. Sam Houston finished with 28 points and we had 26, Lamar 24 and Reagan 23 and Bellaire just missed the playoffs with 22,” Ospina said. “We could have won the championship, but we had too many ties. We have no one to blame but ourselves.”
But Westside still has plenty to play for, with the Wolves battling Katy Seven Lakes in a Class 6ARegion III bi-district playoff next week.
Ospina noted that Katy Seven Lakes, a third-place team from District 19-6A, is a difficult assignment, but he isn’t willing to concede anything.
“We plan to go out there, compete hard and get a win,” Ospina said.
Unfortunately, the Wolves will have to do it without their best player, senior Peter Ngoyi. The standout forward, who led District 20-6A with 23 goals, was handed a red card against Lamar and must sit out Westside’s postseason opener.
“There’s no question that we’ll miss Peter,” Ospina said.
The Wolves need junior midfielders Jermaine Fosu (10 goals) and Emmanuel Amoshi to carry the load.
Westside, though, is relatively young. Aside from Ngoyi, the only other senior starter is fullback/ mid fielder Ryan Garcia.
Other standouts include junior fullback Elias Niyongabire and a pair of brothers, sophomore fullback Joshua Pirachel and freshman midfielder Eli Pirachel. Boys improving
Westside’s boys won’t be the favorite at next month’s District 20-6A Track and Field Championships at Barnett Stadium, but the Wolves could pull a couple of surprises. “We were young last year and we’re still young,” said Westside head boys track and field coach Doug Guy. “But the sophomores are a year older. They should be betterprepared this time.”
While Lamar is the one to beat, Bellaire and several other District 20-6A teams have plenty of scor- ing potential, setting up what could be a tight competition.
“If the points are spread out, we could move up,” Guy said.
Westside’s best bet for individual glory is senior Adrian Childs, a medal contender in the triple jump and 200- and 400-meter runs. Childs also is a mainstay on the Wolves’ 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
“Adrian should win the triple jump and he’ll be a threat in the open 200 and 400,” Guy said. “I expect him to move to the area meet and possibly regionals.”
Senior thrower Kenneth Foley is a former regional qualifier in the discus, while senior Nathan Rice has a shot to move on in the 200, in addition to running legs on the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
But the biggest surprise has been junior Axel Streit, who has quickly emerged as a threat in the 800.
“Axel was second at the (Katy) Seven Lakes Relays and third at the Houston Relays,” Guy said. “He’s already dropped three seconds off last year’s times and can go even faster.”
Whether Westside can move up in the district standings or not could depend on the performances of juniors David Crenshaw (100, 4x100 and 4x200 relays), Myles Pierre (400, all three relays) and Cameron Villamil (400, 4x400 relay) – all football players at Westside.
“Fortunately, we brought in a couple more athletes from football,” Guy said. “We have a little more depth this year.
Next up for the Wolves is the Victor Lopez Relays at Rice University on Thursday-Saturday, March24-26.