Thursday, March 29, 2018

TOMBALL, TX - Two of the top ranked arms in the Texas 2018 Class met up on Thursday night in front of a slew of professional scouts, as the Magnolia Bulldogs (No. 10 in PBR Texas Power 25) hosted the Willis WildKats. RHP Adam Kloffenstein, a TCU commit, ranked No. 2 in Texas, took the mound for Magnolia. While RHP Brandon Birdsell, a Texas A&M commit, ranked No. 9 in Texas, took the mound for Willis. There were a couple of twists and turns on Thursday night, starting with a last minute location change. The staff at Magnolia worked all day to get the field ready, but several spots on the infield were still soaked. So 5 minutes before the scheduled start time, both teams decided to move the game to a turf field at Premier Baseball of Texas.

Both Kloffenstein and Birdsell were outstanding, with each totalling double-digit strikeouts. But the Bulldogs would prevail behind the no-hit performance from Kloffenstein. The right-hander totalled 12 strikeouts, and just one walk in the complete game effort. He cruised through the first  three innings, not allowing a base runner until he walked the leadoff guy in the fourth. The WildKats had an opportunity to score in the top of the seventh, when the leadoff hitter reached on an error. Then they tried to move him up to second base, but 2019 C Bo Willis bounced on the bunt and without hesitating, threw a bullet to second base to get the lead runner. Then an interesting turn of events happened. A pinch runner successfully stole second base with one out, then called time to fix the dislodged bag, but apparently the umpire had not given the time-out. Magnolia shortstop Jordan Groshans ran a hidden ball trick, and tagged the runner at second for the second out of the inning. Kloffenstein recorded his 12th strikeout of the night to end the inning.

Brandon Birdsell finished with ten punchouts in five innings. He worked out of several jams by overpowering hitters with his FB/CB mix, stranding 10 Magnolia runners. In the fourth and fifth innings, he bowed his neck with runners in scoring position, ending both threats with a strikeout.

Reliever Heath Backhus, a Weatherford JC recruit, pitched a clean sixth inning for Willis HS, but Magnolia earned the 1-0 walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh on a misplayed infield pop up.

Final Score: Magnolia 1, Willis 0.

STATS

Magnolia HS
Kloffenstein: (W) 7 IP, 89 P, 0 H, 0 R, 12 K, BB; Batting: 1-2, 2 BB
Groshans: 1-3
Henry: 0-3, BB, R
Raker: 1-3

Willis HS
Birdsell: 5 IP, 108 P, 3 H, 0 R, 10 K, 5 BB
Backhus: (L) 1.2 IP, 31 P, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 K, 3 BB

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Look for scout notes and video on this game later today in our South Texas Scout Blog.

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