By Toby Bicknell
Texas Scouting Director

Twitter: @PBR_Texas

Friday, April 21

TOMBALL, TX - The Magnolia Bulldogs traveled to Tomball Memorial on Friday night, and they brought their bats with them. Not just that, but the Bulldogs brought their ace pitcher, Adam Kloffenstein as well. The junior right-hander and TCU commit is currently ranked No. 5 in Texas and No. 36 Overall. Tomball Memorial would start right-hander Justin Ruble, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound junior.

The Bulldogs got the scoring started early when Logan Allen and Blake Winebrenner both doubled to drive in a run. Magnolia up 2-0. Tomball Memorial loaded the bases in the bottom of the second and got a run back when Jordan Grice grounded out to shortstop. Magnolia 2, Tomball Memorial 1.

Sophomore catcher Bo Willis, a Texas Tech recruit and No. 44 ranked player in Texas, put Magnolia up 3-1 in the top of the fourth when he hammered a line-drive homerun to left-centerfield. The Bulldogs added another run in the fifth, expanding their lead to 4-1.

Magnolia starter Adam Kloffenstein was impressive for his five innings of work. The junior allowed only one earned run on three hits and three walks. The TCU commit made big pitches all night, especially with runners on base, tallying six strikeouts.

Magnolia put the nail in the coffin in the top of the sixth when they scored four runs on four hits. The biggest of those was a towering three-run homerun by junior Preston Hoffart, a Texas A&M Corpus Christi recruit. Magnolia 8, Tomball Memorial 1.

But the Wildcats would not go quietly as they put up four runs in the bottom half of the sixth. After an error and two singles, Texas Tech recruit Dru Baker scorched an RBI-double to left-centerfield, then scored a couple of pitches later on an errant pick-off attempt. Magnolia 8, Tomball Memorial 5.

After a couple of two-out singles in the seventh, the Wildcats would bring the tying run to the plate. But right-hander Kevin Black got a huge punch-out to earn the save and give the Bulldogs the 8-5 victory. With the win, Magnolia improves to 9-3 in District, 19-4 Overall. Tomball Memorial slides to 6-6 in District, 11-15 Overall.

STATS

Magnolia
A. Kloffenstein: (W) 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 3 BB
K. Black: (S) 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, K
L. Allen: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
J. Groshans: 1-3, 2 R, BB
B. Winebrenner: 3-3, RBI, 2B
P. Hoffart: 3-3, 3 RBI, HR, 2B
B. Willis: 1-3, HR

Tomball Memorial
J. Ruble: 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 2 BB
D. Baker: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B

To view scouting notes on this game and others, go to our Houston Scout Blog.

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