It’s time to flip the switch for the Kingwood softball team.
District 23-6A begins Tuesday night at Goose Creek Memorial as the Mustangs begin the road toward a repeat championship.
Kingwood (10-1-1), which went undefeated in district play last year, hasn’t won consecutive district titles since winning three from 2016-18.
Last year, the Mustangs impressively went 14-0 against league opponents with 158 runs scored to 10 allowed. Kingwood’s last district loss came March 31, 2023 against Atascocita. It went on to win six straight for a 20-game winning streak entering this season.
The Mustangs play one of two newbie teams to be paired with Humble ISD and C.E. King this district alignment in the Patriots to start. They then host North Shore Friday night.
Goose Creek Memorial is off to a pretty good start with a 14-3 record and seven consecutive wins. It went 6-0 at the tournament played at East Chambers High School last week. The Patriots had five straight shutouts and just one run allowed in the other game.
Kingwood and Goose Creek Memorial haven’t played each other since 2018. The Mustangs are 4-0 all time against the Patriots with two runs allowed.
As for North Shore, the Mustangs claimed an 11-0 win last March followed by a 10-1 win to cap the regular season in April.
In the march game, Sheppard homered twice and collected five RBIs while Leilani Garcia also went deep. Hunter Quentel pitched all five innings of that one with just one walk allowed and 11 strikeouts.
In the April meeting, Sheppard homered again, as did Quentel, who was 3-for-4 in that game. Garcia had two doubles and two RBIs. Quentel allowed one unearned run on two hits with six strikeouts and five walks.
Kingwood is 10-2 against North Shore dating back to 2017.
North Shore is 4-5 this season. Its most recent game was a 7-1 loss to Brenham on Saturday at the Southeast Texas Invitational.
Kingwood went 4-1-1 this past weekend at the Barbers Hill Invitational. Quentel pitched well in the final game against Crosby with a two-hitter and eight strikeouts in the 8-0 shutout. She also homered, as did Sheppard, who was 3-for-3 with a triple. Garcia drove in two runs.
The Mustangs season-opening win streak ended at eight after a tie to Brazoswood and a loss to Barbers Hill on Friday.
Kingwood first baseman Kendall Yates fields a throw during a game against Pasadena Dobie last week. (Jose Palomo/SportCast Media)
