Bobcat baseball program no stranger to winning

By TODD HVEEM CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
March 2, 2009, 6:42PM


A couple years ago, the Cy-Fair Bobcats rode a magic carpet all the way to the Class 5A state baseball championship. They would like similar results.
“I think we have the capabilities of really being a pretty good team,” said long-time Bobcats baseball coach Woody

Champagne, who has four returnees and 12 seniors on his 2009 team.
“We won district at all three levels last year. Our JV team was 22-1. We have four or five kids off that team who are certainly going to help.”
Cy-Fair has six pitchers who throw between 83-and-87-miles-per-hour.
“We don’t have the overwhelming (Tommy) Collier-type,” Champagne said of his former all-state pitcher. “But they will throw 83-87 when everything is right. We are going to build everything around defense. We have great overall team speed.”

Champagne said he has 17 players in the baseball program who run under seven seconds in 60 yards.
“I think we have the fastest kids in the school in our baseball program,” he said. “We turned three double plays in our (season-opening) 6-0 win over College Park.
“Plus, we only gave up a total of six runs in four scrimmages. We have something good going here. We have a team here. We don’t have a bunch of players.”

Cy-Fair lost to Westside in the area round of the playoffs in 2008.
“I had a lot of people tell me if we could have beat them, we would have made another trip to Austin (for the state tournament),” Champagne said. “But that is all water under the bridge.”

Cy-Fair, which hosted its own tournament last week, will play in the Conroe Tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the Brenham Tournament next weekend.
“When we go to Conroe, we will get Conroe, Lamar and College Park,” Champagne said. “When we go to Brenham, we will get Hightower, Cinco Ranch and Kerrville Tivey.

“Of our first 14 games, all but two were playoff teams (a year ago). “We will find out how good we are before we even get to district play. But I am real excited. I think we have a chance to win district. If not, we should at least get into the playoffs.”

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