There are eight teams left in the Class 5A Region III baseball playoffs, and one is a stranger in this land.
"This is definitely uncharted territory for me and my team," Jersey Village coach Robb Jensen said. "There are some outstanding teams still playing and we're extremely proud to be one of those teams."
Jensen's Falcons take on Katy in a best-of-three 5A-III quarterfinals series with game one at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at Jersey Village.
"We've won a couple of single-game playoffs, and we're going with a series against Katy this week, even though we're a little depleted pitching wise," Jensen said. "We had a series set up against Seven Lakes last week, but the weather forced it into one game, and that was probably a good break for us."
Jersey Village beat Seven Lakes 7-2 in eight innings to advance, and the Falcons opened the postseason with a 10-0 blanking of Alief Taylor.
Katy dropped it's playoff opener to Westside 4-1, but came back to win the bidistrict series by sweeping the final games 1-0 (10 innings) and 18-1.
Katy stopped Cy Falls 4-2 (eight innings) and 4-3 in the second round last week.
"We have not played Katy this season, but we saw them a couple of times and they're going to be tough," Jensen said. "They haven't scored a bunch of runs in most of their playoff games, but they haven't had to because of good pitching."
The Falcons pitching staff has been hit with injuries and lost junior starter for the season during the final week of district.
Senior Kirby Peek went a gutsy 7.1 innings against Seven Lakes and should be a major mound factor in the Katy series, along with senior catcher Robie Rojas (Oklahoma State), and Brandon Koncaba, who secured the area triumph.
"Rojas has started for me since he was a freshman and he can play anywhere," Jensen said. "You can put him at second base and he would be an all-district pick, and really, he can do everything."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Iua1oHych4
Jersey Village advanced to the playoffs two seasons ago (2011) for the first time in 10 years, and the Falcons missed the 2012 postseason by one game.
"This is the deepest into the playoffs Jersey Village has gone since 2000," Jensen said, "and we're trying to stay focused and also enjoy every minute of it."
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair-sports/article/Baseball-Jersey-Village-a-newcomer-to-4515495.php
