With the 2011 high school baseball season entering its final weeks, three squads are battling for playoff positioning.

While nothing is assured yet, the Magnolia Bulldog and Magnolia West Mustang teams are in great position to earn of the four spots out of 17-4A, while the Tomball Cougars need to string together enough wins and hope the Spring Lions don’t suddenly catch fire and overtake them for fourth place in 13-5A.

At press time last week, the Bulldogs held a 9-2 district record, good for second 17-4A and two games behind district leader and state-ranked Brenham. Just behind the Bulldogs were the Mustangs, who at 7-3 held a comfortable lead over fourth place squad Montgomery (5-5).

The Mustangs played the Bulldogs on Friday, April 15 in a contest that could decide the district’s second place team. Results of that game were unavailable at press time last week.

The Mustangs only district losses this season have come against the Brenham Cubs and Bulldogs, the top two teams in the district. Magnolia West went into last week having won five of their last six.

Junior shortstop Casey Martinez has been the offensive catalyst for the Mustangs this year, hitting a team-high .370, while driving in 17 runs. His 20 hits also lead the team.

Other offensive leaders include Jesse Slaughter (.353 average), Tyler Widiker (.347) and Blake Gorman (.342).

At 9-2, the Bulldogs needed a win over the Mustangs last week to secure second place in the district. Barring a unexpected late season collapse by the Cubs, the Bulldogs will likely earn the No. 2 playoff seed from the district.

Senior infielder Duncan Wendel has been among the Bulldogs’ offensive leaders this season, hitting .467 with 35 hits and 21 runs scored. Leading the team in runs batted in has been Garrett Luna with 19, followed by Noah McGowan with 18.

Meanwhile, after years of being among the best teams, not only in the state, but in the nation, the Tomball Cougars have come back to earth a bit. Facing stiffer competition in the likes of Klein Collins and Klein Oak in recent years has relegated the Cougars to a mid-level district contender and this year the Cougars could face missing the playoffs.

At 6-4 at press time last week, the Cougars narrowly held on to the district’s fourth and final playoff spot, one game ahead of Spring.

The Cougars went into last week with four games remaining on the regular season schedule: April 15 vs. Klein Collins, April 19 at DeKaney, April 21 vs. Klein Oak and April 29 at Westfield.

The competition level is split evenly as the Cougars will face the top two and bottom two teams in the district standings in their final four games.

After getting off to a rough start in 13-5A play, the Cougars have since righted the ship, winning three of their last four games.

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