No surprises as Cy-Fair favored to repeat again

CY-FAIR FILE
Mascot: Bobcats
Coach: Woody Champagne
District 15-5A Opponents: Cy Falls, Cy Ridge, Cy Springs, Cy Woods, Cy Ranch, Cy Lakes, Langham Creek, Jersey Village, Cy Creek.
Of note: The Bobcats are shooting for their sixth straight District 15-5A championship during the 2010 season.
Coming up: Cy-Fair travels to face Cy Creek at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
By TODD HVEEM
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
The Cy-Fair Bobcats have won or shared the District 15-5A baseball title each of the past five years.
And, surprise, surprise, they are favored to repeat as conference champions in 2010.
That is our goal,'' said long-time head coach Woody Champagne, who guided the Bobcats to a 22-6 overall and 13-1 district record a year ago. The tradition is there. The teams set a standard and every year we try and reach those standards.
This team has worked hard,'' he added. They had a great fall. We will get into district play and see what we can do.''
This year, each of District 15-5A's 10 teams will play 17 non-district games.
We are going to play every other team twice except one (team),'' Champagne said. We are going to play Cy Ranch once.
All the coaches decided we wanted to play 17 non-district games,'' he added. That should take care of the district race. With that many games, you should get some separation (between the teams).''
Cy-Fair and Cy Woods are the overwhelming favorites to battle it out for the conference championship.
But Cy Falls, Langham Creek and Cy Creek also should be in the mix, Champagne said.
It should be a five or six-team race (for four playoff spots),'' Champagne said. Cy Woods was second last year and we should have a good battle with them again. But Cy Falls, Langham Creek and Cy Creek also should be there. And Cy Ranch might be in the hunt.''
Cy-Fair finished 3-1 in the Cy-Fair Invitational tournament, beating Nederland, Klein Oak and Klein, and losing to Spring 4-3.
The Bobcats also went 3-1 in the College Park tournament, beating Alvin, College Park and Conroe and losing to Tomball on a walk-off home run in the seventh.
We are starting to swing the bat pretty well right now,'' Champagne said. Our pitching has been lagging some, but it has been tough with all the rain and cold (weather).''
The Bobcats return five starters from last year's club in catcher Trevor Clifton, second baseman Ryan Suescun, center fielder Matt Cardamone, pitcher Brandon King and shortstop Cory Hulsey.
We also have some good young kids and some good seniors up from the JV,'' Champagne said. I think we have a pretty good mix of kids, but I guess we will find out over the next couple of months.''
Cy-Fair won the Class 5A state title in 2007.
We would love to make another run like that this season,'' Champagne said, but you need a lot of luck and breaks along the way to have that happen.''