Clements / Milby

by Randy Byers
© 2006 Houston 5A Baseball.com   

The Katy Tigers return nearly all of their starters from a year ago including four out of five pitchers and seven of eight position players. Aaron Daab, Carter Jurica and last year’s freshman sensation Keifer Nuncio, who returns one year wiser, will anchor the remaining Tiger staff.

The Tiger infield will feature two incredibly talented players up the middle in Carter Jurica at shortstop and Michael Fuda at second base. Nick Pepitone will stand in at first while Michael Sauceda will most likely take over at third. Another freshman standout from a year ago, catcher Andrew Stumph, has more than shown he can handle the Tigers staff while also swinging a pretty good stick.

Katy Tigers
District 18-5A
Head Coach-Tom McPherson
Assistant Coaches- Mike Langan, Trey Landers, Cory Connolly
2006 Record-37-9-1/14-3 District 19-5A Runner-up
2006 Play-Offs-Lost to The Woodlands 5-3 in 5A State Championship

Key losses: Will Weidig(Brown University), Michael Thaler, Chase Atwood, Nick Barrios.

Returning Statrters/Lettermen/Others: 8 Starters/14 Lettermen)
Bret Atwood (Sr.) -Starter– Centerfielder, 1^st Team All District,  3^rd  Team All State
Robbie Bishop ( Sr.) - Pitcher / infielder
Kyle Canales (Sr.) - Outfielder
Aaron Daab (Sr.) – Starter- Pitcher (10 -3), 2^ND Team All District, 1^st Team All State
Michael Fuda (Sr.) – Starter -2^nd/SS, 1^st Team All District, 1^st Team All State, 5A All State Tournament Team – 2^nd baseman
Carter Jurica (Sr.) – Starter -Pitcher / SS (7-1), 1st team All District, 5A All State-Tournament Team - SS, MVP for the Junior Sun Belt Classic games
Nick Pepitone (Sr.) - Starter – 1^st/Pitcher (3-0),2^nd Team All District, 3^rd tm All State
Michael Sauceda (Sr.) Starter - 3^rd baseman, 2^nd Team All District
Joss Tovar – ( Sr.)  2^nd baseman
Tim Yager – (Sr.) – Catcher
Joey Fuda (Jr.) – Starter -Right fielder,  All District Honorable Mentioned
Jared Fancher  -(Soph) -   infielder / outfielder
Keifer Nunico – (Soph) – Pitcher / infielder - (7-0) , Houston 5A  Co -Newcomer of the Year
Andrew Stumph – (Soph) –Starter - Catcher/Pitcher ( 1-0), All District Honorable Mentioned,  Houston 5A  Co -Newcomer of the Year

Newcomers: Andrew Dresden (Sr.) – Pitcher; Pat Gorman – (Sr.) – Pitcher; Frank Jemela – ( Sr.) – Utility;  Bobby Knauss – (Sr.) – Outfielder; Ryan Nietsche (Sr.) – 1^st/ DH; Daniel Schram –(Sr.) – outfielder; Brad Graham – ( Jr.) - Outfielder;  Cameren Strickler (Jr.) – Catcher/Outfielder; Ben Schmidt –(Soph) – Pitcher 

From the dugout:
The Katy Tigers are very excited about this up coming season. The Tigers return their entire staring lineup, except for their left fielder and DH from last year’s state runner up team. They also return four out of their top five pitchers from last year’s squad.

Post-Season Honors for State Runner-up Katy Tiger Players
On the heels of a historic run through the State playoffs, finishing with a loss to the #1 State and Nationally ranked The Woodlands, many of the Tigers earned various local and state-wide honors for their play this past season.

 Texas High School Baseball Coaches Assoc. (THSBCA) All-State Teams