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auiue aiiaiige ngures suen as Ana 11 may oe mat i^amarBaseballBig #In BrenhamBRENHAM (CN(-Baseball is so big in Brenham a 26 strikeout performance by local schoolboy pitching ace Mark Kuecker caused only some minor head-scratching among the town's olcftimers.They couldn’t decide without research whether the fi reballing senior righthander had set a school whiff mark for a single game.As things turned out, the feat, in a 13-inning, 1-0 win over Columbus, was a school record. Kuecker had to strike out the last seven batters to do it. The previous record holder fanned 24 in 12 in-inings in 1968.While there are probably several Texas schoolboy hurlers who have sent more batters back to the dugout via the K’’ route, it’s highly unlikely any have combined pitching, hitting and fielding a-bilities like KueckerAnd only South San Antonio, when it was a Class 3A school for 13 years under Texas coach Cliff Gustafson, has compiled a better team record over that span.Better yet, even though the UIL doesn't keep ticket sales for baseball, league officials think Brenham is probably the only school which has made money on its program since 1965.The Cubs won their first modern district title in 1964 with an almost all freshman and sophomore lineup Nolan Ryan beat them for a state berth in 1965The following year Brenham made its first of five appearances in the State Tournament. Since then, the Cubs have won two state titles and finished second and third.Brenham won seven straight district championships, a zone crown and has now won three league titles in a row.This season’s Cubs are the defending state champions and have eight starters back, the number two pitcher and a great replacement for the graduating senior.Only one team, 1972, has failed to win district or zone It posted a 13-7 record Still, its star pitcher beat the district champ twice, missed three turns on the mound with an injury, and closed the seasonwith back-to-back no-hitters.In 1970 Brenham boasted three state baseball champions high school Sen-ior Little League and Regular Little LeagueIn 1971, Brenham had five players in the professional ranks, with three of them on major league teams.Last year two former Cubs, shortstop Jackie Heidemann and first baseman Cecil Cooper became five-year pro veterans Heidemann, Texas'only schoolboy number one draft choice in 1967, is with the New York Met s.Cooper a member of the 1968 bi-district champion Cubs, is with American League champion Boston From the way majorleague scouts have followed Kuecker s every move since the opening day of practice Feb 2, it looks like the pitcher-shortstop will be drafted very high in the free agent round early in June.Through 14 games this season he is batting .600 with five home runs He leads the club in runs batted in He was voted MVP at the Huntsville Tournament and has pitched four shutout wins against no lossesIn between, the 5-10, 155-pounder has looked like a major leaguer at shortstopThis is nothing new for the mild-mannered Kuecker As a 15-year-oldfreshman, he was named to the all-state tournament team He was the most valuable player over the winning team China in the Senior Little League World Series, where he hit 636 with power and won two games on the mound.Exceptionally swift of foot (he has been timed in 6.5 for 60 yards by the pros), he is a three-time all- district performer, hitting 321 as a freshman, ,385 as a sophomore and .431 as a junior. Last season ,he was named to the All-State team.Kuecker set school records in 1975 for most wins in a season (17), most innings pitched (129) and most home runs (10).So, with Brenham’s long history of winning baseball and a remarkable number of individual stars over the years, there's little wonder local oldtimershad to check their scrapbooks to see if 26 strikeouts was enough to get Kuecker s name at the top of the list,..again
Newspaper Details
Anahuac Progress
Anahuac, Texas, US
Thu, Apr 22, 1976
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Amber W.
USA 09 Oct 2018
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Anahuac Progress
