On February 22, Northland faced Lumberton at Oak Ridge High School for the beginning of the Conroe-ISD tournament. The first inning ended with Lumberton up 1-0 with Ethan Carnes on the mound. The second inning ended with the Cougars behind 2-0. In the top of the third Lumberton erupted for three runs. Joe Cate took the mound with two outs and finished out the inning on a fly ball to Michael Ellisor. In the bottom of the third inning, the Cougars' bats came alive. With some aggressive base running by Cate (who stole home), Ellisor, and Kyle Serres, the Cougars got on the board. There were two men on base when Jeff Abt stepped up to bat. Abt then drove one over the centerfield wall for a three run homerun. Score at the end of the third inning, Lumberton , 5, Northland, 4. In the fourth inning, strong pitching by Cate and great defense by Serres, Abt and Josh Yerian shut Lumberton down. Lumberton had a pitching change in the bottom of the fourth and Cate started the Cougars out with a walk. Ellisor then drove Cate home to tie up the game, 5-5. In the top of the fifth, Cate shut down Lumberton . Ethan Carnes got the Cougars started in the bottom of the fifth with a double to centerfield. After multiple walks and some well placed hits the Cougars increased their lead to 13-6 which is what it remained when the game was called on the two-hour time limit.
