KHS drop a pair; Sabine baseball wins another
Mar. 31—Easter is upon us, which means it's getting crunch time for baseball and softball teams, and their hunt for playoff spots. Like Easter eggs, if you lay your hands on one, you'd better get it securely in your basket.
The hunt did not go well for either of the Kilgore High School diamond teams on Friday night.
On Sabine baseball's trip to New Diana, though, things went just fine.
Both Kilgore teams lost District 16-4A games. The Diamond 'Dogs dropped an 8-6 decision here at Driller Park to Lindale, and Kilgore's softball Lady Bulldogs lost at Henderson, 16-3.
The Sabine Cardinals got another strong performance all the way around, really, but from Jace Burns, who has 9 RBI in a 5-4 win over the Eagles.
Henderson 16, Kilgore 3 (softball): Henderson's bats came alive Friday night, with Madeleine Wells collecting 4 RBI, courtesy of a pair of home runs.
Kilgore softball was to host Bullard Tuesday night in their annual Orange-Out game for cancer awareness, a game that concluded after the print deadline for this issue of the News Herald. KHS will be on the road Thursday at Chapel Hill, a 4:30 p.m. junior varsity start, with varsity to follow.
The Lady 'Dogs need to string some wins together to get back into the hunt of making a playoff berth. They're 0-3 in district play, with losses to Lindale, Spring Hill and now Henderson.
For Kilgore against Henderson, Genna Cavanaugh had two singles. Haylee Brown had a double, and Jaycie Villanueva had an RBI.
Lindale 8, Kilgore 6 (baseball): Lindale got in front, breaking a 6-all tie, and did something very few teams manage to do these days: they escaped Driller Park with a win.
Dalton McElyea had two singles and 2 RBI; Donovan Adkins had a triple; Jake Thompson and Hunter Pipak each had an RBI and Cade Pippen had two.
Heath LaFleur pitched for Kilgore, five innings, and allowed three runs, none of them earned, on just three hits and a walk. He struck out four.
The Bulldogs, coached by Eugene Lafitte, don't lose often. They're 12-5 this year, 3-2 in 16-4A, and were to be on the road at Chapel Hill on Tuesday, after the print deadline for this edition. Kilgore has an open date the second half of this week, and then play at Cumberland Academy in Tyler next Tuesday, as the second round of district begins.
Sabine 5, New Diana 4 (baseball): As mentioned, it was a long one, but Sabine got out with a win, scoring the tiebreaking run in the top of the 11{sup}th{/sup} inning.
Jace Burns, who almost hit for the cycle in Sabine's most recent win, went crazy again, hitting three doubles, a single and earning 3 RBI along the way. Alex Galyean also had three hits. Payton McBride had an RBI.
On the mound, Sabine's Matt Huey did his magic again: nine strikeouts, just one earned run and he walked five. Burns pitched 3 1/3 innings and walked one, striking out three. McBride had two strikeouts.
Sabine, coached by Mike Mayfield, is 15-3 overall, and more impressively, remains unbeaten (4-0) in district play. The Cardinals were to host Hughes Springs Tuesday night, and are scheduled to play at White Oak on Thursday — 4:30 p.m. JV, with varsity to follow.
