WEDNESDAY MORNING DIAMOND UPDATE | Kilgore, Sabine baseball win; both WR teams win

Apr. 7—District games are placed on the schedule and results of those games determine whether or not high school teams make the playoffs — you can't really, as a coach, take your foot off the gas.

The pedal was to the floor Tuesday night in Tyler, as Kilgore High School's Diamond 'Dogs run-ruled Cumberland Academy, 24-1, as a showdown with Bullard here at Driller Park looms later this week.

Kilgore hosts Bullard Friday night — junior varsity plays at 4:30, then varsity at 7 — in a huge District 16-5A game. The Panthers, fueled by pitcher Hagen Smith and his collection of no-hitters, lead 16-4A's standings with no losses. Kilgore, Lindale and Spring Hill are tied; they've each lost to Bullard, and to each other (Kilgore beat Spring Hill, but lost to Lindale).

Cumberland, though, didn't offer much of a threat to coach Eugene Lafitte's Kilgore Diamond 'Dogs Tuesday night in Tyler.

Dalton McElyea went off — in fact, just about the entire KHS lineup went off. McElyea, though, finished with a home run, a double, a single and 5 RBI. Donovan Adkins had a home run, as well as a single, 3 RBI and scored four times.

Both Chase Lewis and Chris Ervin had a triple; Ervin also hit two doubles and scored twice, and Lewis added a double, a single and 3 RBI. Ryan Beddingfield had a double and an RBI, and so did Cade Pippen, who got the win on the mound. Pippen walked one batter and struck out three, and allowed no hits. Jake Thompson threw an inning, notched a strikeout and kept everything else zeros. Colby Wilkerson pitched two innings, earning three strikeouts, as well, allowing two hits.

Jake Thompson had 2 RBI, and Thomas Hattaway, Zach Porter and Kyle Wheeler each had one.

Kilgore had a four-run first inning, but then scored 13 in the third. Adkins' home run was a solo shot, the first batter of the second inning. McElyea's longball was a two-run shot in the top of the third.

Here at Stream-Flo Field, Kilgore's Lady Bulldogs softball team also began the second round of district play, and lost a fairly competitive game to guest Spring Hill, 8-2.

Kilgore's Bailey Hedges and Cailey Brown each had a hit, and Alyssa Whitington had 2 RBI. Nawny Sifford, a freshman, pitched, allowing one walk and four earned runs in the loss, which drops KHS to 1-4 in district play, with five games remaining in the regular season. Kilgore still has an outside shot to make the playoffs — the top four teams in each district get in (there are six in 16-4A).

For Spring Hill, Samantha Schott had two doubles, a single and 2 RBI, and Caylee Mayfield had a one double, a single and 2 RBI. Kaycee Campbell had 2 RBI, as well.

The Lady Bulldogs visit Lindale on Friday, a 4:30 p.m. junior varsity start, with varsity to follow. Lindale lost to Bullard, 12-1, on Tuesday.

Sabine: Both sets of Cardinals went to Ore City for District 15-3A battles with the Rebels, and came away with a split decision.

Coach Michael Mayfield's Cards took out a little frustration on the Rebels, a 15-2 win for Sabine baseball, who dropped a 5-4 decision to White Oak just before the Easter break — Sabine's only district loss this season.

On Tuesday at Ore City, the Cards dropped eight runs on the Rebs in the fourth inning, with Alex Galyean, Kile Stripland, Jace Burns and Matt Huey all belting out singles. Each of them finished with RBI in the inning, as did Holton Pepper, who had an RBI grounder, and Caden Richardson, who hit a ball in play and an Ore City error led to a run. In all, Mayfield's Cardinals finished with 10 hits.

Galyean got the win on the mound, pitching five innings and allowing just two runs on four hits, with six strikeouts.

The Cards host Gladewater Friday night at 4:30, starting with JV, and then have an open date next Tuesday.

The Lady Cardinals ran into a buzzsaw on their trip to Ore City, who got a 12-strikeout performance from pitcher Anna Green in a 13-3 Ore City win.

Sabine finished with four hits, including two doubles from Makenzie Cook. Callie Sparks had a double and an RBI and Kyrissa Camacho had a double and 2 RBI. Alayna Andrews had five hits for the Lady Rebels, and 3 RBI.

The Lady Cardinals will host Gladewater on Friday, a 6 p.m. start, and then have an open date on Tuesday.

West Rusk: Both West Rusk High School diamond teams won on Tuesday, both of them getting wins in District 16-3A.

West Rusk baseball beat Jefferson's Bulldogs, 12-3. Will Jackson had eight strikeouts on the mound for the Raiders.

Jaxon Farquhar had a home run and 3 RBI; Clayton Keith had a double, a single and 2 RBI; Bryant Mason and Andon Mata each had two singles; and Carson Martin and Jackson each had an RBI.

The Raiders and Bulldogs meet again on Friday, this time in Jefferson, with JV starting at 4:30, and varsity to follow.

The home runs were leaving the softball field at WR, as well, as Kyrsten Price had one, and Piper Morton went crazy, getting a homer, a triple, a double, 3 RBI, scored three times and had three stolen bases in a 12-6 win over Elysian Fields.

Price had a home run and 3 RBI for the Lady Raiders, who got doubles from Amber Conthran, Kaelyn King and Jamie Casey. Cothran also had a single and an RBI, and Casey and King each had an RBI. Macie Blizzard finished with three singles and an RBI. Natalie Christy chipped in with a single and 2 RBI.

On the mound, it was Lilly Waddell with 12 strikeouts.

The Lady Raiders visit Waskom on Friday, starting at 5:30.

Overton: It was also a bittersweet night for Overton High School, as the baseball Mustangs got a 7-6 win over Carlisle, but the Lady Mustangs dropped a 7-3 loss to Union Grove.

There was a bright spot for Overton's girls: Monica Talkington had a home run in the loss.

On the baseball diamond, the Mustangs got two runs in the seventh to top archrival Carlisle.