THE FLYOVER | Our roundup of high school baseball, with lots of tournaments being played

A trio of teams in the ETBlitz.com coverage area – Arp, Gladewater and Overton – are all playing quite a bit of baseball this weekend at Overton’s tournament.

West Rusk and Gilmer are playing in a tournament in Athens; Henderson and Tatum in Tatum’s tournament; Leverett’s Chapel is playing in a tournament at Union Grove; and Troup in a tournament at Douglass.

Here’s a roundup of what we have, catching up with most of those programs, and we’ll have more on Monday when the tournaments are complete, along with a schedule of what all of the teams in the ETBlitz area are doing this week.

Arp: Arp beat Chapel Hill on Friday, 5-4, getting a run in the seventh inning to break the 4-all tie.

Will Samford hit a home run and had 2 RBI in the game; Hudson Orpineda had two singles and an RBI; Layton Shelburne had a single and an RBI.

On the mound for the Tigers, Isaac Poe had four strikeouts and walked four in 4 2/3 innings, and Brody McDow also pitched, for 2 1/3 innings. For Chapel Hill, Chandler Lawson went four innings and allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits, struck out four and walked four. Also for CHHS, Colton Reynolds went two innings for the Bulldogs, allowing one hit, no runs, struck out two and walked two.

Arp was to finish the Overton Tournament on Saturday against Cumberland Academy, and then it’s back to District 16-3A play this week; the Tigers play at Tatum on Tuesday, then host Tatum on Friday.

Gladewater: Coach Zack Spears’ Bears split on Friday, dealing LaPoynor a 6-0 loss, but then losing themselves, 5-3, to Chapel Hill.

In the win over LaPoynor, Sean Burke struck out six and walked one, getting the win in six innings. Doubles were flying everywhere: Luke Brown, Carson Wood and Landen King each had a double – Brown had a double and a single; King had a double; Wood had a double and 2 RBI. Preston Bohanon had an RBI.

In the loss to Chapel Hill, Maddaxx Vasquez had a double and a single and scored two runs, and Burke had a double and an RBI.

On the mound, Mason Budro went three innings, with four strikeouts and four walks, and King pitched two innings and struck out three and allowed two walks.

The Bears were to finish the tournament against Cumberland Academy, as well, on Saturday, and then this week, they’ll have Troup twice in 16-3A play. Gladewater visits Troup on Tuesday, starting at 4:30 with junior varsity, and the Bears host Troup on Friday, March 14, that same format.

Overton: It’s been so far, so good for the Mustangs, who are 2-0 in their own tournament and were to finish it Saturday with a game against Chapel Hill.

After beating Arp, 7-5, Overton shut out LaPoynor on Friday, 11-0.

Rylan Holleman was the man for the Mustangs, both at the plate and on the mound.

He hit a home run, a double, and a single, falling just short of hitting for the cycle, and finished with 5 RBI in the win.

And he took care of LaPoynor, too. He struck out five and allowed just two walks in six innings pitched.

After the tournament, Overton heads back to District 19-2A play, hosting Carlisle on Tuesday night, then visiting Carlisle on Friday.

Gilmer: The Buckeyes are playing in a tournament in Athens, and went 2-0 on Friday with wins over Mildred (7-5) and Malakoff (3-2).

Against Mildred, Lathan Kemp had two doubles and an RBI for Gilmer. Klein Lindsey pitched and helped himself at the plate, where he had a double and an RBI, and on the mound went five innings with two strikeouts. Zach Turner had two singles and an RBI, and Ryder Lange, Brayden Pate and Zane Tyner each had an RBI.

In the victory over Malakoff, Zach Turner had a big day with a double, a single and crossing the plate twice himself. Pate also had a double and a single, and added an RBI. Lange had a single and an RBI, as did Aden Vineyard, and Lange was the winning pitcher. He had a complete-game performance, with five strikeouts and five hits allowed over seven innings.

The Buckeyes have a two-game series against Chapel Hill this week in District 16-4A play. They’ll host the Bulldogs on Tuesday, a 4:30 p.m. JV game start, and then visit Chapel Hill Friday.

West Rusk: Coach Ronnie Hendrix and the Raiders have also been playing in the Athens Tournament this weekend, and went into the tournament on a high note, having beaten Gladewater in district play right before it.

They lost twice on day one, though, to both Mildred (7-5) and Palmer (3-2).

But they bounced back with a 7-2 win over Eustace on Friday.

Cole Jackson and Gunner Harp had two singles each – Harp had 2 RBI and Jackson 1 in the win. Caiden Landon and Troy Hunley also each had a hit, and the Raiders had seven stolen bases in the game.

Jase Reasoner threw five innings, allowing two runs (one of them earned) on five hits. He struck out four and walked just one.

After finishing the Athens Tournament on Saturday, the Raiders will take Tuesday off, then play at Hughes Springs on Friday, a 2 p.m. spring-break varsity start.

Kilgore: The talented Kilgore High School Diamond ‘Dogs have been beset, just beset, by injuries in the first season at KHS for coach Zach Hubbard, but maybe things are getting better.

Kilgore, playing in the Jasper Tournament this weekend, played to a 4-4 tie with Melissa Saturday morning after beating Vidor, 4-3, on Friday night.

The ‘Dogs dropped their first two games in the tournament, an 8-1 loss to Nederland on Thursday and an 11-1 loss to Bridge City on Friday.

It’s spring break for Kilgore, like it is for most of East Texas, but the Diamond ‘Dogs will be back in District 16-4A play again on Tuesday and Friday. Kilgore visits Pine Tree on Tuesday, a 4:30 p.m. junior varsity start, and then hosts the Pirates on Friday, also starting at 4:30 with JV.

In spite of the rough start due in large part to so many injuries, the Bulldogs have only played one 16-4A game, a loss to Carthage. So there’s plenty of time left in the season.

In the 8-1 loss to Nederland on Thursday, Nederland scored four runs in the first inning, and Kilgore just couldn’t recover. Nederland finished with the eight runs (six earned) on seven hits, and KHS was also charged with an error.

The Bulldogs had the one run on three hits, and the hits were by shortstop Kolton Hale, catcher Joseph Hendrickson, and third baseman Miles Applegate, a freshman. Hale and Hendrickson each hit a double. Kason Henry and Brayden Williams had stolen bases in the game, and Applegate had an RBI.

Jaxon Warner and Rafello Adamez both pitched for Kilgore. Warner threw 1 1/3 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on four hits, walked four and had a strikeout. Adamez threw 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, and didn’t give up a walk.

In the loss to Bridge City on Friday, it was a shortened game due to the run rule. Bridge City’s Cardinals scored all 11 runs in the first three innings; Kilgore’s run came in the first inning, as the Bulldogs trailed just 3-1 before the Cardinals went on their run.

Kilgore had no errors in the game, but just three hits: second baseman Tanner Beets; Hale, who had an RBI; and Henry, who was the left fielder for the game.

The Cardinals had 11 runs, all earned, on nine hits. Applegate threw a third of an inning and allowed three runs on a hit and three walks; Jaxon Dickey threw two-thirds of an inning and allowed two earned runs on no hits and walked two, and struck out two; and Brody Smith pitched four complete innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, with a walk and four strikeouts.

Kilgore played better in its Friday night win over Vidor.

In the top of the first, the Bulldogs scored a run: Beets, the lead-off man, hit a triple to right, and then after two outs, Applegate walked. Beets would come in on a passed ball for the 1-0 KHS lead.

Vidor tied it in the bottom of the third. D. Davis earned a walk off Kilgore’s Salvador Cervantes, then went to second on a single by T. Hanks. R. Chesser was hit by a pitch, and Davis went to third. He would score on a single by K. Holden to tie it up (1-all).

It wouldn’t stay tied long: Kilgore plated three runs in the top of the fourth, all of it with two outs.

With one out in the books, Cervantes earned a walk of his own, and Henry came on as a courtesy runner. Henry went to second on a passed ball, then to third on a ground-out.

The umpire called Vidor’s pitcher on a balk, and Henry was awarded home plate (2-1 Kilgore). Beets followed with a single to left, and Hale with another single, also to left. Both would score on a double by Hendrickson (4-1 Kilgore).

Kaeson Clayton, pitching for KHS in the bottom of the fifth, struck out Chesser, but then walked J. Brucia and Holden. Brucia was picked off at first, leaving Vidor with two outs.

P. McLeod hit a single, leaving he and Holden on base for N. Rains. Rains hit a 2 RBI single that got Vidor within a run (4-3).

But Clayton got B. Burns out to end the inning and the game.

Cervantes pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run (earned) on four hits, walked three and struck out five. Clayton came on for the final 1 2/3 innings, giving up the two earned runs on two hits, walked two, and struck out two.

The Diamond ‘Dogs had six hits in the game: the triple by Beets, who also had a single; Hale had a single; Hendrickson had a double and the 2 RBI; and Cason Edney and Clayton each had a single. And Henry had another stolen base in the contest.

In Saturday morning’s game, Kilgore played to a 4-4 tie against Melissa.

Melissa’s Cardinals scored two runs in the first and two more in the third, but Kilgore bounced back with a three-run fourth, then tied things up in the fifth to avoid a loss.

Kilgore wound up with the four runs on five hits; Melissa had four on seven hits; and each team had two errors.

Hale went 2-for-3; Beets had another hit, this one a double; and Hendrickson had another hit, as well. Beets finished with 3 RBI.

Williams and Hale each had two stolen bases in the game, and Edney and Clayton each had one.

Beets pitched all six innings of the game, with four strikeouts, two walks and four runs, earned, on seven hits.

C.J. Brooks pitched 3 2/3 for Melissa, allowing three runs, all earned, on two hits, walked four and struck out four. Melissa’s Rhett Waite threw 1 1/3 innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits, a walk and two strikeouts.