OK, REALLY THIS TIME | Softball, baseball make-ups coming Monday; Overton, Troup and others got games in and did well
Unlike Friday, when East Texas had so much rain that Noah would have been beaming with pride, there were actually a few games involving ETBlitz.com-area diamond teams that were played on Saturday.
Overton’s Lady Mustangs kept their record in District 19-2A play with a “0” in the loss column, and did so in Hallsville with an 11th straight win; Heather Longino put her name in the hat for the Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week honors with a nutso day in a big win for Troup over Tatum; and Cole Jackson and his West Rusk Raiders crew showed up in a big way in White Oak.
Other games that had been scheduled for Friday, then re-scheduled for Saturday, were not played and will need to be made up. We’re here to catch you up.
Let’s do this by sport.
SOFTBALL
District 16-4A
Henderson: Coach John White’s Lady Lions (17-6-1 overall, 5-2 in District 16-4A) were to host Pine Tree on Friday, then they were to host ‘em on Saturday. Neither happened.
The plan now is for the Lady Pirates (8-14-1, 4-4) to visit Henderson on Monday for a 4:30 p.m. start. That’ll mean Henderson is playing on back-to-back days: at home against Pine Tree Monday, then again at home on Tuesday against Spring Hill – junior varsity at 5 p.m. that night, with varsity to follow.
Henderson has a big game Friday: home against Gilmer, also JV at 5, with varsity to follow.
Gilmer: Speaking of the Lady Buckeyes, they were off Friday night against their will, as well: they had been scheduled to host Mineola, a non-district opponent, on Friday, but that game was also a casualty of the weather, as was, it seems, most everything else.
Coach Keirsten Seahorn Lady Buckeyes are 17-3-2 on the season and they’re an impressive 7-1 in 16-4A. They’ve won 12 of their last 13 – only Carthage, who eased by Gilmer on March 31 – has a district win over the Lady Buckeyes, who also have a win over them. Gilmer is leading the 16-4A standings right now after an 11-10 win in extra innings over Spring Hill earlier last week.
Gilmer is set to host Chapel Hill on Tuesday, starting with JV at 5 p.m., then will go, as mentioned, to Henderson for that huge game on Friday.
Kilgore: Coach Gabby Moore’s Lady Bulldogs will have back-to-back road games on Monday and Tuesday as a result of all the rainy, yucky weather to end last week.
Kilgore (3-15 overall, and 1-6 in 16-4A play) couldn’t get its game against Chapel Hill in on Friday, but plan to do so on Monday at 6:30. They Lady ‘Dogs will also be on the road Tuesday, at Spring Hill for a 5 p.m. JV start, with varsity afterward.
District 19-2A
Overton 13, Ore City 4: It wasn’t a run-rule, but it likely felt a heck of a lot like one to the people from Ore City, who met Overton at Hallsville for this game that was originally planned to be an Ore City home game, and originally planned for Friday night.
Neither happened, thanks to all the storms.
The biggest storm Ore City saw on Saturday was Kelsey Vaught, the Lady Mustangs’ pitcher. She was stormin’ all over the place: nine strikeouts, walked none, in a complete-game seven-inning performance. And then she caused havoc at the plate: a triple, a double, a single and 6 RBI.
Her teammates gave her support. Sarah Emery had a double, a single and 2 RBI. Bryleigh Nelson had a double and a single and an RBI, as did Kasha Williams, and Siann Levoy had two singles.
That gives the Lady Mustangs a 14-8-1 overall record, but more importantly, they’re 10-0 in 19-2A. They’re headed to Union Grove on Tuesday, starting with JV at 4:30 p.m.
District 16-3A
Arp: The Lady Tigers, as it worked out, had an open date Friday night, anyway, and won’t have to make up a game. They’re 22-4 on the season to date, have an 8-1 record in District 16-3A, and have won seven straight games.
Arp heads to Gladewater on Tuesday, a 6 p.m. varsity start.
Sabine-Gladewater: About those Gladewater Lady Bears…
They didn’t get to play Friday night’s scheduled road game at Sabine (0-11, 0-8 in district) due to the weather. They’re planning to make up that game on Monday – that’s Gladewater (8-12-1, 4-5 in district play) at Sabine Monday at 4 p.m.
Sabine will visit West Rusk, then, the very next night, on Tuesday, a 6 p.m. varsity start in New London, and host West Rusk on Friday.
Gladewater (8-12-1 overall, 4-5 in district) will do the road trip to the Sabine /Liberty City area Monday, and then get Arp twice this week: at home on Tuesday, a 6 p.m. start, and at Arp on Friday at 4:30.
Troup 16, Tatum 1: One of the few games that actually got played on Friday happened in Tatum, where Longino and teammate Taylor Gillispie both had a big game.
Longino had a home run, a triple, and a double, and finished with 4 RBI. Gillispie had six strikeouts and allowed the one earned run, and at the plate had a double, a single and 2 RBI.
Also for Troup (20-5, 8-1 in district), London Driggers had a home run and 3 RBI; Olivia Anderson had two doubles and 4 RBI; Kiyah Arterberry had a double; Shiloh Sluder had two singles; and Makayla Spencer had an RBI.
The Tigers have won eight straight. They’re set to host White Oak on Tuesday.
White Oak-West Rusk: The Lady’Necks and West Rusk will play Monday in White Oak, although originally scheduled for 4:30. We have not been able to find ascertain a start time. We’ll try to update.
The Lady’Necks will turn around Tuesday and play at Troup, starting with JV at 4:30, and West Rusk will host Sabine on Tuesday at 6.
BASEBALL
District 19-2A
Overton: The Mustangs, like other teams, were originally scheduled to play at Ore City on Friday night, then tried again on Saturday. But finally decided to play there on Monday at 5 p.m.
The Mustangs are 17-6 overall, and 5-2 in District 19-2A. They’ve won three in a row.
Leverett’s Chapel: The Lions’ game against Avery on Friday was cancelled.
LC beat Bloomburg on March 25, 12-1, and rain has pestered the Lions’ schedule ever since, forcing cancellations of games against both Miller Grove and Avery.
In the win over Bloomburg, Dewaylon Brown went 2-for-2 with a double, two RBI, walked twice and scored twice. Carson Ford went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, scored a run and had two stolen bases.
Also for LC, Davis Tryon and Ethan Vaden each had a hit, and Vaden scored three runs. Tryon had 2 RBI, scored a run and had two stolen bases.
On the mound, Ford pitched four innings, allowing just one hit, two walks, a run, and struck out eight.
If nothing is added to the Lions’ schedule, they’re set to host Bloomburg again Friday at 4.
LC is 2-5-1 on the season and 0-1 in district play.
District 16-4A
Kilgore: Nothing has changed on this since our Saturday update.
The Bulldogs were scheduled to play at Chapel Hill on Friday night, but couldn’t; it’s re-scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m., at Chapel Hill.
The Diamond ‘Dogs have won four straight in District 16-4A and six of their last seven. They’re 6-2 in district play and 9-12 overall, third in the standings. Chapel Hill and Cumberland Academy are tied at 0-8 in district. Kilgore beat Chapel Hill, 11-2, earlier last week.
After Monday’s make-up game at Chapel Hill, Kilgore will host district leader Spring Hill on Tuesday, starting with JV at 4:30 p.m., varsity to follow, at Driller Park.
Henderson: The Lions (11-9 overall, 5-3 in 16-4A) had planned to make up Friday’s postponed home game against Pine Tree on Saturday afternoon, but that didn’t work, either.
The current new, NEW plan is for the Pirates (4-10, 2-5) to play at Henderson on Monday at 4:30.
The Lions will turn around on Tuesday, then, and travel to Gilmer, a 4:30 p.m. JV start – Gilmer will return the favor, coming to Henderson on Friday.
Gilmer: The Buckeyes were scheduled originally to go to Cumberland on Friday, but that was changed, of course, due to the weather.
This is one game that we’ve heard no updates on; we’ll do our best to update here in this very spot when we receive one.
Gilmer is 11-8 overall, 4-4 in district play, and faces Henderson twice this week as mentioned: at home on Tuesday and at Henderson Friday.
District 16-3A
Troup-Tatum: Troup beat Tatum, 7-6, in one of the few baseball games in all of East Texas that actually got played Friday night. We had brief coverage of that in Saturday’s update.
Troup (15-6, 5-2 in district) hosts White Oak Tuesday; the JV game begins at 4:30, followed by varsity. The Tigers visit White Oak on Friday, in that same format.
Tatum is 14-6 overall, 7-2 in district, and has an open date on Tuesday. They play a non-district game at home against Brook Hill on Friday – junior varsity will play Brook Hill at 4:30 p.m., and then varsity at 7.
Arp: The Tigers were off on Friday and don’t have to worry about making up a missed game. They’re 8-12-1 overall, and 2-5 in 16-3A.
Sabine-Gladewater: The Bears (12-8 overall, 3-5 in 16-3A) were originally to play at Sabine for a 4 p.m. varsity-only night. Weather won instead.
They’ll try to play it Monday, although a time has not yet been announced.
Sabine is 0-17 overall and also winless in district play.
West Rusk 6, White Oak 2: Here’s a game originally scheduled for Friday that actually got played on the re-scheduled date, on Saturday.
As mentioned earlier, Raiders pitcher Cole Jackson had a good game: eight strikeouts in a seven-inning complete game, leading the Raiders’ defense in holding White Oak to just two runs, only one of them earned.
At the plate, the Raiders got a double and an RBI from Troy Hunley. Jaxon Johnson had two singles and an RBI. And Jase Reasoner, Kam Brown, Gunner Harp and Caiden Landon each had an RBI.
The Raiders, 8-11-1 overall, are now 3-4 in district and will have a visit from Sabine on Tuesday at 7.
Tyson McKinney had a double and an RBI for the Roughnecks, and Brady Greenwood had two singles and an RBI.
Logan Langewisch also had a good night on the mound for White Oak, but ultimately took the loss. In six innings, Langewisch struck out eight and only allowed one earned run.
The Roughnecks are 16-4-1, and 6-2 in district. They play at Troup, as mentioned above, on Tuesday, then host Troup on Friday.
