DID ‘EM IN | Weather forced some changes, but Kilgore, Overton baseball rocked & rolled; here’s our baseball AND softball update

Weather just had its fun on Friday, didn’t it?

It had games postponed left and right, people going everywhere in buses and then didn’t get to play and had to move their games, anyway.

Here’s our update on every single high school softball team and baseball team in the ETBlitz.com coverage area.

By the way, Kilgore High School and Troup High School softball and baseball didn’t have to deal with the weather; they all had open dates.

Let’s start with Overton, softball and baseball. Why not?

The Overton Lady Mustangs, who are 7-0 in District 19-2A and blistering their competition so far, wanted to play so badly Friday night that they moved their game against Waskom to Nacogdoches. Baseball, too. But it just didn’t happen. Too much bad weather.

They’ll try softball again today (Saturday) at 3:30 p.m., varsity only, against Waskom at Nacogdoches High School (4320 Appleby Sand Road, Nacogdoches, TX).

Did baseball get its game in against Waskom?

THEY DID.

Overton 14, Waskom 4: Things were looking really good for the Waskom Wildcats after the first inning. Things were bright and sunny, they held a 1-0 lead, it was Friday, the weekend was coming, maybe date night on Saturday…

…And then they woke up.

Overton scored eight – EIGHT – runs in the bottom of the second inning, kept its collective foot on the gas pedal (or the accelerator, depending on which generation you’re from) and cruised from there to a 14-4 win.

The Mustangs (16-6 overall, 4-2 in District 19-2A) belted nine hits and did have an error; Waskom (6-8, 0-6) managed five hits, but also had just as many errors as hits.

Overton will host Ore City on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity at 4:30 p.m., and then travel to Ore City on Friday. Waskom faces Elysian Fields twice; at EF on Tuesday, and at home next Friday.

For the Mustangs against Waskom, Joey Zalman and Brody Brown were the big guns: 2-for-4 each, and also each with 3 RBI. Braxton Harper went 1-for-2 with a triple and 2 RBI, and Bryce Still also went 2-for-2.  Mason Rowe had a hit and an RBI, and Bryson Bobbitt and Landen Hill both each had a hit – Hill had 2 RBI.

Rylan Holleman didn’t hit a home run in this game – that’s rare. He did have an RBI, though, and scored a run. Rowe, Harper, Brown and Hill each scored twice; Holleman, Gabe Miller, Zalman, Still, Bobbitt and Jayden Edwards each scored once.

Waskom’s Jacob Woodward went 2-for-2, both singles, with 2 RBI.

Rowe, Harper, Zalman, Still and Edwards each had a stolen base in the game, and Still and Hill took care of the pitching duties. Still went 3 1/3 innings and allowed the four runs, all earned, on three hits, walked seven and struck out four.

Hill pitched 1 2/3 innings, giving up just one hit, three walks and struck out two.

SOFTBALL

Henderson and Chapel Hill moved their District 16-4A matchup to Saturday (today) at 2:30 p.m. – that’s to be played at Chapel Hill. Henderson (16-6-1) is 4-2 in district play; Chapel Hill’s at the other end of the spectrum. They’re 0-6.

Gilmer (16-2-2 overall; 6-0 in district) was to play at Carthage (15-4-1), but the Lady Buckeyes’ game also was a victim of the weather. They’re scheduled to make that game up on Monday at 5:30 p.m., at Gilmer.

Gilmer is red-hot: they’ve won 11 straight games, and had last week’s Whataburger / ETBlitz.com girls Player of the Week in Jayna Rucker. Carthage has won five in a row and is 5-1 in 16-4A; they’ve snuck up and slipped past Henderson for second place right now.

Arp and Sabine moved their game to Monday, as well. Arp’s Lady Tigers are setting the fields a’fire right now: they’re 20-4 overall, 7-1 in District 16-3A play and they’ve won five straight. Sabine is 0-6 in district.

That game will be Monday at 6 p.m. at Arp, and it’s a varsity-only night.

White Oak and Gladewater, two more 16-3A teams, were to play each other Friday in Gladewater, but that game ALSO got moved for weather-related reasons (didn’t we all?). They were to play today (Saturday) at 5:30 p.m., varsity-only, in Gladewater. The host Lady Bears are 7-11-1 overall and 3-4 in district play; White Oak’s Lady’Necks are 10-9-1, but 4-2 in district.

Well, what about Tatum and West Rusk? It was originally scheduled for Friday in West Rusk, then got moved to Friday in Tatum. Did they get it in?

THEY DID.

Tatum 19, West Rusk 1: It was kind of a tough night for the Lady Raiders, though, as they got only two hits off Lady Eagles pitcher Noa Cart.

Aylin Rocha had a double for West Rusk, and Lainey Dotson had a single and an RBI. Kenlee Reasoner had two strikeouts for the Lady Raiders, are 0-6 in district play in a very difficult district. They’re set to host White Oak on Tuesday at 6 p.m., then go to White Oak on Friday, also at 6.

Now, as for Tatum: they’re 8-9 overall, 5-4 in district play and have now won three straight games after a tough series with Arp and a split with Gladewater. They swept West Rusk, and now they face Troup.

Troup (18-5, 6-1) comes off an open date Friday (they beat Brook Hill, 2-0, early in the week), but it’ll be Tatum at Troup on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity at 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL

Kilgore 12, Cumberland 0: Coach Zach Hubbard’s Kilgore Bulldogs have officially turned it around.

The Diamond ‘Dogs have won three in a row, have only lost once since March 7, and are 5-2 in District 16-4A. And they put it on Cumberland Friday night in Tyler.

The game had originally been set to be in Kilgore, at Driller Park, of course, but Cumberland needed to swap home dates this week. So CA came to Driller on Tuesday night, and left with an 8-1 loss, and then the ‘Dogs got ANOTHER win over Cumberland in Tyler on Friday.

This time, Tanner Beets – the reigning, defending Whataburger / ETB boys Player of the Week, had things under control. No, he had it MORE than under control. Beets walked no one and allowed the grand total of ONE hit, and rolled up six strikeouts in a game that was shortened due to the UIL’s run-rule. Beets’ time on the mound totaled four innings.

Kaeson Clayton came on for an inning, faced three batters and struck out all of ‘em.

Beets apparently wants another player of the week award, because he threw his hat in the ring for it. He finished with three singles and 4 RBI in addition to his pitching numbers. Also for Kilgore, Cason Edney had two singles and 2 RBI; Kolton Hale had a double and an RBI; and Miles Applegate had a single and 2 RBI.

The Bulldogs get to face old “friends” Chapel Hill twice next week: at home against Chapel Hill on Monday, starting with JV at 4:30 p.m., and at Chapel Hill next Friday.

Henderson vs. Chapel Hill: Another ETBlitz.com-area team, the Henderson Lions, was supposed to play at Chapel Hill on Friday, but that was another weather casualty.

The Lions (10-10 overall, 3-3 in district) will make that trek to Tyler today (Saturday) for a 2:30 p.m. start against Chapel Hill (4-15-1).

Carthage 13, Gilmer 0: Another game that actually got played – hey, they were rare on Friday – was this one, in Carthage, but it did not go well for the Buckeyes.

The main reason Gilmer couldn’t get things going is that Alex Welk of Carthage was so good on the mound. He allowed only one hit and struck out eight over the five-inning, run-rule-shortened contest. He did walk four, though.

Kaden Ritter had a double, Blayton LaGrone had a single and 2 RBI and Sam Watson had two hits and 4 RBI for Carthage.

Gilmer’s Aiden Davis had the Buckeyes’ only hit.

Gilmer drops to 9-6 overall, 2-2 in district play, but plays at Cumberland Academy in Tyler on Tuesday, starting at 4:30 with the JV. They’ll host Cumberland on Friday.

Tatum at West Rusk: This game was originally scheduled for Friday evening, but was postponed until today (Saturday), and it’s still to be played in Raider-land, at West Rusk, at 4 p.m.

Coach Dustin Russell’s Tatum Eagles are unbeaten in District 16-3A (6-0) and 13-4 overall; they’ve won seven straight coming into this one. Coach Ronnie Hendrix is in his first year at West Rusk, but it’s not his first rodeo. He’s got a talented team there in New London, in a tough district, but the Raiders are holding their own. They’re 4-4 in district play, and if the playoffs began today, they’d be in.

White Oak at Gladewater: Ditto for this one on the weather, said Roughnecks coach Charles Foshee. The Roughnecks will visit the Bears today (Saturday) at 7 p.m., varsity only.

And here are a pair of teams that can score. White Oak is 15-2-1, 5-0 in district, and has won nine straight; they’ve scored more than 10 runs in a game four times this year.

Gladewater (10-8, 1-4 in district) has also scored more than 10 runs in a game on four occasions this year, and has had a tough go of it so far in district play. But the Bears have firepower.

Two more notes: remember Troup was off on Friday, and Leverett’s Chapel was to play at Miller Grove Friday afternoon; the LC ISD Facebook page, however, says the game was canceled but doesn’t list any re-scheduled date.