KILGORE-CARTHAGE LIVE! | Real-time updates from Driller Park

OK, you people, welcome to Driller Park for an important District 17-4A baseball game between Kilgore and Carthage. Carthage is the visiting team. That would make Kilgore the home team, wouldn’t it?

Both teams are the Bulldogs. Kilgore a lot of times is referred to as the “Diamond ‘Dogs,” and Carthage as the “Dawgs,” kind of like Georgia.

Being that I’m from Alabama, went to the University of Alabama and don’t really LIKE Georgia, I don’t know that you’ll read a lot of “Dawg” references tonight, OK?

But off we go. There’s no admission, and no need to keep your hands inside the car; there’s no car to keep your hands inside of. There’s also no need to be above 18; this is a PG real-time cast.

By the way, first thing’s first: if you’re expecting just baseball here, you’re in the wrong freakin’ place. There will be baseball. We’ll do that. But our own esteemed Joe Hale will have the game story later. This will have baseball and all kinds of surrounding… things.

Before we really get cranked up into this, I want to recognize a senior, and she’s the only softball senior for Kilgore. Her name is Eva Ray. Our family has had a special relationship with Eva’s family for well over a decade: Eva’s dad, Jared, was the coach for my son, Jacob, for much of his time in the Kilgore Boys Baseball Association. It seems unfathomable that Eva could actually already be only a few weeks from graduating kindergarten, let alone high school.

Life moves fast. There’s a news flash, I know.

Eva Ray: we love you. Happy graduation, early.

OK, they’re introducing the lineups now. Carthage is taking the third-base line. The ‘Dawgs (CARTHAGE, not Georgia) is wearing grey uniforms, red numbers with white trim, red socks and red caps.

Kilgore is wearing the home whites, with red numbers, and red caps.

National Anthem finished. “YMCA” by the Village People playing. Everybody is fired up. Let’s do it.

• Carthage has a base-runner.
• After a quick fly-out to Jordan Pierce in center field for Kilgore, Carthage also has two outs.
• The press box at Driller is immediately over the concession stand. The French fries are wearing me out right now.
• Still two outs. Runner at first. Count to the batter is three balls, two strikes, two outs. And Todd House is on the mound for Kilgore.

• OK, the guy walks.
• Pretty solid crowd for Kilgore.
• Nice to see former KHS Principal Bobby Wheeley and his better half, former KHS teacher Deborah Wheeley. Used to occupy the press box with me up here for — well, a NUMBER of years. (You have NO idea how many times Bobby threatened to pull a Bob Uecker from “Major League” and say “JUUUUUST a bit outside” when an opposing pitcher threw a ball in this park).
• Kilgore got out of the top of the first with a good catch by Pierce; Carthage stranded two runners. House threw three first-pitch strikes in that inning, my reporter, Joe Hale, tells me.
• Kilgore’s first two batters of the bottom of the first inning are out, unfortunately for the Diamond ‘Dogs and their fans.
• There’s Eva Ray right there, in the photo above at left, with her parents, Jared and Kenya, her brother, Cullen, and his significant other, Lilly Hoskins.
• Tate Truman gets Kilgore’s first hit of the game, an infield single, but Carthage pitcher Matthew Smith is able to strike out Kilgore’s Colt Bullard to get out of the inning. We’re tied at — well, 0-0.
• My days are really mixed up. Wow, this does NOT seem like Friday.
• Second baseman Tanner Beets just flipped the ball to House at first base for a heck of a play and an out to end the top of the second inning, and keep us scoreless. Off we go to the bottom of the second. Cason Edney coming up to the plate for Kilgore.
• Ty Chambers runs over to make the grab of a fly ball hit by Edney for out one; Smith gets Pierce to strike out for out two; and Joe Hendrickson hits a one-hopper to Carthage shortstop Dillon Davenport for out three. No runs, no hits, no errors, and off to the third inning with a scoreless tie between Kilgore and Carthage.
• Sam Watson, Carthage’s lead-off hitter, smacks a ball right back to House, who flips the ball to Bullard at first base for a quick out. He struck out Brooks Soape with a nasty inside pitch. And then he made Davenport pay for that throw to first that put out Hendrickson a little bit ago by retiring him, too, with a little help and a great throw to first from Truman, HA, HA.
• Kolton Hale up to bat for the Diamond ‘Dogs in the bottom of the third inning.
• That pitch to Kayson Brooks wasn’t just a yard outside — it was a yard SALE outside. Wow.
• Two outs for the Diamond ‘Dogs as House, the lead-off batter, comes back to the plate. Still can’t get over that pitch to Brooks. The very next pitch was called a ball, and it was just about the same pitch.
• Carthage second baseman Maddox Martinez recorded all three outs for the Dawgs (cannot get used to that) in the bottom of the third.
• Smith has thrown 39 pitches through three innings (unofficially) for Carthage. House has 42 through three innings for Kilgore (unofficially, very unofficially, people).
• Cade Moore reaches on the lead-off spot for Carthage in the top of the fourth.
• Cale Preston, with a full count on him, bats behind Moore. At least he’s not named kale. Cale follows Moore with a walk, an inside pitch that was very close. Hmmmm.
• Ty Chambers reaches on a fielder’s choice when he lays down a bunt and Kilgore elects to try and get Moore out at third, but can’t get the out. The bases are loaded in the top of the fourth with no outs for Carthage.
• Carson Crawford, who struck out in his first at-bat, takes a first-pitch strike from House.
• Second pitch is a ball.
• Third pitch is a shallow fly ball into center field, which Pierce snags before it can hit for the out, and then gets it back to the catcher quickly — an out and no sac fly. Great, great play.
• Martinez to the plate for Carthage, and his first two pitches, looks at a 2-1 count. His third pitch: a line drive right to the glove of Beets at second for out two! The bases are still loaded, but now with two outs.
• Kaden Ritter, maybe related to late actor John Ritter (seriously: John Ritter and his dad, late country music singing great Tex Ritter, were both from Carthage; the kid might be related to them), FLIES INTO FOUL TERRITORY to right field! Kayson Brooks grabs it in foul territory for OUT THREE and Kilgore gets OUT OF THE INNING with NO RUNS SCORED! Carthage 0, Kilgore 0, going to the bottom of the fourth!! (Come on, that DESERVES two exclamation points, now)
• With an out in the books in the bottom of the fourth, Smith gets two outs, and has retired nine straight Kilgore batters. Not good for the home team.
• Make it 10, as Carthage gets out of the inning. We’re to the top of the fifth now, and it’s still scoreless, a far cry from Tuesday’s game, when these two teams went into extra innings tied at 5.
• “Y’all gonna make me lose my mind up in here, up in here…”
• That wasn’t me, it was the song.
• Ump called House’s second pitch to Sam Watson a ball and the Kilgore crowd didn’t like it.
• They liked the next pitch even less. Watson hit a ball into the gap between Beets at second and Bullard at first, for a base hit for Carthage.
• Soape sacrificed Watson to second base, and with an out, Davenport comes to the plate. Davenport flies out to Edney in left field, and now with two outs, Cade Moore is back up, and promptly sees a strike on his first pitch. And his second pitch. Then, he’s accidentally hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, with two outs.

• Preston smacks a hard-hit ball to Beets, an infield hit, to load the bases with two outs. Chambers pops up, and Beets waves Bullard off to make the catch. Kilgore’s fans breathe a sigh of relief, and the Diamond ‘Dogs dodged ANOTHER bases-loaded bullet to AGAIN keep it scoreless and escape. Going to the bottom of the fifth, 0-0.
• Edney belts a hit into left field to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Pierce sacrifices Edney to second, but Kilgore strands him in scoring position, Carthage pulling Kilgore’s trick and keeping the game scoreless.
• House and the Bulldogs retire Crawford with a first-pitch fly ball to Hale, in the top of the sixth, and then Martinez puts a hit in there, smacking it up the middle past House and into center field, a long single.
• Ritter (“Come and knock on our door… we’ve been waiting for you…”) takes a ball on his first pitch, then hits a ball into the gap between left and center, legging out a double. He didn’t think me writing the “Three’s Company” lyrics was very funny, I don’t guess. Runners at second and third with one out and the lead-off batter, Watson, up to the plate.
• A meeting at the mound, now, for Kilgore and coach Eugene Lafitte. They leave House in the game.
• Watson swings at the first pitch, as the runners feigned advancing.
• He misses again, this time acting as if he was going to put down a bunt.
• He fouls off the third pitch.
• The fourth? Called a ball by the umpire, the Kilgore crowd… not so much.
• Watson singles, scores two runs before the ball can get back to Hendrickson, Kilgore’s catcher. Carthage goes up 2-0, officially, in the sixth inning.
• Brooks Soape now to the plate, with Watson at first and one out.
• A lone voice shouts, “Come on, Brooks!” Daddy, I’m guessing.
• Soape gets a hit, a single, and he’s at first, Watson at second, still with one out. Davenport already back to the plate for Carthage.
• Important for Kilgore to stop the bleeding right now.
• Davenport ducks, as if to avoid the pitch. I didn’t buy it and the umpire didn’t, either, calling it a third strike on Davenport for the second out of the inning. Watson still on second, Soape on first.
• Moore comes to the plate, pops up to Hendrickson, who makes the catch for out three, as Moore slumps as if to say, “You are KIDDING me!” Still, Carthage leads, now, 2-0, headed to the bottom of the sixth.
• Kayson Brooks flies out to right to open the inning, and here comes Todd House, who sits at the top of Kilgore’s line-up, to the plate.
• House fouls off a pitch and has a full count.
• He walks, and Beets comes to the plate.
• House steals second, whew, gets down just in time. Beets has a 2-1 count on him.
• Now 3-1.

• Umpire calls it 3-2, and then Beets hits it to second, in effect, a sacrifice. House to third, but with two outs.
• Smith manages to strike out Truman to get out of the sixth, and leave the score at Carthage 2, Kilgore 0.
• Getting late, Kilgore. Diamond ‘Dogs need some of that Kentucky Fried Chicken power from “Major League” (left).
• Bulldogs allow a hit in the top of the seventh, then turn a double play. With Crawford at bat for Carthage, he pops up to Hale at shortstop for the third out.
• Kilgore comes to bat for the bottom of the seventh, again trailing 2-0.
• KHS first baseman Colt Bullard must have found that chicken. Bullard leads off with a single.
• Edney walks over to Lafitte at third base for a brief consultation, then back to home plate for his at-bat.
• Edney takes ball one. Then strike one.
• He fouls off the fourth pitch for a 2-2 count.
• Fifth pitch is way outside for a 3-2 full count.
• SINGLE. Bullard to second safely, although it’s close. Two on, no outs. Jordan Pierce to the plate.
• That was Edney’s second hit of the game, Joe Hale just told me.
• A visit to the mound for the Carthage infield and coaches, to visit with Smith, who has pitched a heck of a game; so has Todd House for Kilgore.
• They leave Smith on the mound.
• Pierce foul-tips off a bunt attempt for strike one.
• Pierce lays down the bunt and with his speed, legs out the infield hit. BASES LOADED, NO OUTS for Kilgore, as the catcher, Joe Hendrickson, comes to the plate.
• Hendrickson gets a deep fly ball, an out, but a sac fly that scores Bullard (2-1).
• That leaves two on (Edney at third, Pierce at first), and one out for Hale, who’s at the plate.
• Hale lays the ball down, Edney slides in under the tag at home — SAFE! Hale reaches on fielder’s choice, and the game is TIED AT 2!
• Pierce is at second, Hale at first, and Brooks is at the plate with one out.
• Smith is still on the mound for Carthage.
• Lafitte is talking to Brooks on the third-base line.
• Brooks lays down bunt to Smith; he quickly surveys situation, then throws to first for easy out, as runners advance to second and third.
• House to the plate with runners in scoring position.
• House takes a ball.
• He takes a second ball.
• Then a strike, so a 2-1 count. Two outs, remember.
• Fouls it off. Pierce is at third, the winning run.
• House takes ball three. Full count. Two outs.
• He fouls it off.
• He strikes. Out three. Going to extra innings at Driller Park, just like Tuesday night between these two. This time tied at 2.
• For Kilgore in the seventh, two runs on three hits, no errors for Carthage. Going to the top of the eighth.
• House returns to the mound for his eighth inning.
• Not many folks here for Carthage, as Martinez comes to the plate for yet another at-bat. It feels like he’s batted 10 times tonight.
• He singles to left field. Tries to leg out a double and is thrown out, Edney to Beets. Wow. What a play, but not a smart decision.
• Ritter (“where the kisses are hers and hers and his, Three’s Company, too…”) sees a ball and two strikes in his first three pitches, runs the count to 2-2.
• He strikes out.
• Back to the top of the line-up for Carthage, two outs, as Watson comes to the plate. Watson takes strike one. Then two straight balls for a 2-1 count.
• He fouls it off for 2-2.
• Ball gets away from House, and it’s a full count.
• He walks Watson, bringing Soape back to the plate. And he’s got Water with him.
• Only kidding. It’s the eighth inning, guys.
• Edney makes an UNREAL “SportsCenter” diving catch in left field, robbing Soape (and Water) of a hit, maybe even a double or a triple. Remember, Edney scored the game-tying run, as well.
• I cannot believe I just saw that.
• Beets comes to the plate for Diamond ‘Dogs to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Cade Ross is now pitching for Carthage, a sophomore.
• Beets gets a 2-1 count on him, now 2-2.
• Ross gets Beets to hit back to the pitcher, for the first out.
• Truman to the plate, one out.
• 2-2 count.
• Now a full count.
• Scary-close ball four, Truman hits the deck, then strides to first base. One on, one out, Bullard to the plate.
• Fouls off first pitch.
• Second one is a ball.
• Bullard hits a double off the wall, sends Truman to third. One out.
• Edney — no, I’m not kidding, he’s at the plate now.
• He takes strike one.
• He calls time.
• He fouls it off. He’s got an 0-2.
• Pitch is outside, way outside, and Edney holds his hand up for Truman to hold. 1-2 count.
• Edney strikes out, but Pierce to the plate. Two outs, Truman at third, Bullard at second.
• First pitch is a ball.
• Second one fouls off and hits the press box roof. 1-1.
• Third is a high ball, 2-1 count.
• Fouled off again, 2-2.
• Two outs, remember.
• He calls time, as if we needed more drama. LOL
• Pitch is a ball, and now a full count, with two outs, to boot.
• Pierce walks, and the bases are loaded.
• Hendrickson to the plate, who had a sac fly in his last at-bat. Carthage calls everyone to the mound that they can possibly call, except us and the concession stand-workers.
• Hendrickson at the plate. He takes ball one on pitch one.
• Second pitch is inside and almost gets away from the catcher, ball two.
• A walk would be the winning run.
• Strike one. A 2-1 count.
• Fourth pitch is a ball. 3-1 count.
• And now a strike, a full count. 3-2.
• He fouls it off, right after I said, “unless he fouls it off.” Two outs, bases loaded.
• Hendrickson fouls it off again. Full count, with two outs, game tied at 2-all in the bottom of the eighth.
• He hits it to first baseman Cade Moore, who tags the plate. Going to the ninth inning, tied at 2.
• Davenport opens the top of the ninth against new Kilgore pitcher Beets. Beets throws a strike, then Davenport strikes, swinging. A third pitch he fouls off, and then a ball. A 1-2 count.
• I’ve been here since 3 p.m., by the way. LOL
• Davenport has a full count now.
• My phone is the slowest-charging phone in the world. When I plugged it in, it was 4 percent. It’s now 68.
• Beets struck Davenport out!
• It’s Cade Moore, up to bat now for Carthage.
• Moore turned on the pitch and looked to have a hit. He did — right to Pierce, a fly out in center field that Pierce retired easily.
• Preston, who is 2-for-3 tonight, Joe tells me, reaches on a ball that was so close in left field that we debated on a hit or an error. I don’t know how to score it. At any rate, Chambers is out at first on the very next at-bat, so you know what? IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS, The Rock says (left).

• Score stays tied at 2-2, and Kilgore is coming to the plate.
• Kolton Hale, specifically, is Kilgore’s first batter of the bottom of the ninth. We don’t hit the ninth inning around here a lot. If you’re not familiar with Texas high school baseball, we play to seven innings around here in regulation.
• Hale draws a lead-off walk.
• Brooks is next up.
• Brooks lays down a sacrifice, and he’s out at first, but Hale represents the winning run at second base. There’s one out, as House comes to the plate.
• House has a 2-0 count on him.
• Now 3-0.
• The strike on 3-0 is automatic. It’s 3-1.
• He walked. Hale at second, House at first, one out. Beets at the plate.
• Outside pitch on the first one. Ball one. Strike one on the next pitch.
• Fouled far out of play on the next. One ball, two strikes.
• 2-2 count now.
• Ump calls that ball a foul. Ball did hit the chalk. Remains a 2-2 count.
• Beets is safe at first, an E3, as House is thrown out at second. Hale is safe at third and with two outs, Truman is at the plate.
• He’s got a 1-1 count.
• Beets steals second, a 2-1 count.
• Now 3-1.
• An awfully-high ball four. Truman walks again.
• Bullard to the plate. He doubled his last at-bat.
• And another meeting at the mound for Carthage.
• A pitching change. It’s Chambers, the center fielder, coming to the mound.
• And at 10:04 — two hours and 55 minutes after the game began — we’ll warm him up.
• “You only get one shot, do not miss this chance and blow this opportunity…” — Eminem, playing during the warm-up.

• OK, Bullard into the batter’s box. LET’S GO.
• Bases loaded, two outs.
• Ball one.
• Strike one.
• Flyout to center field. AND WE ARE STILL TIED AT 2.
• We’re off to the 10TH inning. And “The Twilight Zone.” There’s Rod Serling, right there (right).
• Y’all got a Coca-Cola?
• Crawford gets a base hit for Carthage to lead off the 10th.
• Martinez sacrifices him to second, and is thrown out at first by Beets.
• Ritter takes ball one. Crawford stands at second with one out.
• Now Ritter has a 2-1 count.
• Ritter swings, 2-2.
• A full count, now, 3-2.
• He fouls off the next pitch. The full count is intact.
• He walks on what looked to be strike three. Seriously. Wow.
• Runners at second (Crawford) and first (Ritter). Watson, the lead-off batter, is at the plate, and gets a single, an RBI single. 3-2 Carthage. Runners at second and first, still, but Carthage leads, 3-2.
• Soape returns to the plate. A 1-1 count. He didn’t like the strike. LOL. He hits a ball into right that Brooks catches, a fantastic catch, but a runner is now at third. Watson is at first.
• Davenport (again) back at the plate. I feel like I’ve written that 3,408 times tonight.
• He hits the ball to center, a ball caught by Pierce for an out.
• Going to the bottom of the 10th now, and Kilgore has to score at least a run to keep the game going.
• Edney has a 1-1 count.
• Now 1-2.
• Chambers strikes out Edney, one out for Kilgore.
• Pierce comes to the plate.
• Two balls on Pierce. No strikes.
• He gets a hit, into center field.
• Hendrickson to the plate now, with Pierce at first.
• He looks at ball one.
• And then fouls off the second pitch to even the count.
• He fouls off the third pitch (1-2).
• Ball two.
• Full count now.
• Hendrickson walks. Two on (Pierce at second, Hendrickson at first) with one out. Hale comes to the plate.
• Hale fouls off the first pitch.
• And then looks at ball one (1-1).
• He lays down a bunt and is out, but runners are at third (Pierce) and second (Hendrickson).
• Brooks at the plate. He takes a strike.
• He hits a grounder to first, and it’s fielded and recorded for an out, a three-hour, 20-minute game won by Carthage, 3-2.
• Joe Hale will have the story shortly here on ETBlitz.com; thank y’all for hanging with me. Hate the Diamond ‘Dogs lost, but hope you’ll come back again for another one of our real-time update sessions, maybe even next week. Have a great weekend!