OH, SO CLOSE FOR KILGORE | But two losses, unfortunately, for Diamond ‘Dogs this week
This week, Carthage had Kilgore’s number – twice, unfortunately.
And the number was one, on both occasions.
One run on Tuesday in Carthage – as in, 6-5, and one run, again, on Friday, this time 3-2, to come away with a sweep of its District 17-4A baseball series against the Bulldogs.
Razor thin or paper thin, whichever you prefer.
But, for the second time in four nights the Dawgs of Carthage and Bulldogs of Kilgore played well into the night, extra innings in both games, Friday night to the tune of 10 innings at Driller Park in the 3-2 final.
With the regular season winding down, the Dawgs improved to 11-2 against the district (17-8-2 overall) and into a tie with Spring Hill for the district lead, after the Panthers dropped a surprising 3-2 decision against Henderson in Henderson on Friday. Spring Hill, though, has the tie-breaker against Carthage, having won two of its three games against the Dawgs.
Kilgore is 8-5 (16-9-1 for the season) and assured third place in the district race with a home-and-home series against Spring Hill next week, here on Tuesday and in Longview on Friday.
Carthage’s Sam Watson proved to be the thorn in Kilgore’s side on Friday. The designated-hitter went 3-for-5, driving in all three runs. The game-winner was a sharply-hit single to left field, scoring Carson Crawford.
That overshadowed, unfortunately, a would-be Kilgore comeback to tie the game in at 2-all in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game to extras to begin with.
Crawford, the Carthage third baseman, led off the top of the 10th, with a single to left field off reliever Tanner Beets, who came on in relief of Todd House to start the ninth inning.
Maddox Martinez grounded back to Beets for the first out, Kaden Ritter walked to bring up Watson, who delivered big time for the second time in the contest with his third hit of the game and more importantly the game-winning, deciding run.
In the sixth, Watson’s one-out single back up the middle off House plated Martinez and Ritter to break a scoreless tie and give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.
The Dawgs managed three runs on 13 hits and left 15 baserunners, while Kilgore scored twice on seven hits and also stranded 15 runners on the basepaths.
Following Watson, were Brooks Soape, Cale Preston and Martinez with two hits apiece. Leading the way for Kilgore were Colt Bullard (2-for-5), Cason Edney (2-for-5), and Jordan Pierce (2-for-3).
Neither starting pitcher, Matthew Smith for Carthage or House figured in the decision. Before this one was history, Cade Ross and Ty Chambers worked in relief of Smith, and Beets came on in relief of House to start the ninth inning for the Diamond Dogs.
Carthage loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but House got out of trouble with excellent catches by Pierce in shallow left-centerfield, and by Tanner Beets and Kayson Brooks in shallow right field.
Cade Moore led off the inning with a single to center, before Preston coaxed a 3-2 pitch walk from House and Chambers reached on a bunt to the left side of the infield to load the bases.
Carthage then loaded the bases again in the top of the fifth, getting a leadoff single by Watson and an infield single by Preston, but, again, failed to score.
At one point, Maxwell, who got the win earlier this season here in Kilgore, retired 10 Bulldogs in a row between the third out in the first inning and a leadoff single by Edney to start Kilgore’s at-bat in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With one out in the sixth, the Dawgs threatened again with a single by Martinez and a double to the gap in left center by Kaden Ritter. Watson, the leadoff hitter, delivered a two-run base hit to center to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Kilgore got to Smith in dramatic fashion for two runs to tie the contest in a rousing comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Bullard and Edney got things going with back-to-back singles. Pierce sacrificed the runners up a base and reached as well on a bunt single. Joseph Hendrickson plated the first Kilgore run with a sacrifice fly to Carthage center fielder Chambers to score Bullard.
Hale then lays down a bunt just to the right of home plate to score Edney, coming from third on a safety squeeze, slipping under the tag to knot the score at 2-2.
Carthage threatened in the top of the eighth as Martinez singled, but was thrown out at second, trying to stretch his hit into a double on a throw from Edney to Beets. Watson then walked and with two outs, Edney made a run-saving diving catch, just an unbelievable catch that he had to lay out to get, of a Soape line drive in left field.
Carthage coach Jason Causey brought on Cade Ross to pitch the eighth and as it turned out the sophomore right-hander escaped a bases-loaded jam when Hendrickson grounded a 3-2 pitch to Moore at first to retire the Driller Boys.
The Bulldogs threatened, leaving runners on second and third in the eighth off Ross, and again in the ninth as Kilgore loaded the bases before Causey brought in Chambers, who got Bullard for the third out on a well hit fly ball to Ritter in centerfield.
The Dawgs took the lead (3-2) in the top of the 10th as Crawford singled off Beets and scored from second base on Watson’s single to left field.
Again, Kilgore threatened in the bottom of the 10th inning, leaving Pierce on third and Hendrickson on second as Moore retired Brooks on a ground ball to first for the final out of the game.