WAKE UP! on ETBLITZ! | Updates on Overton baseball; congrats to White Oak signees
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s Friday’s edition of Wake Up! on ETBlitz. We’ve got Overton baseball below; we have signing day at White Oak High; a link to our camp hangout, where we feature upcoming youth sports camp information; how the Texas Rangers-Houston Astros Thursday matchup came out; oh, and good music to top it off. All of this is brought to you by Cozy Coffee Station, the best place to get coffee, tea, milkshakes, and all sorts of good things in both Kilgore (at 110 Midtown Plaza) and Gilmer (755 Highway 271 North). Check out their elaborate menu right here (Home | Cozy Coffee Station) and be prepared to be amazed.
High school baseball playoff update
Well, that means only one thing: the UIL Class 2A, Division II playoff series between Overton and Gary.
We had the unfortunate responsibility last night of informing you guys that Overton had lost game one, 2-1, of the best-of-three (GARY SLIPS BY OVERTON | Mustangs need to win game two to force a third-and-deciding game three). The series is being played in Hallsville.
In order for the Mustangs to take this series, they have to win game two, force a game three, and then win that, as well. It’s doable, for a team that had won a dozen straight prior to Thursday night.
Game two: Friday night at 5 in Hallsville, and game three to follow, if Overton can get that win.
Camps, camps and more camps
We started a post on the site on Thursday that’s sole purpose is to inform you guys of youth sports camps all over our coverage area – that’s Kilgore (including the Kilgore College camps) Henderson, Gilmer, Arp, Troup, Tatum, West Rusk/New London, Gladewater, Sabine/Liberty City, White Oak, and the Overton / Leverett’s Chapel / Laird Hill area.
Even doing the best we could, we still had a couple that we didn’t know about. We’ve added them to the list here (CAMP CENTRAL | Here are youth sports camps across the ETBlitz area (Updated May 15)), and we’ll keep this camp list going all summer as a service to you, pulling camps off as they expire.
Congratulations to White Oak’s signees!
Even when we try to be everywhere, sometimes we fail at it. That’s the truth about sports coverage. But we do have some White Oak High School seniors that need recognition, and here they are.
White Oak seniors (in alphabetical order) Bella Baker, Aley Dixon, Jackson Jowell, Jaidyn Marshall, Dillon Sanchez, Carlee Smale, and Lizzy Still all signed letters of intent on Wednesday.
Three of them – Baker, Still and Dixon – have the same destination: Centenary College in Shreveport, La. All will begin their college pathway: Baker will play basketball for Centenary; Still, who counts pole vaulting as one of her athletic pursuits, will be in the track and field program; and Dixon will play volleyball.
Marshall is heading to Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas; Sanchez will be a student and an athlete, playing football at Oklahoma Panhandle State (Goodwell, Oklahoma); Smale will enroll at Sam Houston State University, and be a part of their cheer team; and Jowell will be a part of the track program at East Texas Baptist University, in nearby Marshall.
Rangers top Astros, 1-0
The Texas Rangers didn’t get a walk-off win, but they won by the slimmest of margins – 1-0 – over the visiting Houston Astros on Thursday.
The difference in the game: a solo home run by Jake Burger in the sixth inning. Oh, and great pitching by Jacob deGrom, who is living up to that reputation he had when he was brought in by Rangers’ management. deGrom pitched eight innings, winning his fourth straight start. He allowed five hits, no runs, obviously, walked one, and struck out seven.
Adolis Garcia went 1-of-3 for the Rangers, and Burger went 2-of-3.
Hunter Brown took the loss for the Astros. Brown also went eight innings, giving up three hits. He struck out nine, and the one run, Burger’s homer, was earned.
Both the Rangers and Astros are in the American League West, chasing Seattle for the lead.
The win was the sixth straight for Texas (24-21), and they’ve won seven of their last 10. They’re only a half-game behind the Mariners in the AL West. Houston is 22-21 after the loss, and the Astros are 5-5 in the last 10 games. They’re a game-and-a-half behind Seattle.
They’ll meet again Friday night at Globe Life Field at 7:05 p.m.; they’ll play Saturday and Sunday, as well.
Friday’s soundtrack
Driving around the last few days, heard some songs I haven’t heard in a while (both are from the ’70s, and I was just a pure kid), and now they’re stuck in my head – one came from sitting by a car at a traffic light. It was this one, from 1979:
And this next one, from 1975, just because I want to:
Y’all have a good Friday.