HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

File photo by Kathy Bowden HE'S IN THERE - Kilgore senior Kyle Shipp slides in safely home. Shipp and the Bulldogs (23-5) will face Nederland (18-7) in Lufkin Thursday night in a onegame series in the Class 4A baseball playoffs. Warm-up games aren't normally thought of as "quality wins," but Kilgore's 5-4 win at Sulphur Springs Friday night, one where the Bulldogs won with a seventh-inning rally, might be the exception.

"Hey, they went 10-0 in their district," said Kilgore High School head baseball coach Tim Harkrider Saturday, of the Sulphur Springs squad that won District 12-4A. "They gave us a great game. We beat them twice last year, but they were both close. They're a good team. That's what we needed, really, as we're getting ready to start the playoffs."

That was indeed the final warm-up game for the Kilgore Bulldogs (23-5), which will begin the UIL Class 4A playoffs on Thursday. Kilgore will face Nederland (18-7) in a one-game area playoff Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Morris Frank Park in Lufkin. By virtue of their District 17-4A championship, Kilgore (ranked 10th in the latest Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll) was off in the bi-district, or first round. Nederland defeated Dayton, 6-0.

Harkrider said he was torn at first between agreeing to a best-of-three-game series with Nederland - something Nederland coach Cody Robbins wanted - or trying to have just a onegame playoff.

Harkrider eventually decided to try for just the one-game scenario, and won a flip of a coin to secure that. In fact, Harkrider won the flip for KHS to be the home team, as well. The only flip he lost was a flip over which day the playoff game would be played - he wanted Friday, simply for a crowd standpoint, and Nederland's coaches wanted Thursday. "I think it was kind of a superstition thing, maybe," Harkrider said, referring to Nederland's Thursday win over Dayton. Robbins won that flip.

It's little wonder Harkrider wanted a one-game series - the Bulldogs have been on a tear in recent weeks. They've won nine straight (their last lost was April 4 at Henderson), and have arguably hit the ball better since 17-4A play began than any time since Harkrider became coach two years ago.

Friday night at Sulphur Springs was no exception.

Kilgore got another home run from senior Eddie Jones, a solo homer that tied the contest at 2. Jones went 2-for-3 on the night. Casey Whitmer had a double for Kilgore, and the Bulldogs had a good at-bat in the top of the seventh inning that was the difference.

Courtesy runner Shea Calico was on second, running for Whitmer, when first baseman Kyle Shipp came to the plate. Shipp has been strong lately, and didn't disappoint - he ripped a hit to score Calico, breaking a 4-all tie and putting KHS up 5-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, though, Sulphur Springs rallied. With the tying run on first base and a 2-0 count on the batter, Harkrider pulled the trigger on a bit of a gamble. He put Daren Chappell, normally a shortstop who had only pitched one inning all season, on the mound.

Chappell came through, notching two bases-loaded strikeouts to win the game.

Harkrider breathed a sigh of relief - and might have found another warm body to pitch.

"(Chappell) pitched in the Tyler tournament (the Rose

City Classic) and threw probably just an inning or so," the coach said. "We've been working with him some. Boy, he got it done (Friday) night."

Whitmer, the Bulldogs' ace, started the contest on the mound, and Harkrider said he threw well, but had a difficult time finding the umpire's strike

zone. Austin Honeycutt pitched the sixth inning and a portion of the seventh, and picked up the win, Harkrider said, giving Chappell the save.

Other notables: catcher Jered Price went 0-for-4, but all four were line drive shots. "After the game, he told me, 'I'm back, I'm back,'" Harkrider said. "He hit the ball well."

Freshman Chris Dudley went 1-for-3, as well.

"It was a good win for us," the coach said. "That's definitely what we needed with the playoffs this week."