HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Photo by Mitch Lucas AWARD-WINNERS - Kilgore High School's baseball team was honored Tuesday night at KHS cafeteria with a banquet by the team's booster club. The team presents awards at the end of each season. This year's award-winners (from left) were overall most valuable player Casey Whitmer; offensive player of the year Jaron Shepherd; defensive player of the year Jered Price; and Mr. 300 Percent award winner Eddie Jones. + The Kilgore High School baseball team, its booster club and parents would have gathered at the school's cafeteria Tuesday evening for a celebration of the Bulldogs' 2006 season.

It was quite an emotional night, with all nine seniors - and Luke Lollie, a former teammate who would have graduated this year - being honored, and parents, friends and family thanked.

Head coach Tim Harkrider talked about memorable moments over the course of the season, from senior Paul Springer anticipating the pitches thrown by Todd Nault to watching Kyle Shipp go from a hitting slump to a hitting monster in the district schedule.

"It was a great year," said Harkrider, who finished his second season with the program.

Harkrider presented four players with team awards:

 Pitcher Casey Whitmer was named the squad's overall most valuable player.

 Center fielder Jaron Shepherd was designated offensive player of the year.

 Catcher Jered Price won defensive player of the year.

 Harkrider's "Mr. 300 Percent" Award went to Eddie Jones.

Jones and Whitmer are two of the team's nine seniors. The others: Mikel Wheeler, Shay Calico, Chase Patterson, Shipp, Brian Hendrix, Springer, and Kurt Rossum.

Prior to the presentation of the awards, guests were entertained by a slide show put together by KHS instructor and News Herald sports photographer Kathy Bowden, and a powerpoint presentation compiled by Shipp honoring the seniors with current and some not-so-current but very amusing photographs.

Booster club president Pat Nault welcomed everyone, and Shipp offered the invocation. Following the meal, Nault thanked everyone who helped make the program go in 2006, including everyone who helped in the concession stand along the way (particularly coordinators Donna Whitmer and Nikki Patterson), booster club officers Danny Patterson, Vickie Shipp, Sandra Price, and E'beth Chappell, and then introduced assistant coach Ronnie Lee Garvin, the head junior varsity coach, who congratulated his JV team on a 12-5-1 season.

Harkrider followed Garvin, and thanked Garvin, as well as assistant coach Ronnie Hendrix (who got to coach younger brother Brian) and Gary "Doc" Sweek for their help over the course of the season. Harkrider thanked his wife, the program's trainer Red

Ganus, groundskeepers at Driller Park, and parents for helping make the season a success.

He introduced every member of the varsity team, and reviewed the season.

He mentioned the team's final record (23-6), its District 17-4A record (13-1 - the Bulldogs won their third straight district title), and noted that the squad won district games with five different pitchers. He commended his team for going 15-2 after losing to Brook Hill in the final game of the Athens tournament, and the seniors for helping the Bulldogs go 50-13 the last two seasons.

The coach then re-introduced members of the Bulldogs who were designated all-district - Whitmer, the overall MVP; Shepherd, the offensive MVP; first-teamer Eddie Jones; second-teamers Nault, Shipp, Price, Chappell and Calico, and honorable mentions Patterson and Steven McBryde.

Seniors were allowed to say a few words of encouragement to younger classmen, and presented Harkrider with a few gifts.

The banquet finished with a poem dedicated to the seniors written by Carla Nault; a big thanks to Vickie Shipp for her dedication over the course of the season; and with the powerpoint presentation for the seniors.