'Dogs finish Rose City with win over Greenville
Kilgore hosts Bullard today; Oil Belt tourney begins Thursday
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

The Rose City Classic is in the Kilgore High School baseball team's rear-view mirror, and with it, a wild tournament that saw both the good and bad of the pre-district schedule.

On Thursday, after the weather forced the Bulldogs' games in the tournament to be moved here to Driller Park, Kilgore won its first game, beating Rockwall, but lost to Haughton, La., in the nightcap. The Diamond 'Dogs lost to Shreveport Byrd, 10-8, on Friday night, but then had a 10-3 win over Greenville Saturday.

The Bulldogs (3-2 overall) will host Bullard tonight at Driller, a 5 p.m. start. The game was supposed to begin at 6 p.m., but was moved up an hour this morning, coach Jeff Blackstone said. The KHS junior varsity plays at Bullard at 4.

This weekend, of course, is the annual Oil Belt Tournament, and this year, the tournament is being played entirely at Driller Park. Bullard and Sulphur Springs will kick off the tournament on Thursday morning at 9 a.m., and there will be games all day, finishing up with Kilgore facing Lindale at 7 p.m. Thursday night.

See a complete OBT schedule in Wednesday's News Herald.

In the loss to Shreveport Byrd Friday night, it was the case of another big lead washed away for the Bulldogs. Kilgore led 6- 0, only to see Byrd rally.

"They're a good team," Blackstone said. "We had our chances to beat them. We're having problems putting people away."

Kilgore had an 8-1 lead before losing to Haughton the night before.

Danny Sharpe had two doubles for KHS against Byrd. Sharpe went 3-for-3, had a stolen base and had 2 RBI.

In the Bulldogs' 10-3 win over Greenville on Saturday night to close the Rose City Classic, Xavian Sanders went 2-for-3 with a triple. Chase Evans had a double, and went 1-for-2. And Trevor Moon went 2-for-2 with a double.

Brandon Terry, a sophomore, picked up the win for Kilgore. He pitched the entire six innings, and struck out five.