Kilgore rallies to beat Bullard
Host Oil Belt Classic this weekend
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

SLIDE! - Kilgore High School right fielder Chase Evans (6) slides into home, as Bullard catcher Ryan Clark above) anticipates making the catch. Evans scored, and the Bulldogs went on to win, 5-4.

For just a brief moment in an icy, wind-chilled Driller Park on Tuesday night, Kilgore High School head baseball coach Jeff Blackstone had to be thinking, "Oh, gosh - here we go again."

Twice over the weekend in the Rose City Classic, the Bulldogs went up by more than a few runs only to see their opponents come back and win those games (against Shreveport Byrd and Haughton, La.). On Tuesday night against Bullard, the same thing happened: Kilgore went up 3-0, then 4-1, only to see the Panthers rally and tie the game.

This time, though, thanks to some late heroics, there was a different result.

Kilgore got a pair of seventhinning clutch hits from shortstop Steven McBryde and reliever Danny Sharpe and broke that 4-all tie, getting a 5-4 win over the Panthers. With the victory, the Bulldogs move to 4-2 overall this season, and enter their Oil Belt Tournament this week on a two-game winning streak.

The tournament begins tomorrow morning (see the schedule on this page) with Bullard and Sulphur Springs meeting at 9 a.m. here at Driller. Kilgore won't take the field until 7 p.m., facing Lindale.

The tournament continues throughout the weekend, until the championship game Saturday evening.

Against Bullard Tuesday night, the Diamond 'Dogs jumped out to a good start.

Pitcher Ryan Heimer didn't allow a hit the first two innings, and got run support in the bottom of the second. With an out on the books, Sharpe reached on an error, and then right fielder Chase Evans reached on an error, as well, two batters later. A big single by left fielder Trevor Moon scored them both, and then Moon himself scored on a single, the second of the game, by Andrew Ector. Kilgore left the inning with a 3-1 advantage.

Bullard picked up a run in the top of the third when Ryan Clark drew a bases-loaded walk. Kilgore got that run back in the bottom of the inning when McBryde scored on a single by Xavian Sanders.

Bullard's Cameron Agnew got the Panthers a little closer with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning, and then had 2 more RBI in the fifth on a 2- RBI single that tied the game at 4.

It would remain that way, in spite of good pitching by Kilgore's Trace DeBerry and Sharpe, as well as Bullard's Steven Langston, until the seventh inning. Sharpe pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, then struck out the side in the seventh.

In the Bulldogs' bottom of the seventh, McBryde led off with a single, and then with two outs, Sharpe singled to score McBryde and start the Kilgore celebration.

For KHS in the game, Heimer pitched three innings against the Panthers. He allowed one run on one hit, struck out four and walked three. He totaled 66 pitches. DeBerry pitched two innings, allowed six hits, three runs and threw 44 pitches. He struck out three. Sharpe pitched the final two innings. He allowed no runs, struck out five, and threw 36 pitches.

Ector had two singles. Moon had the 2-RBI single. Sanders had the RBI single in the third. DeBerry had a single, and McBryde had a bunt single, as well as that seventh-inning big hit.