Kilgore teams at Whitehouse tonight
It's the District 12-4A opener for baseball; softball comes off loss at Marshall
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

HOW ABOUT A GAME? ANY GAME? - Kilgore's Trace DeBerry (above) delivers a pitch to the plate. DeBerry and the Bulldogs have been plagued by rain-outs, and haven't played an actual game since March 1. They'll do so tonight at WhiteSee house, and it's the District 12-4A opener for both teams.

It's all-go tonight for Kilgore High School's scheduled baseball and softball games at Whitehouse, in spite of the wet weather over the last couple of days.

KHS head baseball coach Jeff Blackstone's team hasn't taken the field in a game that counts since the Oil Belt Classic Tournament on March 1. Rain hasn't really allowed it.

Tonight, though, it's the District 12-4A opener for the Diamond 'Dogs, a 6 p.m. varsity-only night against the Wildcats.

Blackstone told the News Herald this morning that he had not spoken with the Whitehouse coach, but unless more rain came into the picture (it wasn't forecast to do so), he was certain the game would be played.

Kilgore is 6-4 this season in non-district competition. The Bulldogs saw games against Gladewater and in the North Lamar tournament canceled due to inclement weather. Their last outing was a 12-5 loss to Lindale in the Oil Belt tournament.

The Bulldogs will be on the road twice this week. After tonight's game at Whitehouse, the 'Dogs will visit Nacogdoches on Friday. They do come home to Driller on Tuesday, hosting Jacksonville.

Also, last night's junior varsity game that was to be played here at Driller Park was canceled due to the wet comditions. Kilgore is the host of the JV district tournament this weekend at Driller, Blackstone noted.

Coach Cassie Newell's softball Bulldogs will also make the trip to Whitehouse tonight. Newell said this morning, she spoke with Whitehouse's coach via e-mail and that the field would be in good shape by tonight, a 4:30 p.m. junior varsity start, with varsity to follow.

Kilgore is 4-10 overall this season, and tonight's 12-4A game will be their third district game of the season. So far, KHS is 0-2 in district games. The Lady 'Dogs lost Saturday, 9-1, in Marshall, a make-up game that had been scheduled for here Friday afternoon, but rain forced the move. Kilgore will get the rematch with Marshall here later this season.

In the loss, the Lady Bulldogs scored first, and then the wheels came off, so to speak.

In the top of the first inning, Kilgore came out swinging. Freshman Skye Wyatt and shortstop Summer WIlliams led off the inning with backto back walks, and then a single by Meagan Youngblood loaded the bases. Jalissa Baggett had a single that scored Wyatt. But that would be the only run of the game for KHS, who scored three errors, but were just out-hit, Newell said.

"They had some good hits," the coach said. "It was slippery, and we had a hard time getting to the ball on some of them. But a lot of them were hits, anyway."

Like the varsity baseball team, the softball team will be at Nacogdoches this Friday, too, a 5 p.m. varsity-only night (Nac has no JV). On Tuesday, Kilgore finally gets to play a home game, hosting Jacksonville. That will also be varsity-only, as Jacksonville doesn't have a JV, either.

See a wrapup of the night in Whitehouse in Wednesday's Kilgore News Herald sports section.