Pump Jacks open Driller with first-ever win
Beat McKinney 6-5 in 11; will be back in action at Driller tonight
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.

MAKING HISTORY - The East Texas Pump Jacks, a Texas Collegiate League franchise, played their third game of the season (the first ever at Driller Park) on Thursday night, capturing a 6-5 win over the McKinney Marshals in 11 innings. Left: Pump Jacks pitcher Chad Sherman of Bullard hurls a pitch to the plate, as McKinney's Mike Walker (20) awaits. Above: former Kilgore High School standout and current University of Texas player Pat McCrory (4) makes a catch during warm-ups. McCrory made some nice defensive plays at third base, and got an outstanding ovation from his hometown crowd.

It had the atmosphere of a double-A minor-league game: great baseball, an exciting extrainnings finish, and a big crowd there to witness it all.

The East Texas Pump Jacks played their third game of the season, but their first-ever game at Driller Park, on Thursday night, picking up a 6-5 win over the McKinney Marshals in the bottom of the 11th inning.

The 'Jacks (1-2 overall) will face McKinney again tonight, another 7:05 p.m. start, and there will be a fireworks following the game.

Photos by Lester Murray

The event, a Texas Collegiate League honest-to-goodness wooden bat game featuring college amateur players, was surrounded by plenty of pageantry. Members of the Kilgore city council, Gregg and Rusk County Commissioners, the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce and a representative from the East Texas Treatment Center threw out ceremonial pitches prior to the game, and then the starting lineups were announced in the traditional way, with the players lining up on the third-base and first-base lines.

Just inside the park gates, the Pump Jacks were selling T-shirts and caps with the franchise's logos, and a moonwalk - a kids' inflatable jumping toy - was set up behind the ticket booth. Lines of customers were keeping the concession workers busy, and a clown was there playing with children, as were the team mascots, Boomer the donkey and Derrick the dinosaur.

Interactive games with the crowd were played between innings, and on-the-field games - dizzy bat races, water-gun battles and children racing around the bases - were played, as well. There was even singing of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" in the seventh-inning stretch.

Photo by Lester Murray EEEEE-AWWWW - "Boomer" the Donkey, one of the two mascots of the East Texas Pump Jacks, played with fans between innings Thursday night in the Pump Jacks' first home game at Driller Park. East Texas beat McKinney, 6-5, in extra innings.

Adding to the excitement was the late addition to the Pump Jacks of former Kilgore High School standout Pat McCrory, an all-stater and current member of the University of Texas Longhorns baseball program.

"I thought it went very well," Pump Jacks General Manager Mike Lieberman said, during the contest. "There weren't a lot of hitches, and the hitches we did have, most people wouldn't have noticed."

The crowd definitely got its money's worth of good baseball. The game began right at the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start-time, and didn't conclude until Nate Bryan got a single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th that scored shortstop Austin Roff, breaking the 5-all tie and giving the Pump Jacks their first-ever win. That came right at 11:15 p.m.

Roff, a Seward College player from Colorado, and right fielder Adam de la Garza, a Red Oak native and New Mexico Junior College player, each drew walks to reach, and J.D. Dunn, who had a triple earlier in the contest, flew out, setting the stage for Bryan's dramatic hit. It was late, but the crowd jumped to their feet when Bryan singled to center field, the game-winner.

It was an estimated first-homegame crowd of 1,009.

Aaron Wilkerson of Waco, a Panola College pitcher, threw four innings of relief, striking out four and not allowing a hit. Wilkerson picked up the win. Another Panola player, Chad Sherman of Bullard, started the game and threw the first five innings. Also pitching in the contest was Carthage native and Weatherford College player Khris Tate.

Sherman didn't have a bad outing. He walked three, and struck out seven over the five innings. The 'Jacks were a bit rocked and the crowd taken aback early in the game with a grand slam by McKinney's Del Howell, the Marshals' designated hitter. That gave McKinney a 4-0 lead.

But the Pump Jacks chipped away.

The 'Jacks loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning. Catcher Andrew Nettune, the Pump Jacks' first signee, drew a walk, and after Daniel Nottebart grounded out, Roff was hit by a pitch. McKinney reliever Hunter Hill hit de la Garza with a pitch, as well, to load the bases.

Dunn grounded into a fielder's choice, which scored Nettune, and then Hill was called for a balk, bringing home Roff, scoring the second run of the game for the 'Jacks and bringing them within two, 4-2.

The Marshals managed to get out of that inning without further damage, and then Tate got a big ovation when he struck out Myrio Richard to end the Marshals' bases-loaded threat of their own in the top of the sixth. Tate pitched two innings, allowing just one hit and a run, walking three and recording two strikeouts.

The Pump Jacks would tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Designated hitter Paige Hodges of Crowley, La. (and Mississippi College) and Sulphur Springs native Josh Riley, a Howard College player, put together back-to-back singles to start the inning, and then Hodges scored on a sacrifice grounder hit by McCrory, who got a loud ovation every time he stepped to the plate.

Riley would score on a wild pitch during an at bat by Nettune. That tied the game. But Hill struck out Nettune and Nottebart to end the threat, and leave the contest tied.

Brian Taylor walked for McKinney to begin the seventh and would score on a wild pitch, putting the Marshals again in front, 5-4. But the 'Jacks would tie it again in the bottom of the inning.

Once again, as well, de la Garza was involved. He managed a one-out walk, then stole second base. He scored on a fly ball that became a McKinney error, and tied the game. It remained tied, of course, until Roff scored in the 11th.

Hodges became the answer to a trivia question when he hit a double to lead off the second inning for East Texas - that was the first hit for the Pump Jacks at Driller Park. Hodges had a pair of hits and Dunn, who showed great speed in legging out that triple in the bottom of the ninth that brought the crowd to its feet. Bryan was walked intentionally, and then Hodges hit into a double play to send the game into extra innings.

Expected to start on the mound tonight for the Pump Jacks is former White Oak standout Scott Copeland, a Southern Miss signee.

Tickets of all kinds are still available for tonight's game. Single-game tickets start at $5 each - or $4 for children and seniors - for grandstand general admission tickets. Upper box seats are $8 each, and lower box seats, which feature in-your-seat wait service, are only $10 each.