...And a few teams will play on

HE'S OUT, BUT... — East Texas right fielder Mike Petello (above) struck out looking Wednesday night against Coppell, but he and the Pump Jacks ultimately got the win in a pitchers' duel, 2-1. The Pump Jacks are 12-6 on the season. As the state all-star baseball tournaments begin, three Kilgore teams are still going to be playing, one more has been eliminated, and two have yet to even begin.

A pair of teams — coach Joey Pippen's T-ball all-star team and coach Shannon "Bubba" Keel's 7-and-8 year-old National League all-stars — will both begin their respective state tournaments on Saturday, both in Carthage. Another team, the 15-19 year-old team representing Kilgore in the Dixie Majors tournament in Marshall this week, has already qualified for the state tournament in Paris, but has at least one more game to play, and that was to be played Thursday night after press time for this edition of the News Herald. And two older teams, a 13-year-old team and a 15-16 year-old team, both begin their tournaments the following week.

The 9-and-10 year-old American League All-Stars, playing in a C-bracket tiebreaking tournament in Henderson, were finally eliminated with a loss Wednesday night to Nacogdoches. The Kilgore team lost, 10-0.

Members of the team were Jonathan Melcher, Jordan McDonald, Austin W. Miller, Jacob Renfro, Austin Adams,

See ALL-STARS, Page 7A McKinnon White, Patrick Jackson Jr., Dillon Richardson, A.J. Hendrix, Braden Grush and Will Shawn, and coached by Jeff Tubbs, Thomas Wilkerson, and Patrick Jackson.

The 15-19 year-old team had Wednesday night off, and was to face Marshall on Thursday to determine the tournament champion. Kilgore's team would have to beat Marshall twice: Marshall was going into the game undefeated.

The team is coached by Donny Heimer, Louis Kelly and Tim Boaze, and members of the team include several players from the Kilgore High School roster, including some recently graduated players. The roster is Nathan Mendenhall, Blake Elliott, Will Mixon, Timothy Boaze, Javarri Kelly, Xavian Sanders, Danny Sharpe, Nick Sullivan, Nick Gaut, Brandon Terry, Ryan Heimer, Andrew Ector and Trace DeBerry.

Pippen's T-ball team played its district tournament right here in Kilgore, and went undefeated in the tournament to clinch the spot in the state competition (T-ball goes no higher, so this will be the final action for the Kilgore T-ball allstars, no matter how it works out). They will play at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon against Arp. The tournament is doubleelimination.

Members of Kilgore's T-ball all-star team this year are A.J. Smith, Zach Porter, Thomas Hattaway, Jack Bolding, Dalton McElyea, Kaylon Ray, Kyle Wheeler, Dalton Chanler, Cannon Copeland, Spencer Thompson, Cade Pippen and Donavan Adkins. They're coached by Joey Pippen, Kevin Tinney, Brian Porter, and Jeff Wheeler.

Keel's 7-and-8 year-old Nationals have to feel like there's nothing they can't overcome after what they did in the district tournament in Palestine. The National all-stars lost their first game, then won five straight and claimed the championship. Along the way, they came back from some incredible deficits, including 9-1 in the tournament championship to win, 10-9.

The 7-and-8 year-old Nationals will play Hallsville at 9 a.m. Saturday in Carthage, and this year's 7-and-8 year-old National all-star team is Austin Hail, Payton Fyffe, Gus Witt, Garrett Davis, Jackson Walker, Chris Laroux, Thomas Gallant, Jayce McFarland, Colby Powe, Kaylon Jackson, Cameron Keel and Garrett Brown. They're coached by Keel, Dickie McFarland, Jeff Davis and Tony Witt.

Kilgore will host the 13-year-old Dixie Junior Boys State Tournament on July 11-16 at Driller Park, and will enter a team in the tournament. Playing for Kilgore in that event will be Corbin Fincher, Samuel Toon, Clay White, Austin Bullard, Kyle Callens, Austin Clark, Nolan Grush, Weston Johnson, Benny Colbert, Preston Morris, Jake Brantley, Tyler Jones and A.J. Davis. They will be coached by Scott Clark, Gilbert Lopez and Dean Fincher.

Playing in the Dixie Pre-Majors State Tournament in Paris July 11-16 will be a Kilgore team coached by Brad Brown, Joey Lusk and Mark Dickey. Kilgore has a bye, though, and won't play until Sunday, July 12. Members of the team are Cameron Brown, Breon Ector, Jared Lusk, Matthew Dickey, Riley Toler, Ryan Dixon, Colton Slayter, Jerrick Massenburg, Mason Nestleroad, Deontre Williams, and Brandon Lee.