There are games that people might talk about for a few days. Then there are those that may be brought up a week or two later but then there are those like Weston’s 10-9, extra inning victory over Class 2A Many this past Thursday that will be remembered forever. Especially by Caleb Waters, who with two outs, drove a 2-1 fastball deep to left center…. All eyes went heavenward. Every Weston fan leaped to their feet. Going! Going! GONE! The old adage of the “Thrills of victory and the agony of defeat” could never be more characterized as the Wolves dugout broke out into pandemonium as they rushed the field to congratulate their hero while the Many players stood on the field dumbfounded at the turn of events.
Many had to feel like they would get to head back home early after taking an 8-0 lead after three and a half innings. After all, they had just three days before they “mercy ruled” Weston 12-1. You couldn’t have blamed Weston either if they had just played out the string, gave up one more run and packed it up to play another day. Instead what local fans and the Weston coaching staff learned was that this Weston team has no quit in them.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of the guys for continuing to fight and believe in themselves.” said WHS head man Jacob Otwell . “Our guys have a lot of character. They will fight with everything they have on every pitch and every inning, no matter what the scoreboard says. I am so happy for them to see their determination get rewarded this way.”
The Wolves earned the right to “walk-off” with thewin by scoring five in the bottom of the fourth, adding a run in the sixth and forcing extra innings with two in the bottom of the seventh. Three straight, one out, walks by Braden Theriot, Tayt Culpepper and spot starter, Blake Graham set up a Landon Roberts ground out RBI that got Weston finally on the books. Kade Shirley followed with a single, Bryce Zehr laced a double and after Waters walked and Davis Tolar reached on an error and suddenly the score was 8-5….Hello Houston, we have a GAME! Shirley singled and scored on a hit by Tolar in the sixth. Still down by two in their at bat of regulation, Tayt Culpepper doubled and scored on Roberts single, who moved to third after Shirley’s third hit of the game and a walk to Zehr. Water’s drove in Roberts with a ground out sending the game into “extras” setting the stage for his ninth inning heroics. Not to be forgotten was the 6 1/3 innings of work on the mound in relief by Cooper Delaney who didn’t allow an earned run. The victory snapped a three game skid and improved the Wolves top 5-4 while Many fell to 12-8.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Many (12-8) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| Weston (5-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 3 |
WP – Delaney, LP – Evans
2B – Delaney, Zehr, Culpepper
HR – Waters
RBI – Waters 3, Roberts 2, Zehr, Shirley, Tolar
SB – Theriot 2, Tolar, Culpepper
D’Arbonne Woods sweeps series from Tigers
It has been a season of streaks to date for JHHS. First they lost two, followed by three straight wins and now four straight losses after D’Arbonne Woods blasted the Tigers three times in a row 16-1, 22-6 and 15-0 over two days in the district 1-2A opener for both teams. Errors and and walks led to the thrashing administrated by DWC in game one and three as the Tigers committed 12 boots and gave up 19 free passes that led to the combined 31 runs allowed. J-H took a 1-0 lead in game one when Allen Tew reached first after striking out on a pitch that eluded the catcher and went to second when Drew Davis got plunked. Chandler Harvey sacrificed Tew to third who came home on a beautiful bunt by Logan Smith. In the final contest JHHS managed just one hit which was a double by Xavier Atkins, who also stole a base, while DWC scored three in four straight innings to take the easy win. There were no results listed for the 22-6 game. The three losses continued the streak of being “ten run” ruled in all six setbacks this season.
| Game One | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
| JHHS (3-4, 0-1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| DWC (9-9, 1-0) | 7 | 0 | 4 | 5 | x | 16 | 9 | 1 |
WP – n/a, LP – Vines (1-2)
RBI – Smith
| Game 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E |
| DWC (11-9, 3-0) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 0 |
| JHHS (3-6, 0-3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
WP – n/a, LP – Malone
2B – Atkins
SB – Atkins
Quitman holds off Claiborne Christian rally attempt
The Wolverines almost “grabbed defeat out of the jaws of victory” but managed to hang on for the 5-4 victory after being up by five after five innings. It looked like it would be an easy win early on as the Wolverines got eight hits in the first three innings to take a 5-0 lead. Jordan Vail (2B) and Kyler West got two each and Luke Morgan, who reached base all four times, and Cam Hollis drew a walk and got a hit. Logan Ponder, Joshua Smith and Ian Tilley also got a hit. Then it was like the Wolverines entered the twi-light zone as strange things began to take place especially in the final inning.
“Just in the last inning alone I felt like we were going to win it three times and lose it four,” said a relieved Joe Lockhart who has led Quitman to a 12-5 record and wins in seven of their last eight gamers. “We made some uncharacteristic plays but give the guys credit they hung in there to get the win.”
Up by a 5-1 margin, the Wolverines gave up a walk, an error and a hit. The with two outs a ball was popped up between short and third that fell harmlessly to the ground as the two fielders collided with each other. The tying run was on third after a hit a batter and two more walks but Jordan Vail came in to coax a weak grounder to short and earn the save. Ian Tilley got the victory after allowing just three hits over five strong innings of work and helped his cause with two RBI. Vail led the offensive attack with three hits.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| QHS (12-5) | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 3 |
| CCHS (5-9) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
WP – Tilley, LP – n/a
2B – Vail
RBI – Tilley 2, West 2, Smith
SB – Morgan 2, Hollis, Ponder, Vail, West
Lady Wolves get offensive to win three of four
Maybe Weston just needed the temperature to warm up some. It may be getting warmer outside these days but it hasn’t been near as hot as the Lady Wolves who scored 60 runs in four games played over three straight days to win three of four and improve their record to 7-14 on the season. The offensive onslaught started with Weston whipping Simsboro 21-10 to secure first year head coach Kim Shows first ever district victory. This was followed by Mallory Tolar turning in her finest pitching performance of the year in a 19-2 victory over Union in the first game of the Quitman Tourney. Eleven errors led to a 17-6 setback to Hicks but Weston rebounded in fine style by outlasting Class 5A Byrd out of Shreveport 14-11 thanks to five RBI by Jacie Ledford in the contest that the two teams combined for 12 runs in the first inning.
The offensive starts were numerous with Macie Hall leading the way with eight hits, including two doubles over the four games while knocking in seven and scoring six. Emma Kate McBride stroked a double and a triple as part of her seven hits, scored eight, knocked in five and stole three bases. Mary Catherine Hay also stroked seven hits and hit two doubles, scored six and had three RBI. Audry Welch roped a pair of two baggers, scored eight and drove in six while Alaina Trosclair (2B, 4RS) and Jacie Ledford (2 2B, HR, 7 RS, 6 RBI and Mallory Tolar (3 2B, 6RBI, 6RS) got four hits each. Lexi Barmore got three hits comprising of a double, triple and a Home Run, scored eight times and knocked in seven. Taylor Chatham also got three hits and scored six runs while knocking in a pair. All in all the Lady Wolves tallied 46 hits, 14 doubles, two triples and home runs that led to 60 runs and 44 RBI. Ansley Aldy, Barmore and Tolar got pitching victories.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Weston (7-14) | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 16 | 4 |
| Byrd (3-15) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 2 |
WP – Aldy (1-2), LP – n/a
2B – Hall, Hay, Ledford, McBride, Tolar
3B – Barmore
HR – Ledford
RBI – Ledford 5, Barmore 2, Chatham 2, Tolar 2, McBride, Welch
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Hicks (11-7) | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 5 |
| Weston (6-14) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 11 |
WP – n/a, LP – Barmore (1-1)
2B – Hall, Welch
RBI – Hall, Hay, Tolar, Welch
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
| Weston (6-13) | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 11 | 1 |
| Union (4-7) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
WP – Tolar (2-2), LP – n/a
2B – Tolar 2, Barmore, Hay, Trosclair, Welch
3B – McBride
RBI – Welch 4, McBride 3, Barmore 2, Hall, Trosclair
SB – McBride
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | R | H | E | |
| Simsboro (9-8, 0-3) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 7 |
| Weston (5-13, 1-2) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 0 |
WP – Tolar (1-2), LP – n/a
2B – Ledford
HR – Barmore
RBI – Hall 5, Barmore 3, Hay 2, Irvin, Ledford, McBride
SB – McBride 2
Lady Wolverines goes undefeated in own tourney
Three Quitman pitchers allowed just eight hits and two runs in three games to lift the Lady Wolverines to their sixth win in the last seven games and Class B best 19th against just 6 losses which is good for a #5 ranking. The Tourney started with Cali Deal striking out 12 and giving up just three hits to Winnfield, who entered as the #8 team in Class 2A to improve her record to 9-4. In 75.2 innings Deal has now struck out 114 batters and has an ERA of 1.388. Skylar Hall had an RBI triple and scored a run to lead the offense. Madeline Vail chipped in with a hit and an RBI and Madison Chaplin stole 2 bases to take over the team, classification and state lead with 24. Summerfield, ranked #2 in Class C was no match as Quitman sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 12 in the first inning in the 16-0 whitewash. Maggie Guyotte had a pair of doubles, scored twice and knocked in three to lead the offense. Maddie Kaye Brymer and Deal also scored twice and had 3RBI, while Chaplin scored three runs. Brymer got the win by striking out six in three innings and not allowing but two hits and no runs. Madison Chaplin knocked in three and stole two more bases and Cali Deal had three hits, scored three runs and stole three bases to pave the way to the 11-1 victory over Class 5A Byrd. Skylar Hall also had three hits and Madeline Vail got a pair of hits, scored twice, stole 3 bases and had 2 RBI. As a team Quitman stole 14 baes as all nine starters swiped at least one base. Maggie Guyotte got the win with a three hitter to improve to 6-2 on the year.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | R | H | E | |
| Byrd (3-15) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Quitman (19-6) | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 2 |
WP – Guyotte (6-2), LP – n/a
2B – Deal
3B – Guyotte
RBI – Chaplin 2, Vail 2, Deal, Guyotte, Hall, Huckaby
SB – Deal 3, Vail 3, Chaplin 2, Brymer, Guyotte, Hall, Huckaby, Naron, Williams
| 1 | 2 | 3 | R | H | E | |
| Summerfield (11-10) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Quitman (18-6) | 12 | 4 | x | 16 | 6 | 0 |
WP – Brymer (3-0), LP – n/a
2B – Guyotte 2, Deal, Brymer
RBI – Brymer 3, Deal 3, Guyotte 3, Chaplin, Hall, Naron, Williams
SB – Deal 2, Naron, Bell, Brymer, Vail
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Quitman (17-6) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Winnfield (13-7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
WP – Deal (9-4), LP – n/a
3B – Hall
RBI – Hall, Vail
SB – Chaplin 2, Vail
Lady Tigers still searching for initial victory
It was hoped that #13 would be the lucky number but the search continues for Jonesboro-Hodge to find their first win of the year after the Lady Tigers fell 25-9 to Red River out of Coushatta. The good news is that they are playing better but sadly the results aren’t reflecting it yet. Kaylee Ethridge and Jessica Bradford scored two runs each and Kyla Hayes, Amber Melton, A’Brianna Paggett and Ja’Kaja Phillips reached base in both at bats.