DOGGONE DISTINCTION! | 'Dogs honored in all-district list

Mitch Lucas, Kilgore News Herald, Texas
·4 min read

Jun. 2—Kilgore High School baseball got news over the holiday weekend that four Bulldogs made first-team all-district in the 2021 District 16-4A All-District team, chosen by the district's coaches.

Kilgore's Chase Lewis (pitcher), Cade Pippen (infield), and Donovan Adkins and Chris Ervin (outfield) all were named first-team all-district.

Second-team all-district for coach Eugene Lafitte's Bulldogs: Heath LaFleur (pitcher), Jake Thompson, Hunter Pipak and Dalton McElyea (infield), and Thomas Hattaway (designated hitter). Bryce Long (outfield) and Kyle Wheeler (catcher) were named all-district honorable mention.

There were some Bulldogs that have been honored in the classroom, as well. Chase Borders was named first-team academic all-state. Wheeler, McElyea, and Pippen were named second-team academic all-state, and Pipak, Zach Porter and Long were all named academic all-state honorable mention.

Earning academic all-district honors for the Diamond 'Dogs: Borders, Porter, Wheeler, Pippen, McElyea, Pipak, and Long.

Kilgore, which was one round away from the state tournament in 2018, then did make the state tournament in 2019, saw its 2020 season end prematurely — as did everyone else last year — because of COVID-19. The Diamond Dogs, and the rest of the district, ran into a buzzsaw in Bullard pitcher Hagen Smith, who didn't lose a district game and is set to continue his career at the University of Arkansas next year — the Razorbacks are currently the top-ranked program in the nation and the top seed in the NCAA's baseball playoffs.

Smith was named overall most valuable player as part of 16-4A's all-district team. His teammate, Ryley Sharp, was named defensive MVP, and the Bullard coaching staff, which guided the Panthers to a district championship won coaching honors.

In other superlatives, Easton Ballard of Spring Hill was named pitcher of the year; Spring Hill's Brennan Ferguson was named newcomer of the year; and Lindale's Brandon Burckel was named offensive MVP.

Lewis pitched 32 1/3 innings for the Bulldogs this season, going 2-2. He allowed 21 runs on 28 hits, 14 earned runs, walked 14, and struck out 22. He had an ERA on the season of 3.031.

Pippen batted .392 on the season, had an on-base percentage of exactly .500, walked 17 times, scored 23 times, and in 79 at-bats, had 31 hits: 26 of them singles, five doubles.

Adkins had a .385 batting average, and a .525 on-base percentage. He finished with 30 hits in 78 at-bats: 19 singles, four doubles, four triples and three home runs. He had 15 RBI and scored 36 runs as Kilgore's lead-off hitter. He walked 20 times and only struck out nine times.

Ervin led the team in triples (five) and doubles (eight) had a .405 batting average, a .505 on-base percentage. He had 32 hits this season: 19 singles, eight doubles, and five triples. He had 23 RBI and scored 26 times. He struck out only 12 times and walked 11.

Joining Kilgore's players on the first-team all-district team: Bullard's Conner Carson, Derek Degrate, Bryce Jewell and Gage Wakefield; Spring Hill's Alex Brown, Marshall Lipsey, Colin Martin and Jax Stovall; Lindale's Triztin Smith, Bryce Everest, Kayden McClenny, and Dakota Cook; and Henderson's Cole Bradley.

Also second-team all-district, along with the KHS players mentioned earlier, are Bullard's Brandon Taylor and David Wilson; Spring Hill's Ethan Foster and Blake Barlow; Lindale's Cody Taylor, Aaron Wolfe, and Sam Peterson; Henderson's Quentin Moon and Grant Martin; Chapel Hill's Dillon Line and Dillon Tabb; and Cumberland Academy's Aaron Hanning.

Joining Kilgore's Long and Wheeler on the honorable mention distinction were Spring Hill's Jordan Hodges, Lindale's Caden Piccoli, Jackson Fugate, Luke Poe and Dylan Segroves; Bullard's Titus Ashton, and Chase Randall; Cumberland Academy's Jared Martinez, Ethan Mongtomery and Trevor Taylor; Henderson's Christian Brown and DeShawn Jackson; and Chapel Hill's Will Parker and Malcolm Passama.

The rest of the academic all-district team: Cumberland's John Loyd Paul, Lindale's Segroves, Burckel, Smith, Peterson, Cook, McClenny, Taylor, Jake Curbow, Miles Keith, Teylan Piccoli, Cayden Piccoli, Carson Plunkett, Ryan Betts, Judson Long and Gavin Taylor; Spring Hill's Alex Brown, Ferguson, Kelan McKay, Marshall Lipsey, Ballar, Whitten Bowles, Stovall, and Jay Hodges; Chapel Hill's Dillon Line; and Henderson's Moon, Bradley, Christian Brown, River Bogle, Aden Butler, J.J. Pickens, Tobaius Jackson, and Jacob Medford.