In a rare congruence of early season scheduling, the Alba-Golden Panthers, Mineola Yellowjackets and Quitman Bulldogs participated in the Lone Oak Baseball Tourney last week. It was the second year of competition for the new softball/baseball complex and the first baseball tournament at the site.

While the three teams did not all play the other (Mineola and Quitman did not draw to play against one another), the scheduling did set up an Alba-Golden vs. Quitman game on Thursday morning and an Alba-Golden vs. Mineola game on Friday morning. 

The Panthers and Bulldogs traded early season missteps in the Thursday opener. 

Alba-Golden benefitted from two free passes and an error to score three runs in the first. A 2-RBI single by Tucker Samples provided the offense.   

In the bottom half, Quitman chalked up two runs on six free passes and a balk. 

The Panthers added a run in the second with base hits from Luke Jones and Mason Smith. Quitman crossed the plate thrice in the bottom half with the help of two Alba-Golden fielding errors.

Then the game settled out. The middle innings passed with no scoring, although the Panthers had six baserunners and the Bulldogs seven.

Down by one run, and with the tourney game timer running out, Alba-Golden needed to score in the sixth. 

Jones led off by beating out a bunt for a base hit. Boogie Trimble drew a walk and Smith cracked a first-pitch single to left field, scoring Jones. Two hitters later Samples drove home Trimble with a Texas Leaguer. 

Quitman ended the rally by trapping Smith in a rundown between third and home and doubled Ayden Blalock off of third in the same sequence. The two outs came as a result of an Alba-Golden squeeze play gone awry.

The Panthers closed out Quitman in the bottom half with two excellent defensive plays. The first out of the inning was courtesy of a great catch in short right by second baseman Jones. The Panthers closed the game with a classic 4-6-3 double play. Alba-Golden prevailed 6-5.

Friday’s 8 a.m. game was a cold but entertaining contest between Alba-Golden and Mineola. It was Mineola’s turn to be bit by the early-season error bug. The Yellowjackets committed five traditional errors and at least one mental error. The Panthers led 3-0 going into the bottom of the third.

The Jackets then staged an offensive explosion. Mineola exploited a defensive fault of the Panthers fielding scheme by putting four baserunners on with exceptionally well-placed bunts along the third baseline.         

Then the Yellowjackets warmed up the bats. Triples by Matthew Ballew and Calem Redding drove in three runs. Mineola added runs from two RBI bunts and an Alba-Golden error.  When the dust settled, Mineola led 7-3.  

It is not known what Coach Drew Webster said to his team at the break between innings, but the Panthers came back and answered Mineola’s rally with seven runs of their own. 

Cooper Christian opened with a first-pitch line-drive single to left. Cason Boyd followed with a ball that found the 5-6 gap. After a walk loaded the bases, a double by Trimble chased two runs home. Another run came in on a fielder’s choice, and Samples batted two more in with a triple to the right-center field gap.  

The Panthers added one run in the top of the sixth and set the Jackets down in order to end the game. 

Easton Sample had the defensive play of the game by handling a hot short-hopping drive at third base off the bat of Ballew. Sample made the stab and continued his momentum turning a 360 before firing the ball to first base. One out later, Alba-Golden had a 10-8 victory.