Rusk teams start season
Lady Eagles slay giants, Eagles fall to Elks
BY LELAND ACKER STAFF WRITER

Eagle pitcher Chance Davis looks for another strikeout during Tuesday's game between the Rusk Eagles and Elkhart Elks. Davis pitched five innings without a hit before being relieved. Rusk lost to Elkhart 4-3. The Eagles open district play at home against Diboll on March 6. PHOTO: LYNN LITTLEJOHN

The Rusk Lady Eagles are off to a quick start to the 2007 softball season. The Lady Eagles have compiled a 6-2 record, defeating several 4A teams and even one 5A team.

Tuesday, the Lady Eagles defeated Westwood 10-0 in 10 innings. Hillary Hugghins was three for three at the plate, hitting a double while Cammi Curtis batted two for three, and batting one run in.

Jerri Hill was the lead scorer with two runs and four RBI's. She was two for three at the plate. Kristen Joyner was three for four with two RBI's. The Lady Eagles had a total of 14 hits.

Freshman pitcher Callie Collins pitched a one-hitter. There were no walks and she struck out 10 batters. Collins has 64 strikeouts this season.

The Lady Eagles came up with a big win over Fairfield on Feb. 13. The team won by virtue of the 10-run rule in the sixth inning, beating Fairfield 11-1.

Other big wins for Rusk include beating Nacogdoches 9-4, defeating Kilgore 13-0, Corsicana 4-3 and Lufkin 6-1. The two losses have been to Livingston by a score of 6-1 and Sherman 6-4. The Lady Eagles won third in the Hudson tournament with a 4-2 record.

The Lady Eagles will play in the Tyler tournament this weekend before returning home to open district play against Diboll on Tuesday, March 6. The JV will play at 4:30 p.m. while the varsity will play at 6:30 p.m.

The Rusk Eagles had a strong, but disappointing game against the Elkhart Elks Tuesday. Despite a tough defensive game, the Eagles lost 4-3.

"Adam Hicks and J.D. Beard played stellar defense, as did the rest of the Eagles," said Head Coach George Banda.

The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Kyle Garner hit a triple, batting in one run before scoring on the next play.

Elkhart responded by scoring four runs in the top of the 7th. Rusk scored once more in the bottom of the 7th, but still fell short 4-3.

The Eagles play in the Center tournament this week before hosting Diboll on March 6 to begin district play. JV games begin at 4:30 p.m. with the varsity set to take the field at 7 p.m.