Jackets down Lovelady in 2 games
Alto Lady Jackets knock-off Mt. Enterprise

PHOTO: LELAND ACKER Alto slugger Jared Moore waits for a pitch during a recent Yellowjacket baseball game. Moore hit three-for-three in game one of the area championship series against Lovelady. Alto begins another three-game series against West Sabine at 7 p.m. Friday at Pollock Central.

Alto's bats fired up in the second inning to give the Jackets a huge 8-0 advantage en route to an 11-1 victory over Lovelady in five innings at Morris Frank Park in Lufkin Friday. Alto's run was capped off by a three-run homer by freshman Rhett Gresham.

Alto's second inning run began when Clayton Scott hit a single, followed by Michael Parker's walk and a single by Lance Low which batted in Scott and Parker. Jared Moore, who went three-for-three on the evening with a walk, knocked in Low before being batted in by Tarlandus Mitchell. Clint Dover was walked and batted in by Gresham's home run. Mitchell was the winning pitcher, hurling a no-hitter while striking out 11 Lovelady batters.

Alto won game two 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh inning as Parker batted in Scott for the winning run. The game was a seesaw battle with no team being able to pull away. The Jacket baseball team will face West Sabine in a best-of-three series in the regional quarterfinal. Game one will be at 7 p.m. Friday at Pollock Central High School. Game two will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the same location.

The Alto Lady Jackets continued their run through the Class A softball playoffs Tuesday by knocking off district rival Mt. Enterprise 8-1 at Lady Eagle Field in Rusk. Alto's bats fired up with 11 hits while the defense held Mt. Enterprise to one run and two hits. Alto pitcher Heaven Liles hurled nine strike outs while infielders La Quendal Tyler, Katina Sturns and Lexi Sessions backed up the pitching with solid infield play. Tyler and Teoshua Badgett opened up the scoring for the Lady Jackets after getting on base with a walk and an error. They also scored again in the second inning, giving Alto a 4-0 lead.

Tyler led the hitting, going three-for-three from the plate, plus got on base twice on walks. She hit one double and scored four runs. Liles batted three-for-four on the evening, hitting a double. Jana Dominy was Liles' courtesy runner who scored a run in the fourth inning. Mt. Enterprise's lone run of the game came in the fourth inning.

Holley Huddleston went onefor three with a walk and run scored. Other batters for Alto were: Badgett (zero-for-two with two runs scored), Sessions (two-for-three), Abbey Scott (one-for-four) and Lacey Huddleston (one-for-four).

Alto will face Detroit in game two of a three-game series at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Mineola.