Doing poorly in your own tournament is a worry for any team, but that was not something the Diboll Junior Varsity Lumberjacks were even considering last week.
Coming out strong against several powerful teams including Lufkin's Purple and Gold JV squads is not an easy task, but one the Lumberjacks took on nevertheless.
The ‘Jack JV came out fighting in the tournament they hosted last week with a quick defeat of Coldsprings of 10-0 followed on Thursday followed by a close game with Lufkin Purple whom they beat 5-4. Saturday would prove a bit tougher for the Lumberjacks as they went up against the powerful Lufkin Gold team. In an extra eighth inning against Lufkin for the championship the ‘Jacks fell short but only after a hard fought game and week.
Against Coldsprings the Lumberjacks were led by Sergio Peña on the mound who mounted an astonishing 10-0 no hitter giving up only one walk with two strikeouts.
At the plate Cody Stifle led the ‘Jack charge with three singles, two stolen bases and three runs scored. Blake Bell posted a single, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Peña put up a single. Ryan Raspberry had one run scored. Jonathan Fuentes had two singles and one run scored on the night. William Tudman and Caleb Standford each had one run scored along with Justin Neyland who also had a stolen base.
The following day the ‘Jacks once again hit the field this time against the Lufkin Purple squad. The Lumberjacks had their hands full with the Panthers as they fought in a tight contest on Friday.
Alek Gaard held the mound keeping the Panthers off balance with four strikeouts while allowing four runs, three hits and two walks. Gaard kept Lufkin at bay allowing for his team to squeeze in the extra run to seal the deal with a 5-4 win.
On the other side of the plate Stifle and Bell each had one stolen base; Peña posted a run; Raspberry put up two runs; Fuentes had a single and a run; Trey Loche put up a single and a run and Neyland put up one stolen base.
Saturday would be the final day of the tournament and had the Lumberjacks facing a very powerful Lufkin Gold squad. Both teams came out onto the field with a taste of the championship, but neither would relinquish the win without a fight. After the first inning the score was tied 1-1. Lufkin came to the lead after three innings with a score of 6-4. Neither team could muster a run until the fifth when Lufkin kept up their pace to put the game at 7-5. Diboll finally came around to take the lead at the bottom of the sixth with three runs to put the game at 8-7, but the Panthers added one more run to send the game into the extra innings at the top of the seventh.
Diboll could do nothing to stop the Panthers as they put in the final two runs of the game at the top of the eighth and claimed the championship. Ismael Enriquez pitched two innings for Diboll giving up five runs on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Fuenetes took the mound following him and pitched six innings allowing five runs on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
On the offensive side Stifle had a double, a single and two runs scored; Bell had three singles, a sacrifice bunt, 1 RBI and scored two runs; Peña put up two RBI and a sacrifice bunt; Fuentes had two singles and scored one run; Loche had a stolen base; Chris Hensley posted one RBI, one single and one run scored; Standford had a single and scored one run; Gaard had a single and scored one run and Hever Arambula had one RBI.
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