Local Sports

By MATT LOVING
Staff Writer

KILGORE — As long as Zach Neal was in the game, the East Texas Pump Jacks offered little resistance.

But the moment Coppell reliever Charlie Aceto took the mound, the previously silent Pump Jacks’ bats came alive to make for an interesting 4-3 loss on Tuesday at Driller Park.

Neal (1-0), a right-hander from Sam Houston State, controlled the Pump Jacks lineup in seven shutout innings, allowing five hits with six strikeouts.

Once Neal departed, East Texas rallied for three runs off the Coppell bullpen in the eighth to cut the deficit to 4-3. Josh Riley’s two-out, three-run double into the left-center field gap off the Copperheads’ second reliever of the inning, Steve Horlacher, pulled the Pump Jacks within one run.

“I went to school with (Horlacher) and I was sitting on a pitch,” said Riley, who was 4-for-4 with two doubles. “I was going to take a strike until I got it, but I got it.”

East Texas put the potential game-winning run on base in the ninth inning, but Coppell’s Jaron Shepherd made a diving catch in shallow center field on a looping line drive off the bat of Matt Curry to end the game.

East Texas starter Clint Helms (1-2) suffered the loss after working six innings, allowing two runs on four hits while walking four with four strikeouts.

The Pump Jacks’ best opportunity to score off Neal came in the fourth with East Texas trailing 2-0.

East Texas loaded the bases, but Shepherd made the first of his two sparkling plays in the outfield when he robbed J.D. Dunn of extra bases with a running catch in the right-center field gap to end the inning.

Coppell took a 2-0 lead with an RBI single by Robert Barbosa in the second inning, and when Brock Holt scored on a wild pitch in the third.

The Copperheads took advantage of a couple of Pump Jacks’ miscues to go up 4-0, scoring two runs in the eighth when Todd Emr crossed home on a wild pitch and Taylor Davis scored on a throwing error by catcher Paige Hodges.

“We gave up free runs (in the eighth),” said Pump Jacks manager Stan Phelps. “We didn’t take care of the baseball. The game was ours.”

—-

Coppell 4, East Texas 3

At Driller Park, Kilgore

Coppell 011 000 020 – 4 8 2

East Texas 000 000 030 – 3 6 1

Zach Neal, Charlie Aceto (8), Steve Horlacher (8), Tyler McClary (9) and Jimmy Pharr; Clint Helms, Matt Shelton (7), Kory Cleveland (9) and Paige Hodges. W – Neal (1-0). L – (Helms 1-2). S – McClary (3). 2B – ET: Josh Riley (2). SB – C: Robert Barbosa, Brock Holt, Jaron Shepherd. SAC – C: Michael Pair.

RECORDS – Coppell 12-13; East Texas 11-14.

NEXT UP – Coppell at East Texas, 7:05 p.m. today.

EST. ATT. – 512.