| Sports
Highlights TTAB baseball tournament
tightens up
By Sam Epps
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK-The 2011 Texas Teenage Baseball Association (TTAB)
District 11 freshman playoffs concluded Friday.
The tourney, for 11-12 year old baseball players, consists of 10
teams; including the Mabank Knights, Malakoff Nationals,
Malakoff Rangers, Eustace Bandits, Athens Xpress, Athens Red
Sox, Palmer Longhorns, Kerens Bobcats, Blooming Grove Lions and
Rice Bulldogs.
The games began Monday, and continued throughout the week.
Monitor Photo/Sam Epps
Eustace first baseman Gannon Kirkhart (right) tries to get
a Palmer Longhorn baserunner out at first. The throw came
in a little late, and the runner was safe.
In Monday’s games, the Palmer Longhorns defeated the Athens Red
Sox, 9-4.
The Mabank Knights defeated the Rice Bulldogs in an offensive
showdown, 13-9.
The Malakoff Nationals blew past the Blooming Grove Lions, 16-3.
The Kerens Bobcats fell to the Athens Xpress, 13-2.
In Tuesday’s games, the Kerens Bobcats beat the Red Sox, 6-5.
Kerens faced the Knights Wednesday evening.
The Knights fell to the Malakoff Rangers, 3-2, Tuesday.
The Palmer Longhorns beat Eustace 14-4 during the 5:30 p.m.
game. Eustace then lost to the Rice Bulldogs, 17-9, in the 8
p.m. game.
Rice also advanced past the Blooming Grove Lions Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Palmer Longhorns defeated the Nationals, 19-4,
advancing the ’Horns and putting the Nationals in the lower
bracket to face the Kerens Bobcats.
The Bobcats defeated the Mabank Knights, 10-8, earlier, but fell
to the Nationals in the next game.
Also Wednesday, both the Athens Xpress and the Rice Bulldogs
made it past the Malakoff Rangers.
Games continued through Friday, with the championship game held
at 8 p.m.
Run, Punt, Pass & Kick event a
success
Special to The Monitor
KEMP–The Kemp Area Sports Association (KASA) held its inaugural
Run, Punt, Pass & Kick competition July 9.
The event was initiated by KASA football commissioner Rusty
Clamon to help spark interest in KASA, especially considering
the low sign-up numbers in recent years.
The competition was also instrumental in raising money for its
youth program.
The event took place as planned, and enjoyed a good turnout with
a total of 87 kids participating.
“It is clear that this event will be an annual classic,” Clamon
said.
“However, to give credit where it is owed, the tremendous
success of this initial event is due solely to our community
banding together with the desire that our youth football program
not only survives, but continues to thrive in the manner for
which we have long been accustomed,” he added.
The event raised much-needed money for the KASA program, and
enough interest was sparked to bring an additional fifteen new
participants for the youth football teams.
Many sponsors made the inaugural competition successful, and
Clamon expressed gratitude to R&R Screen Graphics Trophies Inc.,
the First National Bank of Kemp, Kemp Family Pharmacy and
ColorTyme Rent to Own of Mabank, which donated a 42-inch Samsung
flat screen plasma television that was given away.
Other donations to the event were made by New Horizons Daycare
and Private School, Kemp Hotties, Kemp Polka Dot Couture, Kemp
Dairy Queen, Kemp Sonic, Kemp General Dollar Store, Kemp Edge
Hair Salon, Kemp CCTV, Kemp Mickey's, Kemp Close to My Heart,
Kemp Sack-A-Burger, Kemp Family Pharmacy, Indian Oaks Golf
Course, Kemp Western Café and Xtreme Graphics of Gun Barrel.
You can contact Clamon for inquiries, or to make a donation to
help the KASA Youth Football Association, by e-mailing him at
clamon64@ yahoo.com.
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