Cooper Coldiron + Kilgore Fight Back to Beat Queen City, 6-3

KILGORE -- Queen City scored the game's first three runs, but Kilgore recovered, assembling a pair of three-run innings for a 6-3 victory in Thursday's Oil Belt Classic game at Driller Park.

Kilgore right-handed senior pitcher Cooper Coldiron got better as the game progressed. After allowing three earned runs on four hits in the first two innings, Coldiron yielded two hits in the final five innings, striking out six and walking two.

Kilgore's Cooper Coldiron throws a pitch during Thursday's 6-3 win against Queen City in Kilgore. (Christopher Vinn, ETSN.fm)

Coldiron struck out the side in the fifth inning before working out of a two-on, one-out, sixth-inning jam, getting a groundout and strikeout to avoid any damage.

Kilgore's A.J. Davis hit a one-out RBI single for the Bulldogs' first run of the game right before Austin Bullard's two-run double tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the second. Kilgore added three more runs in the fourth inning thanks to Nico Borrego's RBI single and Benny Colbert's two-run double down the left-field line.

The win was the second in a row for Kilgore, which entered Thursday's nightcap against Pleasant Grove with a 2-5 record.

Kilgore's Jack Johnston reached base three times, including a pair of singles, while Joseph Shepherd singled, walked, and scored two runs.

Queen City's Briley Barnwell knocked in the game's first run with a first-inning single. Jonathan Boucher had a second-inning RBI sacrifice fly. Boucher pitched six innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Queen City, which was ranked fifth in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association's preseason Class 2A poll, lost 9-2 to Pine Tree earlier in the day at the Oil Belt Classic.

Queen City's Kendal Griffin scores a run during Kilgore's 6-3 win Thursday at the Oil Belt Classic in Kilgore. (Christopher Vinn, ETSN.fm)

---