Clayton McMillan hasn't forgotten how to pitch in Jim Reeves Memorial Park, and now that he's back in town throwing for Panola, he's still unbeatable here.

Saturday afternoon he put his talents to good use by beating Ponies' Nemesis Navarro, 2-1, in the opening game of a Region XIV Conference doubleheader.

Later in the day, the Bulldogs were hard on White Oak freshman starter Scott Copeland and Carthage reliever Kory Cleveland that there was nothing Branden Powell of Groves or Addison Rayford of Bartlesville, AR could do to stem the hemorrhaging in short relief roles.

"We had our chances to sweep them and remain undefeated in conference," coach Don Clinton noted. "We didn't get as much offense as we've been getting. Navarro isn't overwhelming, but is still one of the better conference clubs, 3-1, just like us."

McMillan had been suffering a bit from a stomach virus or perhaps a touch of food poisoning. Clinton said more than a handful of his players have been sick during last week, but the Deadwood "Hay Hauler" wanted badly to play before the home crowd. "He didn't feel good at all, but I told him we'd see what he had, and it was plenty."
He gave up a single in the first, and then struck out three. He gave up two singles in the third and got an infield roller to avoid problems. In the sixth, an error, a walk and a single produced an unearned run. A double play around the horn solved that problem.

In the seventh, after two were out, back-to-back singles stirred the Navarro fans, but the game ended harmlessly with a ground ball to second.

Panola had just four hits but two were crucial. A walk to Rickey Gardner, a double by Jared Wondra and a passed ball put the Ponies ahead 1-0 a single by Randall Poppa and a two-base throwing error on a pickoff attempt burned Navarro when Cody Deitz hit a sacrifice fly for the other PC marker. Gardner was two for two and the only Pony with multiple hits.

Copeland was in and out of trouble throughout his stint of three and one-third innings. He walked three, hit a batter and allowed six hits and six earned runs.

Clinton finally went to Powell and he shut down the scoring in two and one-third, but when Cleveland came on board, three walks and two hits produced a 9-0 deficit. Rayford closed, getting two outs without a run or a walk.