Original Article on Longview News-Journal Website

Pirates to play twice today in Muddog Classic

|By BOB WARD|

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Pine Tree will open the 2005 Muddog Classic Tournament today with a pair of matches at Pine Tree Stadium, 12 hours apart.

The Pirates face John Tyler at 8 a.m., and then return in the evening to take on Palestine at 8 o'clock in preliminary games. The three-day tournament continues through Saturday.

A total of 12 teams comprise four brackets. Bracket A includes JT, Mount Pleasant and Palestine; Bracket B has PT, Henderson and Hallsville; Bracket C includes Arlington Seguin, Whitehouse and Marshall; and Bracket D has Sulphur Springs, Jacksonville and Center.

Pine Tree is the defending tournament champion, shutting out Mount Pleasant in the title match last year, 1-0.

The Pirates will try to snap a two-game losing streak at home. They lost to Jacksonville 4-2 on Jan. 17, and then fell 3-1 to Mesquite Poteet on Tuesday. Their record now stands at 2-4. Pine Tree did place third at the Birdville Tournament, Jan. 13-15.

‘‘We are using the preseason games to work out all the kinks that we may encounter throughout our district season,'' said first-year coach Andre Lo. ‘‘So far, despite some mental mistakes, I am encouraged by the continuous progress in team performance.

‘‘I am looking forward to using the Muddog Classic Tournament to further fine tune our plays to get us ready for the season opener against Hallsville next Tuesday night.''

The Pirates open district play on Tuesday, hosting Hallsville at 7 p.m.

Pine Tree's team is comprised of some veterans with a large number of new faces. The 2005 Pirates are comprised of just six seniors, five juniors and nine sophomores. Two of the seniors and one junior did not play on last year's state semifinalist squad.

The tournament format guarantees each team four games. All preliminary and semifinal matches will have two 35-minute halves, while the championship game returns to the regular 40 minutes. Preliminary games can also end in a tie, with the semifinals going directly to a shootout. If the championship match is tied at the end of regulation, there will be two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes, and if the game remains tied, there will be a shootout.

Saturday's championship match is set for 7 p.m.

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