SPORTS
STORM CENTER: DeFord valuable member of Petrolia softball team
The Petrolia High School softball team has enjoyed a modicum of success this season; but, that hasn’t happened without injuries.
Especially at first base.
Earlier this season, Krista Reese suffered a torn meniscus, and then freshman Emilee Macklin was injured during the playoffs.
At that point, Petrolia head softball coach Eric Simmons went to Samantha DeFord and asked her if she would be interested in taking over at first.
DeFord had been Petrolia’s primary second baseman, but the move to first was out of necessity.
“Sami’s been a great kid to have on the team,” Simmons said after Thursday’s Conference 2A Regional Final against Archer City.
“She’s hit the ground running,” Simmons added about DeFord’s move to first base.
Simmons said DeFord has hit the ball extremely well for the Lady Pirates this season, a successful year in which Petrolia has won 30 games.
Archer City defeated Petrolia, 4-3, during Game One of the best-of-3 series on Thursday evening in Bowie. It marked the first time the Lady Pirates had lost since March 2 (a 3-1 defeat versus Lindsay).
Petrolia won the District 2A-8 title, with the likes of traditional powerhouse Windthorst and Seymour in the mix.
For DeFord, the move to Petrolia was a natural fit. After all, her father Michael DeFord graduated from there in 1991.
“It’s been a home for me,” said DeFord.
So, what about that move to first base?
“It’s been very challenging,” she said. “I’ve been staying after practice to work on it. I just want to make the team better.”
DeFord called this year the best experience she’s had playing softball.
“I wouldn’t trade this for anything,” said the Petrolia junior. Read more from this column in the May 27 Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Samantha DeFord prepares to bunt during the seventh inning of Thursday’s Conference 2A-Region I softball regional final at Bowie High School’s outdoor complex. This game served as a Homecoming for DeFord, who played for Bowie as a freshman. She is currently playing first base for District 2A-8 champion Petrolia. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
SOFTBALL SERIES
Conference 2A
Regional Final
Archer City vs. Petrolia
At Bowie High School
May 24
Archer City 4, Petrolia 3
May 26
Archer City 4, Petrolia 3
(Archer City wins series, 2-0.)
SPORTS
Softball Roundup
The Nocona Lady Indians beat Saint Jo at home on Saturday morning.
The Lady Indians won 16-1 after four innings due to run-rule against the smaller school.
Nocona was coming off a competitive loss at Collinsville earlier in the week while the Lady Panthers were hoping to compete after a busy week of their athletes doing everything else besides just softball.
The Lady Indians easily won the first matchup between the teams in March, 19-2 and it was more of the same on Saturday.
Saint Jo struck first to start the game off well. Jordyn O’Neal hit a one out single. Krista Reeves followed with a walk after O’Neal had stolen second base and had advanced to third thanks to an error trying to throw her out. A wild pitch then allowed her to score to put the Lady Panthers up 1-0.
The lead did not last long. Nocona’s first two batters drew walks which set up Abby Hill to drive them both in with a single to right field.
Despite giving up a single and a walk later in the inning, Saint Jo’s defense did not allow another run. A line out and groundout to the shortstop while picking off a runner attempting to steal got the Lady Panthers out of the inning unscarred.
The Lady Indians led 2-1.
That was about as competitive as it got. In the second inning, Nocona’s bats got going. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases up with no outs.
Reagan Phipps drew a walk that drove in a run. Hill hit another two RBI single. Skye Kirby followed with a two RBI double.
After the first out, Allie Sutton drove in one run with a single. There was a fly out for out two, before a runner came in to score after a passed ball. Finally, an error allowed two more runs to score on the base paths.
Nocona had scored nine runs and led 11-1 to break the game open heading into the third inning.
Taylor Patrick hit a double, with O’Neal and Reeves following with singles. Unfortunately for Saint Jo, Patrick was thrown out before the hits attempting to steal a base so the Lady Panthers scored no runs from this.
The Lady Indians kept pouring on the runs. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases up with no outs. Tinley Cable then hit an RBI single. Shelby Swell was hit by a pitch that drove in another run.
After two strikeouts, Evelyn Marquez drove in two more runs on a double to put Nocona up 15-1, coming up one run short of ending the game early.
The Lady Indians scored that one run in the fourth inning. After Phipps drew a leadoff walk, Hill hit a triple that drove her in to end the game.
Nocona won 16-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Bowie, Nocona compete at area track
Both Bowie and Nocona track teams competed at the area meets on Thursday, with the Jackrabbits running at Breckenridge and the Indians at Graham.
As a team, the Bowie boys placed sixth overall, the Lady Rabbits finished 14th overall, the Indians got seventh overall and the Lady Indians earned sixth overall.
The Bowie boy’s team had four athletes finish fourth or better to qualify for the regional meet while the Nocona teams had 10 athletes move on.
The Jackrabbits had Case Curry and Tyler Richey gets second and fourth place in the pole vault to move on.
Tucker Jones finished third in the 110 meter hurdles to qualify along with Russell Anderson who also finished third in the 400 meters.
The Lady Rabbits did not have anyone move on, with Harlei Hudson getting sixth in the 100 meters and the 4×200 relay team finishing in eighth place.
From Nocona, both teams had athletes qualify in several events. Defending state champion Graci Brown won both the 400 and 800 meter races. She also anchored the 4×400 relay to second place and earned second in the long jump.
On the boy’s team, Caden Gaston finished first in the long jump, second in the 100 meters and third in the 200 meters. Kyle Waters finished fourth in the 400 meters and third in the 800 meters.
Individual qualifiers included Meg Meekins placing fourth in the 200 meters, Cooper Waldrip placing second in the 300 meter hurdles and the boys 4×400 relay team finishing in fourth place.
The regional meets are both scheduled for April 19-20 if weather permits. The Bowie team will compete at Elmer Gray Stadium at Abilene Christian University. The Nocona team will compete at Springtown High School.
Results for all Bowie and Nocona athletes are in the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Lady Rabbits beat Vernon on senior night
The Bowie Lady Rabbits won their senior night on Friday against Vernon.
The Lady Rabbits won 10-4 against the Lady Lions.
Bowie was hoping it could play well after a couple of losses where one bad defensive inning had really set the team back. The Lady Rabbits knew it would be a good opportunity as they had beaten Vernon a few weeks back 14-3.
The first two innings saw Bowie’s bats fail to go off and challenge the Lady Lions much. In the second inning, Vernon hit a leadoff single and two fielding errors later allowed one run to score.
Down 1-0 heading into the third inning, the Lady Rabbits started to get hot with their bats following a flawless defensive inning.
After two singles, Serenity Klump drove in two runs with a double to help Bowie take the lead. After getting on third base, she eventually was able to score thanks to a passed ball.
Following a walk and a double hit by Sadie Britt, Kaylie Kinney followed with a double that drove in two more runs to make it 5-1 for the Lady Rabbits.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Vernon answered back in the fifth inning. After hitting a batter and walking another, a Lady Lion hitter drove the ball into the gap. An error trying to field the ball allowed not just both base runners to score, but the batter to get all the way around to score. Vernon cut the lead to one run 5-4.
Bowie got one of the runs back. Klump led off with a walk and Laci Goodwin then drove her in with a triple to make it 6-4.
After another flawless defensive inning, the Lady Rabbits added to their lead in the sixth inning to put the game away.
After three straight singles from Victoria Cox, Chloe Kinney and Rhyan Carle led off the inning, Klump cleared the bases with a double to drive in three runs.
Three batters later, she was able to score from third base after an error at catcher to make it 10-4.
The Lady Lions needed to come alive in the final inning, but besides a one out single, the Bowie defense was able to shut them down for the final two outs with no issue.
The Lady Rabbits won 10-4.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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