SPORTS
Panthers drop first game against Dodd City 8-3 in best of three
The Saint Jo baseball team knew games were going to be tough when they reached the regional semifinal, but learned it Thursday night in Ponder.
Dodd City controlled the game for the most part and withstood a three run rally in the fifth as they held on to win 8-3 in game one of a best of three series.
The Panthers led off the game. The only runner to get on base was Wyatt Geurin, who reached first with two outs due to an error at shortstop. Unfortunately, the next batter lined out to third base.
The Hornets stung first and fast in the bottom of the first. With one out, three singles, a walk, a hit batter, a steal and a fielding error all led to three runs before pitcher Connor Thompson was able to strike out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Saint Jo trailed 3-0 heading into the second inning.
Logan Morman was able to get on base by drawing a walk with one out. After the next batter struck out, Morman was able to advance to second on a passed ball to put himself in scoring position. Unfortunately, another strikeout ended the scoring chance.
Dodd City looked to pick up where they left off. A leadoff single and two steals put the runner on third base. Two drawn walks loaded the bases and with two outs, Thompson looked to try to work himself out of a jam.
The next batter hit a hard ball into the gap between the shortstop and third base. It drilled the field umpire in the leg. One run did score, but with the deflection off the umpire, it kept the ball in the infield and did not allow a second run to score. After checking the umpire was okay, Thompson was able to strike out the next batter to end the inning. Saint Jo trailed 4-0 heading into the third inning.
The third inning went fast. The Panthers could not get anything going with their bats as they hit balls right to infielders on a fly out and ground out.
Thompson was starting to get going as his breaking ball started to be thrown for strikes. A one out bunt got a runner on base for the Hornets and a stolen base put the runner on second. Fortunately, Thompson forced a fly out to left field and a ground out to the shortstop to end the third inning.
Jake Morris got the first hit of the game for Saint Jo with a one out single. He was able to steal second as he slid around the tag. Morris then stole third as the third basemen could not handle the throw as it bounced out of his glove. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out to end the scoring chance.
Dodd City was able to leadoff with a double. Thompson looked like he might be able to work around this as he was able to strikeout the next batter and forced a pop up to first base for two outs.
Unfortunately, the Hornets were able to string off three singles, a drawn walk and force an error at first to score three runs before the Panthers were able to force a fly out to center field for the third out. Dodd City led 7-0 heading into fifth inning. Things were looking dire unless Saint Jo started to make things happen with their bats.
Brock Durham led off the fifth inning with a base hit that was fumbled by the third basemen for a second, allowing him to beat the throw. Jose “Pepe” Gams then hit a single that got out of the infield. With a hit and run call on, Durham was able to reach third. Next batter Eli Jones then hit a hard ground ball to right field that scored Durham. The outfielder mishandled the ball for a second, allowing both base runners to advance to second and third. With no outs, the Panthers were showing some life.
Harper Roberts was able to drive in another run as a hard ground ball to the shortstop was mishandled for an error that allowed another run to score and Roberts to be safe. With runners at the corners and no outs, things did not seem like they were going to slow down anytime soon.
Roberts was picked off at first during the next at bat, with Thompson hitting a ball to the pitcher. The first basemen could not handle the throw as another error allowed another base runner to get on base while the runner on third scored to cut the lead to 7-3.
During the next at bat, Thompson stole second. Right as the batter struck out, Thompson attempted to steal third base and was thrown out to end the half inning.
Still the momentum seemed to have shifted. The only question was if the Panthers could get any more magic going with their bats again and if they could play clean defense.
Morris came in to pitch in relief. The leadoff batter was hit to get on base. He was able to advance to second on a ground out. A strikeout made it two outs. The next batter hit a single that did not get out of the infield to prevent the runner from scoring, but put runners at the corners with two outs.
The runner on first stole second, but Morris was able to strike out the next batter looking to get out of the jam and with Saint Jo still trailing 7-3 heading into the sixth inning.
The Panthers were able to put balls in play in the top of the sixth, but the string of sloppy fielding that allowed Saint Jo to go on their run in the previous inning was cleaned up from Dodd City as they made three solid defensive plays to move the game into the bottom of the sixth.
The Hornets leadoff batter was hit again. A ground out advanced the runner to second. With two outs, a batter hit a ground ball to the pitcher. The throw to first was good, but the first basemen could not handle the throw for an error. This allowed the runner on second to score to put Dodd City up 8-3 heading into the final inning.
With two outs, Jones was able to draw a walk. Next batter Roberts hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop, who again bobbled the ball for an error that allowed both runners to reach base cleanly and give Saint Jo some life. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance to second and third. Unfortunately, the next batter grounded out to second base to end the game.
To read more, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost in the final inning at Perrin-Whitt on Tuesday night.
The Pirates came back to score all of their runs in the seventh inning to steal a win from the Indians 3-2.
Nocona was coming off a dominant series against Saint Jo the previous week and was hoping it could further that against another 1A team.
It didn’t turn out to be the case despite the Indians leading almost the entire game.
Walker Murphey led off for Nocona and drew a walk.
An error trying to pick him off allowed him to go to second base before a sacrifice bunt moved him to third base.
Following a strikeout, Brody Langford hit a ball to left field that resulted in an error that allowed Murphey to come in and score to put the Indians up 1-0.
The next four innings were scoreless for both teams Nocona nursed its one-run lead into the sixth inning. There the Indians added to their lead.
Wesley Murphey hit a one-out double to get a runner in scoring position.
Langford came through and hit a single that drove in the base runner to put Nocona’s lead up to and feeling good 2-0.
Perrin-Whitt had a great chance to get on the board in the same inning as two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases up with only one out.
Pitcher Walker Murphey got out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly out in foul territory to keep the shutout going.
Unfortunately, that bit of momentum from the Pirates carried over into the seventh inning.
The leadoff batter got on base thanks to an error at shortstop. Two singles followed to load the bases up with no outs. The next batter then hit a bases clearing triple to end the game.
Perrin-Whitt won 3-2.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers completed a double-header on Tuesday at Muenster and lost both games.
The Panthers lost the first game against the JV team 7-3 before losing by run-rule against the varsity team 20-1 after three and half innings.
Saint Jo was coming off tough double-header losses to Nocona the previous week and was hoping it could bounce back.
The first game against the JV Hornets team only went five innings. Muenster lead after the first inning 1-0, but the Panthers answered with one run in the third inning to tie the game.
The Hornets responded with two runs scored in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Saint Jo added two runs in the fifth inning, but it was not enough to catch back up as it lost 7-3.
The game against the varsity team saw most of the damage come in the third inning. Muenster led 2-0 before racking up 18 runs in a third inning that would not end for Saint Jo.
The Panthers answered with one run in the fourth inning to make the final score 20-1.
Charlie Barclay got the only hit for Saint Jo in the game.
The team drew four straight walks in the final inning to score its only run in the game.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles lost a tough game on Tuesday night against 2A Chico.
The Dragons won 12-0 after four and half innings due to run-rule.
Chico scored most of the runs in the first and fourth innings as Bellevue limited the Dragons to just one run in the second and third innings combined.
Chico scored four runs in the first inning and seven in the fourth inning.
Bellevue had only one base hit in the game with Bryce Ramsey hitting a single.
On defense, the team gave up 10 hits and three walks while committing three fielding errors.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Lady Rabbits lost a tough game at Holliday on Monday night.
The Lady Eagles won 12-2 after five innings due to run-rule.
Bowie was hoping it could compete well with Holliday coming off a good win against Vernon in its previous game. While the Lady Rabbits lost to the Lady Eagles in the first game, Bowie had avoided getting run-ruled and took that as a positive sign. Unfortunately, that was not avoided on Monday.
After a scoreless first inning, Bowie had gotten on the board first in the second inning. Sadie Britt led off with a double. Two batters later, Victoria Watson drove her in with a single to put the Lady Rabbits up 1-0.
Unfortunately, Holliday answered with nine runs in the same inning scored on six singles, a double, two walks and two fielding errors. Bowie was down 9-1 and could not get back into the game.
The Lady Eagles added two more runs on a two-run home run in the third inning to go up 11-1.
The Lady Rabbit offense answered in the fourth inning with the same two players coming through again.
Britt led off and hit a single.
Two wild pitches allowed her to advance to third base before two batters later, Watson got her home, this time on a sacrifice fly ball to make it 11-2.
Bowie’s defense allowed no runs in the fourth inning and after failing to score on offense in the fifth inning, it needed to do it again to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule.
Unfortunately, Holliday loaded the bases up with two singles and a hit batter with no outs before a single drove in one run to end the game.
The Lady Eagles won 12-2.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a close game at Holliday on a walk-off base hit on Wednesday.
The Eagles won 5-4 against the Jackrabbits in a game where Bowie came back strong late in the game.
The Jackrabbits were coming off a run-rule win against Vernon the previous week. Bowie was hoping this second game would go better than the first game, which Holliday won 16-2 by run-rule.
The Jackrabbits knew they could give the first place Eagles a better game and on Wednesday they gave it to them.
Holliday struck first in the first and second innings. An RBI single and a fielding error allowed two runs to score in the first inning. A two RBI double in the second inning put the Eagles up 4-0 heading into the third inning.
Bowie’s bats started a two-out rally to get its first run. Boston Farris hit a single up the middle. He stole second base and then Tucker Jones drove him in with a line drive single to center field.
The Jackrabbits still trailed 4-1, but some good offense had thrown Holliday’s momentum and Bowie’s defense focused up. After committing two errors in the first two innings, the Jackrabbits did not commit another one for the rest of the game.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Bowie bats did some damage again. Rayder Mann drew a leadoff walk. A sacrifice bunt and a stolen base moved him to third base where Jones came through with an RBI triple, making it 4-2. Jones later tried to score after a ball got away from the catcher. Unfortunately, they tagged him out at home plate to end inning.
In the sixth inning, Bowie started out well as Seth Mann and Troy Kesey drew back-to-back walks. After several wild pitches, Mann scored to cut the lead one run and Kesey was at third base.
Later with two outs, Cy Egenbacher struck out for out three, but the ball got away from the catcher. The throw to first base resulted in an error that allowed Egenbacher to be safe and Kesey to come in and score, tying the game up at 4-4.
Bowie could not keep its offensive momentum going as the seventh inning came and saw all three batters strike out.
Pitcher Edmon De Leon, who had rebounded beautifully after the rough start of the game as he struck out 12 batters in the game, was near his pitch count limit and had to be replaced on the mound.
Three different pitchers came in for Bowie in the bottom of the seventh. A walk, hit batter and intentional walk loaded the bases up with no outs as the Jackrabbit defense would need to pull a miracle to get out of this jam unscathed.
The miracle did not come. The next batter hit a single into center field to get the winning run home for Holliday.
The Eagles won 5-4.
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