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“The Sandlot” is more than a sports movie to me

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I recently read a list of favorite sports movies by Kathy McClellan, a columnist for the Time Record News.
While her top choice “A League of their Own” is a favorite of mine, it would not have been my top pick. No, my pick is the 1990s cult classic, “The Sandlot” as not just my favorite baseball movie, but my favorite sports movie.
It is ironic my favorite sports movie is a movie that is not about one of my favorite sports. While there have been some pretty good football and basketball movies, what makes “The Sandlot” great for me was that baseball was just one tool towards what the movie was actually about, which was friendship.
While the film made $33 million at the box office on its 1993 release on a modest $7 million budget, it went on to gross an estimated $76 million over the years in VHS and DVD sales. Ask anyone of a certain age and they can quote you a line from the Sandlot.
For those who have not seen or heard of the movie, the basic plot is the standard new kid comes to town. The movie is set in the early 1960s and our protagonist, the ever shy and awkward 12-year-old Scotty Smalls had only two weeks at his new school to make any friends before a lonely summer.
He sees the neighborhood boys all making their way to a modestly roughshod baseball field (the sandlot) one day and follows them their in hopes to maybe join in without drawing too much attention to himself.
He fails spectacularly since he has never learned how catch or throw a baseball, but catches the eye of the leader of the group, Benny.
Under Benny’s guidance, he joins the group of eight friends as the new guy as they accept him and he learns all of the quirks of the group.
What I love is that once Smalls is accepted, the plot does not really go anywhere for like 30-40 minutes. Little vignettes throughout the summer are just stories about growing up.
The groups’ crush on the older lifeguard at the pool who drives one of the boys to fake drowning so that he can kiss her. Creaming the area’s Little League team in a game after trading insults. Trying and failing in their attempt to try chewing tobacco at the carnival in celebration.
None of these things have anything to do with the actual plot of the movie. That involves trying to get a baseball signed by the immortal Babe Ruth back from the neighbor’s yard it was hit into that is guarded by the mystical dog they call The Beast.
While there are laughs to be had as the initial simple attempts grow more elaborate as they try everything short of just ringing the neighbor’s door, the stretch of the movie that show kids being kids is just so relatable for me.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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Jackrabbits blow out City View

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The Bowie Jackrabbits beat down City View on the road on Monday by run-rule to pick up a district win.
The Jackrabbits won 15-0 after five innings due to run-rule as they dominated against the Mustangs.
Bowie was coming off a close loss at Holliday in a game it nearly came back to win, so took out its frustration on a struggling City View team.
The Jackrabbits got going early as Troy Kesey hit a solo home run with two outs to get a rally going for the team. Two batters later Edmond De Leon hit a two-run home run.
Rayder Mann hit a ground ball to third base that resulted in an error that drove in a run. Cy Egenbacher then hit an RBI single to put Bowie up 5-0 before the Mustangs had even hit.
After a scoreless second inning, the Jackrabbits got back going in the third. Boston Farris and Seth Mann both hit a two RBI doubles.
Kesey and Hayden Rodriguez followed with RBI singles to make it 11-0 for Bowie.
The Jackrabbits kept the pressure in the fourth inning. Farris hit a three-run home run and Kesey later drove in another run with a double to make it 15-0 for Bowie.
The game continued into the fifth inning and City View needed to score at least six runs to keep the game going. The Mustangs broke up Kesey’s no-hitter on the mound with three straight singles to load the bases up with no outs.
Kesey finished strong, striking out the next two batters before inducing a fly ball to center field for the final out.
The Jackrabbits won 15-0.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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Baseball Roundup

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Nocona
The Nocona Indians got some revenge by beating Perrin-Whitt on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 5-3 to hopefully make up for losing the previous game in the final inning against the Pirates.
Nocona had lost two days earlier to Perrin-Whitt 3-2 after leading for the entire game until the final inning.
The second game it was the Pirates that led for the majority of the game, leading 2-1 after the first inning. The Indians tied the score 2-2 after the third inning, but Perrin-Whitt got the lead back in the fourth inning with one run to make it 4-3.
Nocona took control in the sixth inning when Wesley Murpehy drove in two runs with a double. Brody Langford followed him with an RBI single to double the Indians score and put them up 6-4.
This time around, Nocona’s defense held on in the final inning, allowing only one base runner before closing the game with little trouble.

Missing scores
Scores from Saint Jo and Bellevue are not updated due to games being delayed due to weather late last week.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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Bowie softball season comes to an end

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The Bowie Lady Rabbits came up just short of winning their final game at City View on Friday.
The Lady Mustangs held off a furious Lady Rabbits rally in the seventh inning to scrape out a win 11-10.
Bowie was entering the game knowing it was the last game of the season no matter what so it came out loose and ready.
The Lady Rabbits took control early. Chloe Kinney scored due to an error trying to pick her off. Sage Gossett hit a single that drove in one run and an error on the throw allowed another run to score.
Several batters later, Beau Combs and Victoria Cox both hit RBI singles to make it 5-0 for Bowie.
The Lady Mustangs scored two runs to make cut the lead to 5-2 after the first inning.
Bowie scored one run in the second inning when Serenity Klump was able to score from third base due to an error by the catcher. City View equaled that run in the same inning with an RBI double.
After the teams exchanged scoreless innings in the third and fourth, things picked up in the fifth inning.
Kaylie Kinney hit an RBI double with two outs to extend Bowie’s lead to 7-3.
The Lady Mustangs answered with a huge inning to get back in the game. Three singles and two errors allowed City View to score four runs and tie the score up at 7-7.
After the Lady Rabbits offense could not get anything going in the sixth inning, the Lady Mustangs picked up where they left off.
Five straight singles, one walk and a passed ball allowed City View to score four more runs to take the lead 11-7 heading into the final inning.
With Bowie down to its last three outs of the season, the team buckled up to get something going.
Cox hit a one out double. Chloe Kinney followed with a single that drove her in. After a strikeout and Kinney advancing to second base after a passed ball, Klump drove her in with a double.
After a walk, Gossett came through and hit a single that drove in one more run to cut City View’s lead to one run.
With the tying run in scoring position, Bowie was in good condition but was also down to its last out.
Unfortunately, the next batter struck out looking to end the game and the Lady Rabbits season.
City View won 11-10.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.

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