It was a disappointing start to the second round of district for the Nocona baseball game as they lost at home on Friday against Henrietta.
The Bearcats took an early lead and stretched it to 8-1 in the later innings to win. Things were close in the early innings.
Indians pitcher Jeremy James forced two quick groundouts in the top of the first before a single and a hit batter put two runners on. Fortunately, the next batter grounded out to second base to end the scoring chance. Besides a two out hit batter from Logan Barnes, it did not lead to anything heading into the second inning.
Henrietta led off with a single. The base runner then stole second and third. He was able to score on a passed ball to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. James was able to take care of the next three batters in order to shut down any other scoring attempts.
Jose Ogeda drew a one out walk and Tanner Cable was then hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced to second and third on a ground out with two outs, but Nocona could not get them home as they still trailed heading into the third inning.
Besides a leadoff drawn walk from James, neither team did anything offensively in the third inning. James made it to third base, but they could not get him home.
In the top of the fourth, Henrietta had back-to-back singles with one out. With runners on second and first, the next batter grounded to the shortstop. He forced the out at second base, but his allowed the runner that was on second to score.
As they tried to prevent the runner to score, the other runner tried to stretch his luck by getting to second. The Indians were able to get him out to end the inning, but not before giving up another run as they now trailed 2-0.
A leadoff single from Cade Breeze was a good start, but he was picked off at first base. Ogeda hit a single, but the next two batters got out to end the inning fourth inning still trailing.
A leadoff single from the Bearcats in the top of the fifth did not spell good things. A ground out and single advanced the runner to third, where he scored on an error. A triple scored another run to make the score 4-0 before Nocona was able to get out of the inning.
A leadoff walk from John Womack did not lead to much. He stole second base, but the next three batters got out.
In the top of the sixth, Henrietta led off with two singles, with the lead base runner advancing to third. A passed ball allowed him to score and make it 5-0.
A hit batter put another base runner on with no outs. Fortunately, James was able to strike out the next two batters and force a ground out to get out of the inning.
Breeze was able to get on base with a one out single. After the next batter struck out, things did not look promising. Next batter Cable drew a walk. Breeze and Cable then executed a double steal.
The Henrietta pitcher then committed a balk that scored Breeze and advanced Cable to third. Another walk put runners at the corner, but unfortunately the next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice. The score was 5-1 heading into the final inning.
After a change at pitcher for the Indians, the Bearcats were able to rattle off three runs in the top of the seventh. They drew three walks, stole three bases and two hits to go up 8-1. Tanner Cable came in to pitch and try to save it and was able to get the final two outs.
A two out single from Barnes hoped to spark something, but the next batter struck out to end the game, with the final score 8-1.

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