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.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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