SPORTS
Lady Panthers finish one game short of state tournament berth

After clawing and fighting their way to the doorstep of qualifying for the state tournament, the Saint Jo Lady Panthers ran out of gas on Saturday.
They fell to Bryson 3-0 to finish as 1A Region II runner-ups as the team cried in disappointment on the Midlothian High School gym floor as the ride came to an end. They had made school history in the process, but no one was thinking about that in this moment. To talk about how it ended, you first need to know how they got there.
The Lady Panthers won the district title and even handed one of their 2A schools they had to play in their mixed district a loss. This earned them a bye in the bi-district round.
Their games against Perrin-Whitt and Prairie Valley seemed to provide them minimal challenge as they did not lose a set in either game to make it to the regional tournament at Midlothian.
Their game on Friday was against Blum, the state runner-ups from last year who had not lost a match to a 1A school all year. While the Lady Cats came in with the prestige, Saint Jo showed early on they belonged.
The first set was close throughout, with the largest lead being when Blum led 18-15 before the Lady Panthers came back to tie and play point-for-point. Unfortunately for Saint Jo, the Lady Cats were able to narrowly close things out as they won 25-23 to take an early lead.
While this could have led to the team feeling sorry for themselves, it just reconfirmed for the Lady Panthers that they could play with this team. Saint Jo went from trailing slightly in the second set 8-7 to leading 15-9 as they took control of the set like neither team had in the first set.
Blum’s mistakes continued to mount as the Lady Panther’s lead grew bigger and bigger. They easily closed out the second set on a 10-5 run to win 25-14 to tie the match up.
The third set started close, but Saint Jo was able to grab an early 12-8 lead and coming off an easy set win, it looked like things might be headed that way again for the Lady Panthers.
Unfortunately, the Lady Cats were able to climb back and tie the match up at 17-17 before taking advantage of a series of self inflicted errors to let Blum take a 22-18 lead. Saint Jo could not climb back as the Lady Cats closed the set to win 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead.
Needing to win the fourth set to keep their season alive, the Lady Panthers were able to steadily extend their lead from 6-4, 9-6, 12-8, 15-10, 18-12, 21-14. Looking like the set was in hand, catastrophe almost struck for Saint Jo.
The girls from Blum had no quit in them as they prayed on a stream of bad serve-receive sequences in a row to get back into the set. They closed to 22-18 before tying the set up at 23-23. The Lady Cats then took their first lead of the set after a blocked spike and had the match point staring at them at 24-23.
The Lady Panthers were not about to just collapse in on themselves. They won the next point to tie it up 24-24. They stared their demise in the face again as Blum again had match point at 25-24 and again Saint Jo did not blink as they tied the score at 25-25.
The Lady Panthers were then able to take the advantage again and closed out the set to win 27-25 to force a fifth and final set to 15 points.
It looked like Saint Jo had an early advantage as they led 4-2. The Lady Cats tied the score at 5-5 before the Lady Panthers again jumped out to a two-point lead 7-5 only for Blum to tie the set at 8-8.
Saint Jo again got a two-point lead 10-8 and it seemed like it might hold true. The lead grew until the Lady Panthers were staring the win in the face as they had match point leading 14-10.
Again, the girls from Blum would not quit and Saint Jo again started to tighten up. The Lady Cats made things real uncomfortable for all as they cut the lead to 14-13. Needing just one more point, the Lady Panthers were able to get it to win 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Three of the girls collapsed to the floor, tears of triumph running down their cheeks as the rest of the team hugged to embrace each other.
“They played with all their heart,” Coach Charlie Pittman said. “That’s what got us through that first game because our skills, they were there in some moments and not there in other moments.”
Pittman said the girls were completely drained from the game experience, but they had one more win against Bryson, who had to fight tooth and nail against Abbot in five sets the game before, left in front of them for a chance to go to the state tournament.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Baseball Roundup

Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Softball Roundup

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers picked up a high-scoring win against Perrin-Whitt on Thursday to get their second straight district win and some revenge.
The Lady Panthers won 35-20 against the Lady Pirates, nearly equaling the total when both programs played on the gridiron during the fall.
Saint Jo was coming off a big win the previous week against Bryson, but had lost the last time it played Perrin-Whitt by 10 runs in another high-scoring game.
The Lady Panthers did not start the game off well, allowing 11 runs in the top of the first inning before they had even gotten a chance to bat yet.
Most teams would crumble, but Saint Jo fought back slowly at first before picking things up.
The Lady Panthers scored three runs in the first inning to cut the lead to 11-3.
Perrin-Whitt added four more runs in the second inning to go up 15-3, which in most games is insurmountable.
Saint Jo answered with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, cutting the lead to 15-11.
The Lady Pirates scored five runs in the third inning and went up by nine runs 20-11. Then the Lady Panthers had a monster offensive inning that went on for awhile.
Saint Jo scored 18 runs in the third inning, not only getting its first lead, but going up by nearly double-digits 29-20.
The Lady Panthers had the momentum and it showed on defense in the fourth inning, allowing no runs for the first time all game by either team.
Saint Jo then went for the kill, scoring six runs to end the game early due to run-rule with the final score being 35-20.
Mercedes Diaz led the team with seven RBIs as she hit one of the two home runs for the Lady Panthers, with the other going to Lily Cook. Maxey Johnson was right behind with six RBIs and Kamron Skidmore had four.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians started the second round of district with a dominant win against Era on Monday.
The Lady Indians won 16-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule against the Lady Hornets.
Nocona went 3-2 in the first round of district, only losing to big dogs Lindsay and Muenster. The first time the Lady Indians had played Era, it had been a close 5-2 win for Nocona so the team knew it had to come to play.
The Lady Indians started off well, scoring five runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Nocona added three runs during the next two innings to go up 8-0 as the Lady Indian defense shut down the Lady Hornets.
Nocona then went for the kill, scoring eight runs in the fourth inning to end the game early, winning 16-0.
Reagan Phipps and Tinley Cable each had home runs. Phipps had a team high three RBIs while Cable, Heidi Atteberry and Gwyndelyn Forsyth each finished with two RBIs.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Bowie baseball loses series to Henrietta

The Bowie Jackrabbits lost their series against Henrietta last week as they search for their first district win.
The Jackrabbits lost to the Bearcats 10-0 and 9-5.
Bowie was coming off two series losses to Jacksboro and Iowa Park, but hoped it could compete better against a team not quite on those teams’ level.
The first game saw Henrietta jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning due to a fielding error and an RBI single. In the third inning, an RBI double and a fielding error at first base allowed two more runs to score as the Bearcats led 4-0.
The fourth inning saw Henrietta load the bases and score twice on drawn walks and hit two separate two RBI singles to extend its lead to 10-0.
Bowie needed to score at least one run to avoid getting run-ruled in the fifth inning, but besides drawing a two out walk, the Jackrabbits could not come through.
Bowie got hits from Boston Farris, Rayder Mann and Edmond De Leon, but those were the only hits in the game for the Jackrabbits.
On defense the team allowed 11 hits on the mound and had two fielding errors.
Bowie could only play better in the second game which was at home as well.
The Bearcats scored in the first inning on an RBI single to kick off the game. They added to it in the second inning, scoring two runs on a fielding error at third base and another run on a RBI double to go up 4-0.
The Jackrabbits answered in the bottom of the second inning. With the bases loaded Caden Belcher grounded into a fielder’s choice for an out at second base, but an error on the throw home allowed two runs to score. Later with a runner on third base, Austin Cheney laid down a bunt that scored a run and he was able to reach first safely to cut the lead to 4-3.
It did not stay close for long. Henrietta had a big fourth inning, scoring on an RBI single, two RBI double and a walk with the bases loaded as the Bearcats lead extended to 8-3
Henrietta added one more run in the fifth inning, hitting a sacrifice fly ball following a triple to make the score 9-3.
The score was the same entering the bottom of the seventh inning and Bowie down to its last three outs.
With runners at the corners, Mann tried to steal second base. An error on the throw allowed Mann to reach not just second base, but third base safely as Hayden Rodriguez scored from third base with no issue.
Next batter Trae Seigler struck out, which would have ended the game but it was dropped. He beat out the throw to first base which meant Mann’s run home counted and cut the lead to 9-5. Unfortunately, the next batter did strike out to end the game.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from last week’s home game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874157&T=1
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