SPORTS
Bowie starts district with a win against rival Nocona Indians 12-1
The opening district game between Bowie and Nocona baseball teams ended in five innings due to the run rule.
The Jackrabbits led for most of the game as they won 12-1 in a game they dominated once they took the first shot from the Indians.
Nocona started the game on the right note as leadoff hitter Hunter Fenoglio battled for eight pitches with Bowie pitcher Taylor Pigg before outrunning the throw from the shortstop to get on base.
Next batter Logan Barnes then hit a ground ball to second base, where the Jackrabbits committed an error that allowed both base runners to be safe.
Pigg was able to pick off the lead runner at second and then strike out the next batter for the first two outs. Barnes stole second base and attempted to steal third. The throw was mishandled, which allowed Barnes to score, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead, before the next batter struck out for the third out.
Bowie responded with the team’s first time up to bat. Evan Kennedy led off with a walk. He was able to steal second and then third base. Two batters later Payton Price drove him in with a single to the shortstop.
Price then stole second and attempted to steal third. The throw went wide on an error that allowed Price to score and give the Jackrabbits the lead.
With two outs, Braden Armstrong doubled to left field. Armstrong stole third base while Weston Partridge drew a walk. Jed Castles pinch ran for Partridge and was able to steal second base. Ozzie Phillips was able to drive in both runners on a single to right field to give Bowie a 4-1 lead.
Things looked like they might continue as Boo Oakley hit a line drive to center field. Nocona’s Tyler Richards made a spectacular diving catch for the third out as the game advanced to the second inning.
Pigg was able to work fast against the first two batters to force the first two outs. Richards was able to draw a walk to give the Indians some hope. Unfortunately for him, he was thrown out trying steal second by Partridge, putting a stop to the scoring chance before it got any more threatening.
With the bats, the Jackrabbits picked up where they left off. Kash Stockard led off with a drawn walk. He stole second before Kennedy hit a single that put runners on the corners with no outs. Next Pigg came up and hit a double to left field that drove in a run and put two runners in scoring position.
Price hit a single that drove in a run. A throwing error to first base allowed the other runner to score and for Price to end up at second base. A pop up in foul territory allowed Price to advance to third base.
Next batter Armstrong then hit a single that allowed Price to score. After a hit batter, Phillips drove in a run with a single to center field. The Jackrabbits led 9-1 as a line out to center field and an out at second base from a runner trying to steal moved the game into the third inning.
Nocona led off on a positive note as Carlos Castro had an infield single to get on base. A ground out allowed Castro to advance to scoring position with one out. Bowie’s Pigg struck out the next batter looking and forced a ground out to first base to end the Indian’s scoring chance.
The Jackrabbits offense was able to keep things going.
Kennedy got on base with a one out single. After stealing second and third base, Pigg was able to drive him in with an infield single. Andy Fitzner came in to pinch run while Price hit a single.
After both runners executed a double steal, Cooper Little doubled to left field to drive in both runners.
Little made it to third base on a wild pitch, but Bowie could not get him home as Nocona pitcher Jacob Morris struck out two of the next three batters to end the onslaught. The Jackrabbits led 12-1 moving to the fourth inning.
The Indians were again able to get their leadoff batter on base as Jason Sparkman drew a walk. After a line out to second base, there was a line drive to left field. Bowie’s Little made a diving play in the outfield for the out and was able to make the throw to first base for the double play to end the scoring chance.
On offense, the Jackrabbits did not have much success. Bowie’s Logan Barnes hit a two out single to get on base. After stealing second to move to scoring position, the next batter lined out to end the fourth inning.
The Indians had to score at least two runs to extend the game and avoid being run ruled. Unfortunately for them, there would be no late game offensive rally. All three batters were sat down in order to end the game as Luis DeLeon got the save. The Jackrabbits won 12-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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