SPORTS
Nocona baseball shakes off spring break rust with final two pre-district outings
The Nocona Indians baseball team played its final two pre-district games last week with a home game against Venus on Friday and a road game at Celeste on Saturday.
The Indians did not come out on the right foot in either game, but while one game was ugly for Nocona, the other showed the competitive spirit they are capable of playing.
The first game got off to a bad start and never got better against Venus. The Bulldogs leadoff batter got on base thanks to a fielding error, something that would happen 10 more times throughout the game.
Venus went up 3-1 after the first inning. The Indians were able to score one run when Anthony Veitenheimer, who led off with a walk, was able to score thanks to an error at third base.
While Nocona avoided giving up the big inning, the Indians could not keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in every inning. Three runs were scored in each of the first four innings.
Nocona scored once more in the third inning thanks to Jason Sparkman driving in a run with a ground out with the bases loaded with one out. The rest of the day the offense struggled, getting only two hits while striking out 11 times and six total base runners for the game.
The game ended after five innings due to run rule as Venus won 13-2. Coach Jeremy Kirk said it was a case of the “Spring Break Hangover” for his team following a week of since their last game.
Only three of the runs were earned by the pitchers, who allowed seven hits and one walk.
The Indians could only play better as they traveled to Celeste on Saturday. Nocona started the game off strong. Logan Barnes drove in a run with a one out double to right field.
After a walk and a double steal put two base runners in scoring position, Veitenheimer hit a ground ball to third base. The Blue Devils committed an error that allowed both base runners to score on the play. The Indians were up 3-0.
Both teams traded scoreless innings in the second and third inning. In the fourth inning, Celeste was able to take the lead as Nocona had a rough stretch. Thanks to two hits, two walks and back-to-back errors, the Blue Devils led 5-3 heading into the fifth inning.
The Indians answered in the fifth. Three hits loaded the bases with one out. Next batter Carlos Castro then drove in a run with a single to left field. Duece Glasker followed with another line drive, this one to right field that scored the other two base runners. Nocona led 6-5.
The Blue Devils would not let the lead last for long. They retook it 7-6 with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single as the game moved to the sixth inning.
Celeste extended its lead. With two outs, the Indians walked three straight batters to load the bases. The next batter drove in two more runs with a single to go up 9-6.
Despite a leadoff walk, Nocona could not get any offense going in the seventh as the game ended in defeat.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl is this week on June 6-7 and graduating athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo are confirmed to be playing.
In total, seven athletes from Bowie, five from Nocona and three from Saint Jo are planning to play in the all-star games this week. Nocona also will have a pair of coaches participating as well.
The girl’s basketball game kicks off events on June 6, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Falls Memorial High School. In the game, the east team will have Nocona players Avery Crutsinger, Meg Meekins and Reagan Phipps playing while Kyler Spitzer and Clayton Brown coach them one last time.
On the west team, Saint Jo’s Payzlie Cervantes is confirmed to be playing.
The boy’s basketball game is scheduled to follow at 7:30 p.m. On the east team, Bowie’s Boston Farris and Nocona’s Jose Gomez Jr. will be playing.
On June 7, the volleyball games are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with the small school game. On the west team, Nocona’s Kaygan Stone and Saint Jo’s Taylor Patrick are confirmed to play. On the east team, Saint Jo’s Aubrey Morman will get to play her teammate.
There are no local athletes confirmed to be playing in the big school volleyball game.
The final event is the football game, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. It is an all Bowie affair with six players confirmed to be playing for the east team: Justin Clark, Jorge De Leon, Hunter Fluitt and Braden Rhyne, Preacher Chambers and Moh Azouak.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona Independent School District officials looked inward for a new athletic director/head football coach, selecting Jeff Hill for the position.
Hill, who served last year as Nocona football’s offensive coordinator and also led the softball program to the playoffs for the first time in a while as its head coach, was upgraded to the role.
This came on the heels of former Athletic Director Blake Crutsinger, who served in the role the last four years, resigned in May.
For Hill, the choice to apply for the position was a no brainer. His one year in Nocona had impressed upon him and his wife that it was the place they would like to be long term.
“I’m looking for a town to raise my kids in and Nocona has treated my family really well,” Hill said. “There are some really good people. The kids work hard. Everything I am looking for in a hometown is right here in Nocona and I want to try and make it as best as it can be, especially through athletics.”
Before Nocona, Hill served as the athletic director at S&S Consolidated while also spending time at Hebron and Whitewright in his coaching career.
Hill expresses great respect for the departing Crutsinger and besides changing a few small things in how he personally wants to do things, he is not trying to come in with a sweeping restructuring of the whole athletic department.
The program had five of its six team sports make the playoffs, with volleyball playing in the regional final and the girl’s basketball team winning the state championship.
That along with two athletes competing at the state championship in cross country and track with one earning a gold medal, it was one of the more successful school years in athletic program history.
“Coach Crutsinger was awesome and did a great job so honestly just little tweaks, a little bit of structure and cohesion amongst the coaching staff between boys and girls,” Hill said. “I hope to keep the winning tradition going overall in the athletic department.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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