SPORTS
Nocona loses to Seymour in shootout
The Nocona baseball team had a frustrating home opener on Tuesday as they faced Seymour.
The Indians ended up losing 17-10 in a game that was always within reach thanks to the high run production from both teams, but could never capitalize to make it a close game.
A leadoff walk followed by two hits put the Panthers up 2-0 before any outs were recorded. A batter later, a ground out was good to score another run as Nocona trailed 3-0 before batting.
The Indians answered by loading the bases with two walks and a single. Deuce Glasker drove in a run with a single. Next batter John Womack drew a walk to score another runner to cut the lead to 3-2.
Unfortunately for Nocona, the next two batters struck out with the bases loaded as the game moved to the second inning.
A lead off triple came back to bite the Indians as that runner ended up scoring three batters later on a wild pitch. After back-to-back two out walks, the next batter doubled to drive both runners in to give Seymour a 6-2 lead.
Nocona was able to cut into the lead when Tyler Richards drove in a run with a single. Three batters later, Richards was able to score on a wild pitch to make the score 6-4.
With two other base runners on, the Indians were in position to score more, but the next batter grounded out to first base to end the second inning.
In a weird inning, Nocona walked four batters. Thanks to wild pitches and passed balls, the Panthers were able to score three runs despite having no hits or RBIs to make their lead grow to 9-4. The Indians drew two walks, but could not capitalize as the game moved to the fourth inning.
Back-to-back singles to start the inning allowed Seymour to score another run. With a hit batter and a walk loading the bases, the Panthers scored a run on a passed ball to make the lead 11-4.
Thankfully, the Indian pitcher Jason Sparkman was able to strike out the next two batters to stop the bleeding early. Nocona could not capitalize on a drawn walk that was put in scoring position with two outs as the game moved into the fifth inning.
With Seymour on an offensive roll and three runs away from run ruling the Indians, Nocoan instead delivered its first three up, three down inning with no base runner.
Unfortunately Nocona could not cut into the lead as another drawn walk ended up being stranded in scoring position.
Besides a leadoff batter reaching base due to a fielding error, Sparkman was able to strike out the next three batters to keep the Indians in the game. A drawn walk and a hit batter put two runners on base with one out.
Logan Barnes came through with a bunt that scored the runner. Blayne Gomez then came through with another run as he stole home. Barnes then scored as a bad throw when he was stealing third allowed him to come home to make the score 11-7 heading into the seventh inning.
Despite the momentum, the Panthers struck back in a big way with six hits, a hit batter and a fielding error that allowed them to score six runs in the final inning to give them their biggest lead of the game 17-7.
Nocona started off the last inning strong with two lead off walks. The next two batters struck out to get the Indians down to their final out.
Womack scored on another steal home and then Gomez drove in another run. Two batters later Gomez was able to steal home to cut the lead to 17-10. Unfortunately the next batter popped out to second base to end the game.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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