SPORTS
Bowie clinches playoff spot with win at Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians hosted Bowie on Tuesday in a game that went all seven innings unlike the first game on March 22.
The Lady Rabbits won 8-3 to clinch a playoff berth and had a steady lead for most of the game, but the Lady Indians were able to do some good things early.
Bowie failed to get any base runners in its first at bats as Nocona’s Laci Stone and the defense made the plays to retire the side. On offense, Gisel Hernandez hit the first pitch she saw for a base hit. An error at third base allowed two runners on with no outs.
Trying to set up a bunt, the Lady Rabbits were ready. They charged and were able to pull the double play for the runners at third and first.
Next batter Karlee Keck hit a ground ball that got past the third base basemen for an error. This allowed the Lady Indians to score and go up 1-0 after one inning of play.
The lead was not safe. Gracie Bentley led off for Bowie. She was able to reach second thanks to a fielding error. After a passed ball allowed her to reach third, Jasmine Jones hit a double into the gap to tie the game up.
Addie Farris then laid down a bunt. A fielding error allowed Jones to score to give the Lady Rabbits a 2-1 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. Despite loading the bases with two walks, Stone was able to force a pop out to second base to get out of further damage for Nocona.
After the first two batters were retired, Laney Yates hit a single to try and threaten the defense. Bowie’s Alexa Holzer was able to strike out her third batter of the game to get out of the inning before anything else happened.
In the third inning, with the bat Holzer was able to reach first thanks to an error with two outs. Courtesy runner Hannah Love was able to steal second base, where Jones drove her in for another run with a double to right field and the Lady Rabbits lead at 3-1.
The Lady Indians did build some momentum in response. With two outs Koryahanna Ramsey hit a single. She was followed by Keck hitting a single to right field, allowing Ramsey to reach third base.
Nocona tried to pull the double steal, but Bowie was there. The throw to second was on time, but forgoing the inning ending out there shortstop Chelsey Ketchum threw the ball home to get the runner out for the third out.
The fourth inning saw the Lady Rabbits pull away. Leadoff batter Jayci Logan beat the throw to first for a single. She was then caught stealing second before back-to-back singles from Kylie Fleming and Ketchum put runners at the corners.
After a steal by Ketchum, Season Eudey laid down a bunt. A bad throw for an error allowed one run to score. Eudey stole second base and Carrington Davis followed with a line drive single to right field to drive that drove in both runners to make the score 6-1.
For the Lady Indians, Laramie Hayes was hit by a pitch with one out. She was able to advance to second on a wild pitch and looked to steal third, but was thrown out.
It was unfortunate for Nocona as Jenna McBride hit a single to left field. She was able to reach second on an error from the catcher, but Holzer was able to strike out the next batter for the third out.
Jones continued driving in runs even with no one on base as she led off the fifth inning with a sole home run to center field. Farris followed it up with a double to right field. A wild pitch allowed Farris to go to third base. Fleming grounded out to the shortstop, but it was enough to get Farris home to make the score 8-1.
Besides a one out single from Hernandez, the Lady Indians did not do much offensively as the game advanced to the sixth inning.
Bowie failed to score as a single from Bentley with two outs was the only thing that was produced. All three batters made contact within the first two pitches they saw, but all three were hit right to Nocona fielders.
On offense with two outs, Hayes hit a solo home run to left field on the first pitch she saw to cut the lead to 8-2 as the game moved to the final inning.
Jones continued her great day with a leadoff double in the seventh inning. The Lady Indians countered by forcing a double play in the next at bat to put an end to any more runs from the Lady Rabbits with a strike out for the third out.
Yates led off the seventh inning for the Lady Indians with an inside the park home run, helped by a fielding error in the outfield, that cut the lead to 8-3 and gave Nocona some hope.
Taylor Richards followed it up with a single to left field and Hernandez was then hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs.
Bailey Grant came in to pitch in relief, leaving the previous game early due to elbow pains. Trying to pull a double steal, the lead runner was thrown out at third base for the first out. Grant then struck out a batter for the second out. The final out was then popped up to third base to end the game before the Lady Indians were allowed to gain any more momentum. Bowie won 8-3.
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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