SPORTS
Saint Jo loses at Muenster
The Saint Jo Panthers had another stiff challenge on Friday as they traveled to Muenster to take on another 2A school during district play.
It was tough going for the Panthers as too many walks on defense and not enough hits on offense led to a 13-0 loss to the Hornets in five innings.
Saint Jo started the game at the plate and things looked promising. Connor Thompson led off with a single. A wild pitch allowed Thompson to advance to second base and into scoring position. Next batter Tyler Cook drew a walk to put two runners on and no outs.
A ground out for the first out advanced both runners into scoring position. Unfortunately, the next two batters struck out swinging to end the scoring chance for the Panthers.
After getting the first batter out, Muenster collected two hits two walks and a hit batter for two runs and the bases loaded. After striking out a batter for the second out, a single up the middle scored two more runs for the Hornets to give them a 4-0 lead before Saint Jo got the third out.
With two outs, Pepe Gam hit a single to get on base. The next batter Trevor Conner hit a ground ball and was able to reach first thanks to an error at first base. The Panthers again had two runners on base, but could not take advantage of it as the next player popped up to second base for the third out.
The Hornets made Saint Jo aware the first inning on offense was no fluke by them. The leadoff batter hit a home run on the third pitch. Three more hits, two walks and a few errors allowed Muenster to up the score to 10-0 before the first out of the inning was recorded.
The Panthers gave up one more hit, but were able to retire the next two batters to end the second inning.
With all the success Saint Jo’s hitters had had up to that point with no runs, the third inning the Panthers had no luck. All three batters were retired in order as no base runners were able to get on base and threaten the defense.
The Hornets led off with two drawn walks. Saint Jo was able to get two quick outs to keep the runners from scoring. Unfortunately, the Panthers pitchers could not find the strike zone as two more walks drove in a run to make the score 11-0 before Saint Jo could collect the third out.
In the fourth inning, the Panthers Cody Thurman was able to get one base with a single and two outs. Trying to be aggressive, the pinch runner stole second base and was then caught trying to steal third base to end the chance.
The Hornets were able to hit another solo-home run. Muenster then added another run with a walk, a fielding error and a single to make the score 13-0. Another walk loaded the bases, but Saint Jo was able to turn the inning ending double play to put an end to the bleeding early as the game moved to the fifth inning.
The Panthers needed to score at least four runs to avoid being run ruled. Unfortunately, they could not get any base runners on as they were sat down in order, losing 13-0.
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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