SPORTS
Baseball season has started
Bowie
The Bowie baseball team played its first official game on Saturday at Graham.
The Jackrabbits would lose a high scoring game 10-7 in a game they never led, though they made some great moves in the final two innings.
The Steers scored runs in the first two innings to go up 2-0. Bowie answered in the top of the third inning with a run as Devin Melton drove in Brae Ogle to cut the lead to 2-1.
Graham would score six runs the next two innings to up its lead to 8-1.
The Jackrabbits would cut into that lead in the top of the sixth inning as Weston Partridge hit an RBI double and Braden Armstrong hit a two-run home run, making the score 8-4.
The Steers would get a little more breathing room back as they scored two more runs in response, going up 10-4 heading into the seventh and final inning.
Bowie needed to score at least six runs or more to continue the game after its at bats. The Jackrabbits got things going with Melton driving in another run. Zane Bell then drove in two runs on a single to cut the lead to 10-7.
The Jackrabbits play in their first tournament this weekend at the ACS tournament.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough first outing against Sanger at home on Friday.
Sanger had explosive third fourth and fifth innings to end the game after five innings winning 19-0.
The first two innings saw both teams struggle to score, though both teams got runners on.
Sanger just started to string hits together that could not be defended as the runs started to pile on in numbers.
In the end, the final score looked as ugly as it did. Highlights included Jason Sparkman hitting a triple and the defense committing no errors.
The Indians play in their first tournament this weekend as it hosts the Nocona Classic.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers played in their second tournament last week at Era and did some good things.
The Panthers went 2-2 even with some of the team missing some games due to basketball commitments.
Saint Jo first played Tioga and lost a one-sided game 10-0 after four innings. The Bulldogs consistently scored runs, but it was not until the six run fourth inning did things start to get out of hand as the Panthers struggled to score.
Saint Jo was able to move past that game as the next day it played the tournament hosts. The Panthers won a closely contested game 4-1, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to pull ahead and get the win.
Right after that game was completed Saint Jo had to play Petrolia. It was another close game, but the Panthers fell behind after the second inning saw the Pirates score five runs.
The Panthers could not come back in the next two innings as they lost 6-4 after four innings.
Saint Jo ended the tournament on Saturday playing 4A Lake Worth’s JV team. The Panthers took it to the young squad, scoring two runs or more in four of the five innings played, winning 11-0.
Saint Jo plays in its final tournament this weekend at Poolville and will have its full team with basketball season coming to an end.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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