SPORTS
Lady Bulldogs win first five-set match

The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs got an early season test in their first home game on Friday when they hosted 2A Newcastle.
The Lady Cats pushed the Lady Bulldogs to five sets, where the Lady Bulldogs were able to come away with the win in one of the more stranger and up and down five set matches you will ever see.
Prairie Valley came out of the gates hot, bombing away serves that Newcastle had trouble doing anything with. The Lady Bulldogs won the first five points and looked to be in control.
Newcastle settled down and once it did, the taller team started to do some damage to Prairie Valley. The Lady Cats won 12 of the next 15 points and led 12-8.
The Lady Bulldogs then won eight of the next 10 points to retake the lead 16-14. Back came Newcastle, winning eight of the next 10 points and looked poised to take set one up 22-18.
Prairie Valley closed the gap to make it close, but the Lady Cats closed it out by the skin of their teeth to win 25-23 to win set one.
Despite just losing in the most disheartening way, the Lady Bulldogs started set two in eerily similar fashion to set one. The first five points for Prairie Valley came with little challenge from Newcastle, whose serve-receive was struggling to mount any offense.
Unlike the first set though, the Lady Cats never did turn things around. So many points came from unforced errors from Newcastle that the set went by quick. The Lady Cats never reached double digits as the Lady Bulldogs won easily 25-8 to tie the match at one set each.
The question was what sort of set would the fans see in the third? Turns out it would be another competitive one like the first set.
Prairie Valley started out strong, up 4-1 to start. Newcastle would eight of the next 10 points to take the lead 9-6.
The rest of the set was pretty straight forward. The Lady Bulldogs never let the Lady Cats pull away by more than two or three points, but also never could change momentum up to take the lead.
Newcastle closed the set strong with Prairie Valley nipping at its heels, losing by the slimmest of margins 25-23.
Needing to win the next two sets for a chance to win, how the Lady Bulldogs came out mentally to start the fourth set would be important to get the match to a fifth set.
It was another strong start for Prairie Valley to start set four, up 4-1 on the strength of its serving. Strangely, the set played out a lot like the second set. The Lady Cats never found their footing as the Lady Bulldogs lead kept growing and growing with little effort.
It seemed to breeze by even faster than the second set as both teams knew a fifth set was coming to win it all. Prairie Valley won the fourth set 25-6 to force a fifth set.
Coming off a truly one sided set win heading into the final one, you would think the Lady Bulldogs would be fully confident they had the match wrapped up. Unfortunately, with Newcastle showing extended stretches of competitive play and having the advantage of size at the net, there was still unease with which Lady Cats team would show up in the fifth set.
As the fifth set started, the usual hot start Prairie Valley had gotten in each of the first four sets did not come as both teams traded the first four points.
The Lady Bulldogs did take a two point lead after, but Newcastle tied it back at 6-6. Prairie Valley then again took a two point lead that eventually grew to four points 11-7. As long as the Lady Cats did not go an a several point run, the Lady Bulldogs were in control. Thankfully, Prairie Valley stayed in control and won the fifth set 15-11 to win the match 3-2.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers again made a come back win against Perrin-Whitt in a high scoring affair that ended early.
The Lady Panthers won 20-10 against the Lady Pirates, winning after six innings due to run-rule.
Saint Jo’s last game had been 12 days earlier against the same Perrin-Whitt team it had also beaten in a high-scoring game 35-20. Another win would secure the Lady Panthers district title.
Saint Jo started off the game well, scoring five runs in the first inning and one more in the top of the second inning to go up 6-0. The Lady Pirates then reeled off nine runs in the bottom of the second inning which usually would change the whole momentum of the game with them up 9-6.
Perrin-Whitt added one more run in the third inning after holding Saint Jo scoreless, which is another rare feat in the team’s history of playing the other. The Lady Pirates led 10-6 and had momentum.
Then the Lady Panthers scored six runs in the fourth inning to take the lead back. Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up to not allow any more runs in the final three innings while the Lady Panthers added four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.
It was enough to end the game early by one inning, with Saint Jo winning 20-10.
Symbri Evans and Reagan Wilson each had four RBIs to lead the team while Mercedes Diaz was second with three RBIs. The team finished with 20 hits while drawing nine walks.
Defensively, Saint Jo allowed only seven walks, a good improvement from a lot of games where the total in the double-digits while the Lady Panther defense committed four fielding errors and allowed 15 hits.
The win wrapped up a district title for the team. For the girl’s program, it is the fourth team district title this season, having already secured one in volleyball, basketball and track.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians ended their regular season on a sour note against one of the top teams in the district last week.
The Lady Indians lost to Lindsay 12-2, with the game ending after five innings due to run-rule.
Nocona was coming off of securing its first playoff appearance the previous week, but knew it would be tested against a Lady Knights team they had previously lost to handily in late March. The Lady Indians hoped they could competed better and try to treat the game like a playoff game.
Lindsay led after the first inning 1-0. Nocona came back in the second inning with two runs scored by RBI singles from Ashlynn Brown and Gwyndelyn Forsyth to take the lead 2-1. The Lady Knights tied the game with one run in the same inning to make it 2-2.
Unfortunately, the next three innings belonged to Lindsay. The Lady Knights scored six runs in the third inning to grab momentum. Lindsay then scored three runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth inning to end the game early due to run-rule.
The Lady Knights won 12-2.
Nocona ended with four hits while drawing six walks in the game. Lindsay finished with 11 hits and the Lady Indians committed four fielding errors.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up wins against Era last week to secure their second straight playoff appearance with one more game to play.
The Indians beat the Hornets 12-5 and by run-rule 10-0 after four and half innings.
Nocona was coming off of a tough series against Muenster, losing both games, playing well in one but not the other.
The Indians knew they had a good chance to beat Era if they played up to their potential and they showed it from the first inning in game one.
Nocona rallied off seven runs in the first inning before the Hornets had even bat to put itself in a good situation to possibly end the game early.
The only downside was the Indians were not able to offensively keep up the pressure. Nocona added one run in the seventh inning, two in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning.
Era scored four of its five runs in the final inning to put a bit of a sour note on an Indians win that could have finished stronger as Nocona won 12-5.
Miller Jentry led the team with four RBIs while Walker Murphey and Jayce Lehde each drove in two runs. The team had 16 total hits and drew five walks.
On the mound, RJ Walker pitched three innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out seven. The defense committed three fielding errors.
While letting the Hornets off the hook in the first game, Nocona made up for it in game two.
The Indians scored seven runs in one inning again, this time it coming in the second inning. Nocona added three runs the next two innings and shut out Era to secure the win by run-rule after four and half innings. The Indians won 10-0.
Brody Langford and Murphey each drove in two runs each to lead the team. Nocona finished with 10 hits, with four going for extra base hits while Era committed three fielding errors.
On the mound, Walker pitched all five innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out eight and walking two. The defense committed two fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a tough game at Perrin-Whitt last week, with most of the damage coming in the sixth and final inning.
The Pirates scored eight runs in the sixth inning to win the game one inning early due to run-rule 16-6.
The Panthers were coming off an uplifting win against Bellevue that saw them come back several times the previous week on the road. Saint Jo had played Perrin-Whitt in late March and had lost both games in close fashion so the Panthers hoped this time would be a different outcome for them.
The Pirates scored four runs in the first two innings before Saint Jo answered with three runs scored in the third inning. Perrin-Whitt added one run in the same inning and three in the fourth inning.
The Panthers cut the lead down to two runs after scoring three more runs in the fifth inning, making the score 8-6 heading into the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo had an inning from hell, allowing eight runs on five singles, a triple, two walks and a hit batter. The final run scored ended the game early.
Perrin-Whitt won 16-6.
Charlie Barclay led the team with two RBIs while Devin Stewart, Trent Gaston, Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrester each drove in one run. Saint Jo finished with eight hits and drew seven walks.
Unfortunately, the Panthers gave up 12 hits and walked seven batters while committing two fielding errors.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles only played one game last week due to weather concerns later in the week and lost to Perrin-Whitt.
The Pirates won 15-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule in a game the Eagles hopes to forget.
Bellevue had one from Brycen Bancroft and River Trail drew the only walk in a game where not much went right. Eight fielding errors from the Eagles, eight walks issues and six hits added up really fast.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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