SPORTS
Baseball, softball teams start season

Bowie baseball
The Bowie baseball team finally got to start its season on Tuesday with a win against Callisburg.
The Jackrabbits won 9-1 in Coach Tyler Price’s first game at the helm, picking up his first win of his career.
“Our pitchers threw a lot of strikes, got ahead in the count most of the time and our defense did a good job of making routine plays behind them,” Price said. “Offensively, our approach at the plate has plenty of room to improve, but we came up with big hits in key situations which were nice to see.”
Like every team, Bowie is trying to bounce back after a lost season last year that was cut off by COVID-19. Last year’s young team is one year older, but that valuable playing time was lost.
The team will be counting on Kawler Swearingin, Devin Melton, Colton Richey, Parker Price, Cade Thompson, Logan Hutson, Jacob Fallis and Brae Ogle in various different roles.
Some young athletic sophomores moving up include Carson Sanders, Brody Armstrong and A.J. Whatley.
Price expects this team to be led by its strength in its defense and pitching.
“Our biggest area of improvement that I am looking to see for this year is our mentality and approach at the plate,” Price said. “I feel like we are going to be strong defensively and our pitching depth is a huge strength. I want to see us improve our approach at the plate and not just try to step in the box and hit it over the fence every time.”
Bowie’s next game is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Feb. 27 at Graham.
Bowie softball
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got to start their season on Tuesday with a home game against a tough Burkburnett team.
The Lady Rabbits lost a high scoring game 13-9 against the Lady Tigers.
Gracie Duke led Bowie with three RBIs while she hit a double. Alexa Holzer drove in two more runs. Unfortunately, the team struck out 13 times.
Defensively, the team committed eight errors and walked seven batters which is always a bad recipe.
Coming off a more than a week break due to extreme weather conditions, it was not completely unexpected though.
New Coach Michael Dansby sees this season as a rebuilding year with a young team overall. With a lost season from last year due to COVID-19, the early season will be especially important for this group to grow together.
Players Dansby is expecting big things from are Kenzie Short, Duke, Holzer, Hannah Love, Rylie Vieth, Stephanie Allen and Kaylie Kinney.
More girls are expected to join this week, coming over from basketball.
Bowie competes in its first tournament this weekend at Wichita Falls.
Nocona baseball
The Nocona Indians started their season off after a week’s delay with a win against Collinsville on Tuesday.
The Indians won 17-7 against the Pirates to start their season off on the right note.
The team was led offensively by Wesley Murphy and Colton Rusell driving in four runners apiece. Kooper Hansard and Vinit Patel also drove in three runs apiece as the team had its way against Collinsville’s pitching.
Murphy and Hansard split time on the mound, each pitching three innings and striking out six hitters each.
New Coach Leslie Rinehart was proud of the win and how his team put the ball in the play, but is hoping for more out of his pitching and defense. He hopes this is the season that turns the program towards more success.
“This is season we are fairly young so we need to get those guys used to varsity baseball and playing at a higher level,” Rinehart said. “We want to get better every day and work toward getting in the playoffs. Nocona hasn’t been in the playoffs in 16 years I believe so that a big team goal.”
Rinehart is expecting big things from seniors Colton Russell and Vinit Patel and along with experienced junior Kooper Hansard.
Nocona plays in its first tournament this weekend at the Bell’s Invitational.
Nocona softball
The Nocona Lady Indians opened their season with a close win against Quanah on Wednesday.
The Lady Indians won 7-6 against Quanah after leading for most of the game.
Nocona’a MaKenna Nobile drove in two runs to lead the team. Laci Stone, Paige James and Logan Patterson drove in one run apiece to also help the offense along.
Stone struck out 10 batters in her five innings while walking only one batter. Paige James came in to pitch the final two innings to pick up the win.
New Coach Tanya Samples thought her team looked sharp considering the team had a week off due to bad weather that delayed the start of the season.
“We are really focusing on our state of mind,” Samples said. “Hustle, but don’t rush. Just like in all sports communication is key to make sure we are all on the same page moving toward the same goal. We are looking to improve everytime we touch the field and that is what we will do. State of mind.”
Nocona softball has been improving little by little in the last several years. Last year the team was looking good heading into district play before COVID-19 canceled the season.
A lot of players return and are looking to surprise teams this year, with a playoff berth being a good goal in the usually tough district.
Nocona is scheduled to play at noon on Feb. 27 in Hirchi.
SPORTS
Bowie Softball Interview

SPORTS
Baseball Roundup

Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up dominant wins against Chico in their series against the Dragons last week.
The Indians won both games 11-0 by run-rule after five innings to get their first district wins of the season.
Nocona was coming off losing both games against Lindsay the previous week in its first district series and bounced back in a big way.
In the first game at home last week, the Indians scored six runs in the first inning and five in the third inning which proved to be all the offense they needed.
Kutter Cabrera led the team with three RBIs while Miller Jentry was second with two RBIs. The team finished with nine hits and drew eight walks.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched a shut out while striking out seven and allowing three hits. Defensively, the team committed one fielding error.
The second game saw Nocona score all of its runs in the first three innings, highlighted by scoring six runs in the second inning.
Murphey hit a three-run home run to lead the team while Brody Langford and Landon Fatheree each had two RBIs.
On the mound RJ Walker had a big day, throwing a perfect four innings which means he did not allow a hit or walk anyone. He also struck out eight batters, which put him over 100 career strikeouts in high school. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their series against Bryson last week.
The first game was a close 3-0 loss, but the second game was 11-0, done after four and half innings due to run-rule.
The Panthers were coming off close losses to Perrin-Whitt from the previous week. They were hoping they could turn their fortune around playing another 1A program.
Unfortunately in the first game, the Cowboys got off to a good start, scoring three runs in the first inning, with two coming with two outs due to an error and a dropped third strike.
Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up after that to not allow another run in the final six innings. Unfortunately, the Panthers had only two hits and four base runners all game as they lost the close game 3-0.
Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrest had the only two hits for Saint Jo in the game as the team struck out 18 times. Trent Gaston ended the game allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out five batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Unfortunately, things did not go as well several days later in game two. Bryson scored three runs in both the first and second innings before scoring five runs in the third inning. Saint Jo was not able to get a hit and drew two walks in the game.
The Panther defense committed six fielding errors which led to only three of the 11 runs given up were earned by the pitching staff who gave up five hits, walked six and hit four batters.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played Perrin-Whitt last week in a series.
The Pirates won the first game 11-1 by run-rule and the second game score was not updated on Game Changer.
The Eagles were coming off one-sided losses to Bryson the previous week in their first district series and was hoping to play better.
Bellevue did get out to an early lead in the first inning. River Trail hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, which proved to be the highlight of the game.
Perrin-Whitt scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, two in the fourth inning and five in the fifth inning to win 11-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Softball Roundup

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers picked up a high-scoring win against Perrin-Whitt on Thursday to get their second straight district win and some revenge.
The Lady Panthers won 35-20 against the Lady Pirates, nearly equaling the total when both programs played on the gridiron during the fall.
Saint Jo was coming off a big win the previous week against Bryson, but had lost the last time it played Perrin-Whitt by 10 runs in another high-scoring game.
The Lady Panthers did not start the game off well, allowing 11 runs in the top of the first inning before they had even gotten a chance to bat yet.
Most teams would crumble, but Saint Jo fought back slowly at first before picking things up.
The Lady Panthers scored three runs in the first inning to cut the lead to 11-3.
Perrin-Whitt added four more runs in the second inning to go up 15-3, which in most games is insurmountable.
Saint Jo answered with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, cutting the lead to 15-11.
The Lady Pirates scored five runs in the third inning and went up by nine runs 20-11. Then the Lady Panthers had a monster offensive inning that went on for awhile.
Saint Jo scored 18 runs in the third inning, not only getting its first lead, but going up by nearly double-digits 29-20.
The Lady Panthers had the momentum and it showed on defense in the fourth inning, allowing no runs for the first time all game by either team.
Saint Jo then went for the kill, scoring six runs to end the game early due to run-rule with the final score being 35-20.
Mercedes Diaz led the team with seven RBIs as she hit one of the two home runs for the Lady Panthers, with the other going to Lily Cook. Maxey Johnson was right behind with six RBIs and Kamron Skidmore had four.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians started the second round of district with a dominant win against Era on Monday.
The Lady Indians won 16-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule against the Lady Hornets.
Nocona went 3-2 in the first round of district, only losing to big dogs Lindsay and Muenster. The first time the Lady Indians had played Era, it had been a close 5-2 win for Nocona so the team knew it had to come to play.
The Lady Indians started off well, scoring five runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Nocona added three runs during the next two innings to go up 8-0 as the Lady Indian defense shut down the Lady Hornets.
Nocona then went for the kill, scoring eight runs in the fourth inning to end the game early, winning 16-0.
Reagan Phipps and Tinley Cable each had home runs. Phipps had a team high three RBIs while Cable, Heidi Atteberry and Gwyndelyn Forsyth each finished with two RBIs.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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