The Bowie Lady Rabbits started off district play Tuesday night in Nocona with a win.
The Lady Rabbits won 10-5 thanks in large part to a great opening inning.
Bowie came into the game not at 100 percent. The team had injuries to some starters and a 2-3 record from the previous week.
The Lady Indians were coming in on a roll. Nocona went 5-2 the previous week of games, were opening at home and looking to give the rival Lady Rabbits more of a challenge than they have in recent memory. Instead, Bowie started the game with a bang.
Addie Farris got things going with a one out double. That was followed by three singles from Layla Felts, Alexa Holzer and Madison Hartin that drove in two runs.
A strikeout followed for the second out of the inning.
Holzer scored on a passed ball. Rylie Vieth then drove in Hartin on a single. Kayden Shafer reached first base on a dropped third strike.
Kaylie Kinney then drove in a run with a single down the third base line. Stephanie Allen then reached first on another dropped third strike.
Farris brought it all back again with another double that cleared the loaded bases to up Bowie’s score to 8-0 in the opening inning. The next batter then popped out to first base for the third out to end Nocona’s suffering.
The Lady Indians tried to respond. Jenna McBride led off with a drawn walk followed by Katy Barrett reaching first thanks to a fielding error.
Lady Rabbit pitcher Kinney rallied forcing two outs before hitting Laney Yates to load the bases. Kinney bounced back as she picked off the runner at third base for the third out to get out of the first inning unscathed.
Bowie’s Holzer led off the second inning with a single. She advanced to second on a groundout, but was caught stealing third for the second out.
Traycee Stewart then drew a walk with two outs. She stole second base to put herself in scoring position where Vieth drove her in with a double to up the Lady Rabbits lead to 9-0 before the next batter struck out for out three.
The Lady Indians did not do much in response. The next three batters were sat down in order with little fuss as the game moved to the third inning.
Nocona made a change a pitcher as Sydnee Mowery came in for relief. After striking out the lead off batter, Mowery got into some trouble.
Mowery hit Allen, who would advance to second on a steal and third thanks to a passed ball. Farris then drew walk.
Mowery would strike out the next batter, but hit Holzer to load up the bases. Mowery would get out of the jam by forcing a ground out at second base.
The Lady Indians were then finally able to get things going offensively. Paige James reach first on an error and Cobi Womack drew a walk. With two outs Tobi Cable then hit a double that drove both runners in to cut the lead to 9-2.
Nocona kept that momentum in the fourth inning. Bowie batters were set down one-two-three with little drama. The Lady Indians Logan Patterson then led off with a drawn walk followed by back-to-back singles from Nobile and Kamryn Weaver that drove in one run.
A passed ball on a third strike allowed Mowery to reach first and then Nobile and Weaver to score, cutting Bowie’s lead to 9-5.
The Lady Rabbits needed something to gain back a little bit of the momentum they had at the beginning of the game. They got that in the fifth inning as Allen hit a solo home run to center field.
While Bowie failed to get any other offense going during the inning and it was only one run to up the lead to 10-5, it proved to crucial to stop Nocona’s steady comeback attempt.
The Lady Rabbits Kinney sat down the Lady Indians with three straight groundouts as the game went into the sixth inning.
Bowie’s Hartin hit a one out single to try and get some offense going, but was picked off at first base.
Nocona’s Nobile looked to reach first base thanks to a bobbled ground ball, but an awkward fall into the field of play led to her getting called out much to the chagrin of the Lady Indians since she was injured on the play.
Kinney then got the final two outs of the inning as Holzer made two great catches in the left field, including one where she collided with teammate Allen.
The seventh inning saw Bowie try to get a two out rally going. Kinney drew a walk and Allen reached first thanks to a fielding error. Unfortunately for the Lady Rabbits, the next batter struck out to end the chance.
Nocona had one last chance to try and either come back or take the lead. Bowie’s Kinney instead forced a line out to first base and struck out the last two Lady Indian batters to end the game and secure the 10-5 win.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.