SPORTS
Lady Rabbits end their season
The Bowie Lady Rabbits ended their season on a tough note on Friday against Breckenridge.
A bad sixth inning led to the Lady Bucks to win 14-2 due to run rule as the Lady Rabbits season ended.
Breckenridge scored on a single following an error trying to pick a runner off at first base which allowed her to advance to third base. A walk put two runners on base, but thankfully pitcher Kaylie Kinney struck out the next batter to keep the score only 1-0.
Kenzie Short led off and drew a walk for Bowie. She would later steal second base and a wild pitch allowed her to advance to third base. Unfortunately, a pop up to the pitcher and two strike outs followed to end the first inning.
The Lady Bucks loaded the bases with one out. Following a strike out, a wild pitch allowed one run to score. A walk loaded the bases again where another wild pitch scored another run to make it 3-0, before a line out to second base got Bowie out of the jam.
Addie Farris led off for the Lady Rabbits and hit a single. She would unfortunately be caught in a pickle and get thrown out on the base paths. A strike out followed to make it two outs.
Kinney drew a walk. Traycee Stewart then hit a ball to third base that induced an error to put two runners on base. Unfortunately, the next batter flew out to end the second inning.
Despite giving up two singles, Bowie was able to hold the Lady Bucks scoreless in the third inning with little drama.
This was the Lady Rabbits chance to get back into the game with the top of their lineup coming up. Short again led off by drawing a walk. Two groundouts following that allowed her to advance to third base again. Unfortunately, she would be stranded there as a strike out ended the scoring chance.
Breckenridge led off the fourth inning with a single. A single into right field followed two batters later. An error on the throw into the infield allowed the base runner at first to score and extend the Lady Bucks lead to 4-0.
A fielding error followed on the next hit to put two runners on base, but thankfully a ground out followed to end things before they got worse for Bowie.
The Lady Rabbits needed some luck to go their way since nothing had with their bats yet in the game. Farris drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Stephanie Allen followed by getting hit by a pitch. Kinney went to sacrifice bunt, but was able to reach first safely to load the bases up with no outs.
Despite Bowie getting runners into scoring position and coming up empty in the first three innings, surely this was going to be when the Lady Rabbits would score some runs and take some momentum away from a Breckenridge team that had always seemed to find a way to score at least one run so far in every inning besides one up to that point.
Unfortunately, a strike out and a double play followed to end the fourth inning with Bowie coming away empty handed.
With two runners on base, an error at shortstop allowed one run to score. A hit drove in two more runs to up the score 7-0. Melton tried to make score on an inside the park home run thanks to some throwing errors, but was thrown out at home for out three.
Short led off with her third walk of the game. Madison Hartn followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. A throwing error trying to throw out Short allowed her to score Bowie’s first run.
Following a strike out, Alexa Holzer got hit by a pitch and Farris drew a walk to load the bases again.
The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice as Breckenridge got the force out at home for out two. Kinney followed and hit an infield pop fly. Thankfully, an error on the catch allowed Kinney to reach first and Holzer to score, cutting the lead to 7-2.
Unfortunately, Farris tried to come home as well and was thrown out for out three.
While the Lady Rabbits finally got some good momentum going for them, it was short-lived. While the defense had done a good job of limiting the Lady Bucks to only a few runs each inning and avoiding disaster, it came in the sixth inning.
Four singles, two fielding errors and two walks allowed Breckenridge to double its score, upping the lead to 14-2 and on the verge of winning by run rule.
Bowie would need to score at least three runs to avoid that fate. Unfortunately, the Lady Rabbits bats were out of juice. The first two batters struck out, and a ground out to second base ended the season.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
It was announced last week Nocona Athletic director/football coach Blake Crutsinger is resigning from his position at the school after serving four years.
Crutsinger said now is the time for his family to make the move, with his daughter Avery graduating after spending four years at Nocona and with his son Kellar about to enter high school and wanting the same for him at another school.
“With her going off to college, she had a really good four years here and just looking at Keller heading into high school and exploring some opportunities that might be better for him, it is just time,” Crutsinger said.
Crutsinger went 19-22 overall, helping the Indians to two playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. The team’s best season was 2023, when it went 8-2 and won the district title, the first one in 11 years for the program.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo senior Payzlie Cervantes signed her letter of intent to play college basketball last week at Highland College in Kansas. She also played volleyball, softball and ran track at Saint Jo. “After talking with Coach Tana Coleman, I really connected with her and loved the campus vibe and direction she wants for the team,” Cervantes said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my basketball career while getting my associates degree in nursing to become a registered nurse.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Last week Montague County had five girls from Bowie and Saint Jo compete at the state tennis tournament, and one team brought back some hardware.
Sisters from Bowie, junior Heidi and freshman Willow Siebert brought back a bronze medal competing in the 3A girl’s doubles bracket.
The pair were the first people from the program to make it back to state since their half sisters, Meagan and Myah Russell, advanced nine years previously.
The Sieberts came into state as a two-seed, having finished second at the regional tournament the previous week.
The duo was ready as they blew through their first two matches. They beat a team from Hondo in the first round with the scores being 6-1, 6-1 and dominated even more in the second round against a team from Tatum, winning 6-0, 6-1.
That got them through to the second day of the tournament, but Coach Dayna Boothe was worried they had had it too easy on day one.
Playing in the semifinals, the Lady Rabbits faced a familiar foe, a team from Peaster they had beaten in the regional tournament the previous week. Unfortunately, near the end of the first set, with the Sieberts fighting to stay alive, Heidi went after a high lob and slammed into the fence. She hurt her right arm and had to play through it for the rest of the match.
They lost the match with the scores being 6-3, 6-3.
It was an all Peaster final, with the other side of the bracket producing the team that both beat the Sieberts at the regional tournament and won their second straight state title.
Still, despite the disappointment, Bowie is bringing back a bronze medal. According to Boothe, after contacting people who would know dating back to the late 1970s, it could possibly be the program’s first medals from the state tournament in tennis.
Of course, Bowie was not the only school represented. Saint Jo had Taylor Patrick competing in girl’s singles and the team of Bailie Nobile and Maxey Johnson competing in girl’s doubles in the 1A classification.
Senior Patrick was making her third appearance at the state tournament, but her first in the singles competition.
She finished third at the regional meet which meant she had a tough first round matchup against a second seed from Fort Davis.
It took everything from Patrick in a match that lasted two and a half hours. She went down in the first set 6-2, but rebounded in a tight second set to win 6-4 to force a third and final set. She had the momentum and won 6-2 to move on.
She had to summon the energy to play later that day against a fresh one-seed player from Utopia. Patrick lost 6-1, 6-1 to end her Saint Jo career. Her opponent would go on to finish second.
Juniors Johnson and Nobile were making their first appearances at the state meet after finishing second at the regional tournament. In the first round they played a tough match against a team from Marathon. It seemed evenly matched throughout, but small mistakes at inopportune times cost them throughout the match. In the end, the team lost by the scores of 6-3, 6-3.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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