The Nocona baseball team lost to Jacksboro on Friday in a game that got away from the Indians real quick.
The Tigers won 23-5 in five innings due to the run rule as Nocona struggled to stop the hot bats from Jacksboro.
The Indians led off in the game with Trey Pepper drawing a walk. A balk allowed him to reach second base. Kooper Hansard then hit a single to right field. Pepper advanced to third base.
Somehow, Hansard was thrown out at first base when the ball was thrown back into the infield.
Ty Presley and Wesley Murphey followed with drawn walks, but not before passed ball allowed Pepper to score the game’s first run.
Colton Russell hit into a fielder’s choice with Murphey out at second base. Russell then attempted to steal second. A fielding error trying to throw him out allowed Presley to score to make the Indians lead 2-0.
Jacksboro did not take long to answer. The Tigers scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to two hits, two walks, two hit batters and two fielding errors.
Nocona tried to answer back. Johnny Stone led off and was able to get on third base thanks to a fielding error. Matthew Page then drew a walk with one out to further the pressure put on the Tigers defense.
Unfortunately, that is where both base runners would stay. The next batter struck out and then a pop out ended the scoring chance.
Jacksboro continued to pour in the runs. Four hits and a dropped third strike led to the Tigers scoring four more runs to up their lead to 11-2 heading into the third inning.
It did not get any better for the Indians. They failed to get any base runner on base while Jacksboro scored six more runs thanks to four fielding errors, four walks and one hit batter.
The Tigers lead was 17-2 heading into the fourth inning.
Nocona showed some life on offense. Miguel Olivares led by getting hit b a pitch. Stone followed with a single that allowed Olivares to advance to third base.
Stone successfully stole second base as an error from Jacksboro trying to throw him out allowed Olivares to score. It also allowed Stone to reach third base.
Pepper was then hit by a pitch to get on base. The Tigers attempted to pick him off at first base, but an error allowed Stone to score and Pepper to advance to second base before a groundout was hit for out three.
Still the Indians had doubled their runs with the score 17-4 and hoped it could build momentum to try and cut into the big lead.
To do that they would need to shut down Jacksboro’s offense which they just could not do on Friday night.
The Tigers scored six runs on seven hits and one dropped third strike to up their lead to 23-4 heading into the fifth inning.
Nocona would need to score at least 10 runs to avoid being run ruled. Charley Hilton led off by drawing a walk. Murphey followed up with a single.
A ground out moved both runners to second and third base.
After a strike out, a balk allowed pinch runner Jackson Nunneley to come in to score and make it 23-5 before a groundout for out three ended the game.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.