The Bowie Jackrabbit baseball team is matched up with Bangs for their upcoming bi-district playoff series.
The Jackrabbits probably come in as slight favorites after finishing second in the district and giving district champion and state-ranked Holliday its only district loss and barely losing by one run in the second game.
Despite no seniors in the starting lineup and a team with little varsity experience due to last year’s canceled season, the team, along with first year head coach Tyler Price, has vastly exceeded expectations so far in the regular season.
With a 19-12 overall record and a 9-3 district record, the team was able to beat every team in district at least once. Several times the team has pulled off come from behind victories, with walk-off wins against Holliday, Jacksboro and Dodd City.
The Bangs Dragons come into the series after a 14-11 regular season record and an 8-6 record in district play. Price feels like his team will have to play their game to beat Bangs at least two times.
“They have a couple of good arms and can hit the ball,” Price said. “I believe they do a good job of capitalizing on other teams mistakes.”
The one big phrase for this Jackrabbits team is concentrating on playing their brand of baseball.
If they do that, they believe they can compete with anyone.
“We like to create chaos with our base running, athleticism and play great defensively,” Price said. We like our pitchers to work ahead, hit spots and trust their defense behind. Offensively, we look to drive the ball gap to gap and our goal is to spin the game out of control for the opposing team. Our brand of baseball is also playing as a team and not as an individual.”
The series is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 7 and 1 p.m. on May 8 at Walt Driggers Field at McMurry University. Game three will follow game two if needed.

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