SPORTS
Saint Jo baseball loses at Chico
The Saint Jo Panthers played their final regular season game on Friday in Chico.
While the rematch against the Dragons did not go the Panthers way in the 4-1 loss, it was a much more competitive game.
Saint Jo had trouble most of the game getting a handle on Chico’s pitching, but thanks to a good start on the mound from Payton Harris and the best defensive performance of the season, the Panthers were able to hang around.
Saint Jo had no luck getting anyone on base in the first inning. The Panthers did the same against the Dragons on defense as Harris struck out one batter and forced two groundouts.
The Panthers had some good luck in the second inning as Brice Durham was able to get on base thanks to an error at third base. Unfortunately, the other three batters were struck out.
The game stayed scoreless as Harris forced a pop out to right field and a ground out before striking out the next batter for out three.
The third inning was more of the same for Saint Jo with the bats. After the first two batters struck out swinging, ball hit well into the outfield went right into the glove of the center fielder.
The Dragons got a bit of help going offensively in the third inning. With one out, a hit batter and a walk put two runners on base. A single followed, but a quick throw from outfielder Jordan Reeves did not allow a run to come. It did load the bases though.
Another single followed to drive in the first run of the game. A sacrifice fly to center field allowed another run to score.
As if the inning could not get any worse, the next batter hit a two RBI double to make the score 4-0.
It seemed like Chico was rolling at this point. The next batter hit a line drive to left field. The base runner was waved home for what would be the fifth run of the inning. Fortunately, the rally home was fast as catcher Chance Bennett had a beat of a second to prepare to make the tag at home for out number three to end the inning.
The Panthers needed to answer or the lack of anything good happening could fester over to other defensive innings.
Collin Thomas led off the fourth inning by drawing the first walk. Jase Johnson followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Payton Harris then got some revenge with his bat as his single broke up the no-hitter up to that point.
Durham grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base for out two, putting runners at the corners. Durham went to steal second base. Chico tried to throw him out, but an error allowed not only Durham to be safe at second, but allowed Johnson to advance home.
The lead was cut to 4-1 before a strike out ended the scoring chance.
Harris struck out the first two batters, but the next batter hit a single to left field. The base runner was able to steal second base and threatened to score on another base hit. Fortunately Harris struck out the next batter, though it was a dropped third strike so catcher Bennett had to throw the batter out.
Trevor Conner led off the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved Conner to second base. David Moreno then was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base.
Following a line out to right field, Thomas hit a single to left field, but the rally home prevented any runners from scoring.
With the bases loaded and two outs, this was the best chance the Panthers would end up having in trying to cut into the three-run lead. Unfortunately, the next batters struck out.
Harris was able to retire the first two batters with little issue as the defense continued to make the routine plays.
The Dragons next batter tried to spark the offense with a double into the gap. Harris bounced back by striking out the next batter to end the fifth inning.
With too many strike outs up to that point, the Panther hitters tried to get a bat on the ball early in the count. It backfired in the sixth inning as all three batters hit balls right to infielders. Three outs were had after only five pitches.
Durham came in to pitch for Saint Jo. He retired the first two batters with balls hit right to short stop Tyler Cook. A single followed as Chico again tried to get a two-out rally going to try and extend its lead.
The base runner successfully stole second base to be put in scoring position. Durham bounced back by striking out the next batter, though the dropped third strike mean the runner was thrown out at first.
The Panthers had only one more chance in the seventh inning to make up three runs. The two innings they had had success in either scoring or loading the bases had been sparked by being gifted a free base.
That did not come. The three Saint Jo batters were retired with little drama as Chico won 4-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Jackrabbits
A day after football season ended and the Bowie boy’s basketball team played its first game of the season and is working towards a new goal this season.
The Jackrabbits lost that first game against Sanger on Nov. 9, 70-36 before bouncing back a few days later after some practice to beat Bridgeport on Nov. 12, 56-51.
Bowie comes into this season after falling just short of making the playoffs last season.
The team graduated two of its three double-digit scorers along with an experienced post player from its starting rotation last season.
Rayder Mann is the team’s most proven scorer from last season, but other players will be counted on to step up according to Coach Ryan Dykes, who enters his second season at Bowie.
“Rayder Mann and Bradly Horton will need to be the floor generals for us to be successful,” Dykes said. “Boston Farris will be counted on to be a productive player and Gaige Goodman will need to be a factor in the paint on both the offensive and defensive end.”
In the first game against Sanger, Mann led the team with 13 points while Goodman was second with eight points.
The offense was much better overall against Bridgeport. Horton had 15 points, Mann had 14 points and Farris had nine points as Bowie scored in double-digits in every quarter of the game.
Lady Rabbits
In the second week of the season the Bowie Lady Rabbits had up and down performances.
The Lady Rabbits lost at Bridgeport on Nov. 9, 68-30 but bounced back to win at home on Nov. 12 against Boyd 55-42.
Against Bridgeport, Bowie gave up too many three-pointers on defense as the Sissies made 12 in the game.
It was too much for the Lady Rabbits to keep up with.
Parker Riddle led the team with 14 points while Payton Holt was second with five points.
The offense was more successful overall and balanced against Boyd, pulling away in the second half. Hanna Bell led the team with 13 points while Holt was second with eight points and Lanie Moore had seven points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Lady Indians won a tough match in the regional semi-finals against Forsan on Tuesday night in Breckenridge.
The Lady Indians won 3-1, but had to come back big time in the fourth set to close out the match and prevent it going to five.
Nocona came in as slight favorites against a 28 win Lady Buffaloes team that had an up and down pre-district schedule before sweeping through 10 district matches and dropping only two sets.
The first two playoff matches for Forsan were won with little trouble against McCamey and Highland Park, not losing a single set.
The Lady Indians were coming off a 3-0 win against Seymour and 3-1 win against Hawley in its first two playoff rounds. Their tougher district and pre-district schedule while having a similar record made them the favorites in the match.
In the first set, the Lady Buffaloes proved those thoughts on paper meant nothing as it went down to the wire. It could have gone either way and dipped into extra-points, but it was Forsan that came out on top 26-24 to take the early lead 1-0.
Nocona rebounded and easily took set two 25-14 to tie the match at 1-1. Set three was competitive, but the Lady Indians had the lead and some wiggle room as they held on to win 25-20 to take the lead 2-1.
The fourth set the Lady Buffaloes were not going away as they got the lead early and were able to keep it throughout most of the set.
It looked like the match was heading towards a fifth set, where anything could happen at that point. Forsan led 23-17 and just needed to win two more points.
Somehow, some way Nocona grinded back. A couple of won points caused a time out from the Lady Buffaloes to try and quell the small momentum. It did not and every point won exponentially grew that momentum until it was a surge.
The Lady Indians eventually tied the score up at 23-23 before winning the final two points Forsan had been unable to win in the last eight serves. Nocona won 25-23 in a much more emotional celebration for a 3-1 victory because of how the last set was won.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers secured their third straight trip to the regional tournament on Tuesday with an easy win against Woodson.
The Lady Panthers won in straight sets 3-0 against the Cowgirls as they moved on to the next phase in their plan.
Saint Jo came into the match as favorites, with expectations to get back to the regional tournament before the season even started.
Woodson had some good front court players and had picked up steam during district play to win its district. That didn’t mean the Cowgirls didn’t struggle through its first two playoff matches, taking Richland Springs and Crowell to five sets in their victory.
Also, the teams played earlier in the season during a tournament and the Lady Panthers won 2-0. The fact it was more than two months ago indicated little besides both teams knowing what the other brought to the table.
Saint Jo had only stumbled in its previous match against Perrin-Whitt in the first set, with a lot of uncharacteristic errors.
It was important for Coach Kelly Skidmore to get her team’s mindset right to not give up anything easy since Woodson has proven itself to be feisty in its two five-set playoff wins.
The team took her words to heart and led 5-0 to cool off a hot Woodson crowd that was hoping to root its team to an upset win in a playoff run that was full of excitement so far.
Even with the Cowgirls eventually fighting back, Saint Jo was able to attack Woodson’s serve-receive and win more times at the net with its own impressive front court play.
Knowing also where to hit the ball, avoiding too many dump attacks where Woodson was ready and looking to hit it near the sidelines, also played a factor in the Lady Panthers making it look easy.
Saint Jo won 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead.
The second set proved to be the most competitive of the match. The first 10 points were even, but then the Cowgirls had a 4-1 run to open up a 12-8 lead.
The Lady Panthers battled back and quickly tied the score at 15-15 and then 20-20.
Down the stretch, Woodson had trouble landing its serves while Saint Jo made the Cowgirls work for every point. The execution led to the Lady Panthers winning the close set 25-23 as they took a 2-0 lead.
Even with the lead, it was emphasized to Saint Jo players to not give up an inch since Woodson had shown it could take a mile. While the Cowgirls had not come back from 2-0 in the previous two matches, the fact both went five sets and they would need to do it again if they wanted a chance to win meant the Lady Panthers could not take a breath.
With that in mind, Saint Jo started set three and quickly got out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a string of good serves. That seemed to put Woodson’s energy down, even as the Cowgirls clawed back to within one point relatively quickly 8-7.
Then the Lady Panthers went on a 7-3 run to open their lead to 15-10 and there was no fight left for Woodson. Saint Jo’s lead continued to grow as the end of the match proved near.
The Lady Panthers won the set easily 25-14 and the match 3-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870517&T=1
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