SPORTS
Bowie softball outlasts Nocona 19-18
The Bowie Lady Rabbits survived a 37-run epic against rival Nocona in Tuesday’s opening district game at home.
The Lady Rabbits won 19-18 in walk-off fashion with a Rylie Vieth RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
It was a chilly night that seemed to have an affect on everything, making it not the best played game of softball. Still, it never lacked action or drama.
The Lady Indians struck first in the opening inning. Reagan Phipps scored on a passed ball and Tobie Cable scored thanks to an error on her steal at third base. Nocona led 2-0.
Bowie answered back in the same inning. Vieth hit an RBI single followed by Stephanie Allen’s 3-run inside-the-park home run to give the Lady Rabbits a 4-2 lead.
The second inning passed with no runs, which would prove to be the only inning where that happened.
Cable tied the score with a two-RBI double in the third inning. Kennedy Stone then drew a walk with the bases loaded for another run. Stephany Gutierrez followed with a groundball that induced an error at first base that allowed two more runs to make it 7-4.
The Lady Rabbits hit back though. Stewart hit a three-run inside-the-park home run to tie the game. Vieth followed with an RBI triple. Allen then hit an RBI double. An error in the outfield allowed Allen to come in to score to put Bowie up 10-7.
The fourth inning saw Nocona tie the score back up at 10-10. Cable hit a two-RBI triple. Kirby then drove her home on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Lady Rabbits got back the lead before the end of the fourth inning. Addie Farris hit an RBI single to make it 11-10 Bowie heading into the fifth inning.
After the Lady Indians failed to score, the Lady Rabbits looked to take a definitive lead with a seven run inning.
Sadie Britt’s groundball induced an error at shortstop that allowed one run to score. Farris drove in a run with a single. Kenzie Short drove two runs with a single down the first baseline. Vieth drove in two more runs with a fly-ball single to right field. Finally Allen hit a single up the middle to drive in one more run to give Bowie an 18-10 lead.
Nocona was not just going to take that rough fifth inning and not respond though. Cable drove in run on a double to left field. Later an error at third base allowed Cable to score.
Two batters later Avery Crutsinger drove in a run on a groundball single to right field. It cut the lead to 18-13.
The Lady Indians were able to keep that momentum up on defense by preventing Bowie from scoring any runs as the game went to the seventh and final inning.
Nocona was able to come all the way back to tie the game up. Sydnee Mowry drove in a run with a groundball single. Cable then hit a groundball to shortstop that induced an error and allowed another run to score.
Kirby then hit a groundball single to left field that allowed to two runs to score. Following two strikeouts and with the tying run on base, Crutsinger came through with a groundball single to left field that tied the score at 18-18.
Not rattled by the Lady Indians one and half innings of great play to make up an eight-run difference, Bowie composed itself and executed to prevent the game from going into extra-innings.
Stewart led off with a single. Short followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved Stewart to second and into scoring position. Vieth followed with a line drive single to center field that was enough for Stewart to score the winning run.
The game ended with all participants shivering after three hours and Bowie on top winning 19-18.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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