SPORTS
Nocona softball loses to Tioga
The Nocona Lady Indians played their first game of the season on Tuesday against Tioga.
The Lady Bulldogs won the high scoring game 13-9 against the Lady Indians.
With less than a week of practice thanks to the ice storm the previous week, it was important Nocona dust off the cobwebs with district play starting next week.
Tioga started off the game strong with a walk and a double with its first two batters. After a groundout, a single scored both runners to put the Lady Bulldogs up 2-0. The Lady Indians failed to get any batter on base as the game moved to the second inning.
Tioga was able to load the bases up with three singles, but Nocona’s defense was able to hold and keep the Lady Bulldogs from scoring.
Skye Kirby led off with a single for the Lady Indians and was followed by a successful bunt base hit from Maddi Ezzell. Unfortunately, a double-play followed by a groundout ended the second inning with no runs.
Tioga scored two more runs on an RBI double and an RBI single to make 4-0. It could have been worse as the Lady Bulldogs had the bases loaded again, but pitcher Reagan Phipps and the defense were able to get out of the jam with a pop up out at second base.
Besides a two out single from Phipps, there was not much offense for Nocona as the game moved to the fourth inning.
Tioga again threatened to score, loading the bases with three straight singles to start off the inning. Phipps and the defense were then able to induce a double play and another pop out at second base to get out of the jam unscathed.
The Lady Indian offense then came alive. Tomie Cable led off with a walk. After a steal from Cable, Kirby hit a single to put runners at the corners. Raylee Sparkman came in to run for Kirby and stole second base. A single from Ezzell drove in both base runners to cut the lead to in half.
Paige James then hit a double that put both base runners in scoring position. A passed ball allowed one run to score. Avery Crutsinger then drew a walk. Another passed ball and an error in the field allowed not just James, but Crutsinger to score on the based paths. Nocona now led 5-4, but it was not done yet.
Kennedy Stone drew a walk and would later steal second base. She was followed by a strikeout and a fly out that moved her from second to third base, before Stone stole home to score another run to make it 6-4.
Sydnee Mowry then drew a walk, but the next batter struck out to end the fourth inning.
Losing the lead seemed to wake Tioga up since the lead did not last long. Five singles, a double and a walk allowed the Lady Bulldogs to score seven runs and retake the lead 11-6.
The Lady Indians were able to get one run back. Ezzell drew a walk with one out. James hit a hard ball to centerfield for a single that allowed Ezzell to score all the way from first base to cut the lead to 11-7.
Despite Crutsinger drawing a walk to put two base runners on, the next two batters struck out and grounded out to end the fifth inning.
Tioga scored one run as a leadoff double was followed by a single to make the score 12-7. Despite a single following with no outs, Nocona’s defense along with new pitcher James induced two groundouts and a pop out at first base to prevent anymore scoring.
The Lady Indians got a good start to their at-bats with leadoff Phipps hitting a triple. Mowry and Cable followed with walks that loaded the bases with no outs.
A fly out from Kirby allowed Phipps to score. The Lady Bulldogs were able to get Mowry out at third base, but Cable was somehow able to steal home later to cut the lead to 13-9. Ezzell drew a walk, but was later caught stealing for the third out.
In the seventh inning, Tioga hit a single but it did not lead to much as the game moved to the Nocona’s last at-bats.
James led off with a single. A strikeout followed before Stone hit a single to put two runners on base.
Unfortunately, the next batter struck out and the final batter flew out to center field.
The Lady Bulldogs won 13-9.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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