SPORTS
Baseball roundup
Bowie
The Bowie Jackrabbits won in Henrietta on Tuesday night.
The Jackrabbits won 9-5 against the Bearcats in a game that was closer than the final score would indicate later.
Bowie took the early lead in the first inning. The Jackrabbits scored three runs in the first inning on three straight at-bats. Jake Fallis hit an RBI double. Kynan DeMoss hit a fly ball to left field that induced an error that drove in a run. Colton Richey then hit an RBI double to put Bowie up 3-0.
Henrietta answered back in the same inning. A two-run home run with two outs went over the left field fence to cut the lead to 3-2.
The teams traded scoreless innings in the second and third. In the fourth inning, the Jackrabbits added one run to their lead as Devin Melton drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to left field to make it 4-2.
The Bearcats had an answer that same inning, loading the bases up with no out. Pitcher Richey tried to pitch his way out of the jam, retiring two batters on a fielder’s choice and a fly out to shallow centerfield. Unfortunately, two walked batters drove in two runs to tie the game at 4-4. Kaylwer Swearingin came in for relief and retired the next batter for the third out.
Bowie immediately regained the lead back in the fifth inning. Carson Sanders bunted for a base hit with one runner already on base. An error fielding the bunt allowed the runner to score and Sanders to reach third base. He would then come in to score during the next at-bat thanks to a passed ball to make it 6-4.
The Jackrabbits further built their lead in the sixth inning. Cade Thompson drove in two runs on a line drive single to left field. Sanders then hit a fly ball to left field that induced an error that drove in another run to extend Bowie’s lead to 9-4.
Henrietta got one run back in the sixth inning on an RBI single to cut the lead down to 9-5 heading into the final inning.
Despite the Bearcats getting their leadoff batter on base with a walk, Swearingin retired the final three batters with little drama to end the game.
Thompson led Bowie with two RBIs while Richey, Fallis and Melton each drove in one run.
On the mound, Richey pitched 3.2 innings while giving up four runs (two earned) on four hits, four walks while striking out three. Swearingin came in to pitch the final 3.1 innings and gave up one run (zero earned) on two hits while walking three and striking out six.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians baseball team ended their season on Tuesday with a loss to Breckenridge on senior night.
The Buckaroos won 14-0 after five innings due to run-rule, although more than half of those runs came in the final inning.
Until then, the Indians defense and pitchers Ty Presley and Kooper Hansard limited Breckenridge to three runs in the first inning, two in the third inning and one in the fourth inning. Only an avalanche of eight runs came in the five inning that proved to be the final nail.
Unfortunately, the Nocona bats had trouble making contact or getting on base against Breckenridge’s pitcher. The team got no free bases through walks or hit batters while striking out 11 times.
The only Indian batter who had success was Wesley Murphey, who hits singles both times he was up to bat.
It was a tough overall season for the Nocona baseball program. Much of it can be blamed on the relative youth of the whole team.
Only one senior graduates from this team in Hansard, who provided one of the steadiest all-around performances the whole season wherever he was needed in the field, on the mound, with his bat or on the base paths.
The good news on that side is that everyone theoretically should be coming back and will be better with one more year of growth. That along with the team dropping down to 2A has Coach Zach Denson is excited about what it will mean next year.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers won both of their games against Chico on Tuesday as they put in a double-header ahead of the playoffs.
The Panthers beat the Dragons 10-6 and 9-4 to also wrap up the district title for them.
Saint Jo led for most of the first game, with six of its runs coming in the second inning. Nursing a 7-6 lead heading into the final inning, the Panthers extended their lead by scoring three runs to win with a little bit of breathing room and momentum for the next game.
Jace Johnson and Payton Harris each drove in two runs to lead the team. Collin Thomas got the start on the mound and had tough 3 innings giving up six runs (four earned) on 10 hits. Trevor Conner and Harris came in to pitch relief and did not give up any runs the rest of the way.
The second game saw Chico get up 4-0 in the fourth inning. Saint Jo scored two runs in the same inning, three in the fifth to take the lead and four more in the sixth to extend the lead to 9-4 heading into the final inning. There the Panther defense held out to secure the win.
Matthew Butler-Everson and Johnson each drove in two runs to lead the team. Brice Durham got the start and gave up four runs (three earned) in the first 3.1 innings. Harris came in for relief and gave up no runs the rest of the way.
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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