SPORTS
Bowie comes back to beat Early in bi-district round
The Bowie Jackrabbits overcame a loss in game one to win the bi-district series against Early on Saturday in Stephenville.
The Longhorns won the first game 7-0 before the Jackrabbits came back the next day to win 6-2 and 5-1 despite facing some midday heat.
Bowie came into the series as the third seed playing a second seed as Early’s only district losses came against the top ranked team in the state Brock.
Game one did not start well for the Jackrabbits and unfortunately they were never able to recover. Two singles in the first inning drove in one run before a two-run home run followed to put the Longhorns up 3-0.
Carson Sanders came in to pitch relief the final six innings and was doing well keeping the score close until the fifth inning. Early hit a double with the bases loaded and one out. Bowie’s Brody Armstrong was able to throw the ball home with enough accuracy to get one runner out and limit the hit to only one run as the Longhorns lead grew to 4-0.
The next inning went worse for the Bowie defense. A leadoff double, two singles, a hit batter and a bunt allowed three more runs to score for Early as the lead upped to 7-0.
Saturday proved to be a hot day in the 90s with a slight amount of breeze and no clouds in sight.
Early again struck first in the bottom of the opening inning. After two walks, a single drove in a run to put the Longhorns up 1-0. Bowie answered back in the second inning. Devin Melton led off with a single. He was able to move to third base thanks to two wild pitches. Three batters later, Logan Hutson grounded out to the shortstop for an out, but it drove in Melton to tie the game at 1-1.
In the third inning, the Longhorns again were able to squeeze out a run. A fielding error, a single and an intentional walk loaded the bases up with one out. A groundout was enough to drive in one run to give Early a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth inning.
Bowie had a great opportunity its next at-bat, loading the bases up with no outs. A strikeout followed by a double play however prevented any runs from scoring.
It could have been a momentum draining moment for Bowie, but the team answered back. Pitcher Kawyler Swearingin came back to strike out the side and the Jackrabbits came back with more fury in the fifth inning.
Brody Armstrong led off with a single. Two outs later Armstrong was sitting on third base. Kynan DeMoss came through with a double to tie the game. Jake Fallis followed with a double that gave Bowie its first lead of the series 3-2.
Swearingin and the defense followed with a quick 1-2-3 inning that took only eight pitches that kept the momentum up heading into the sixth inning.
Colton Richey and Swearigin led off with singles. Hutson then hit a single that was deep enough to drive in both base runners and allowed him to advance to second base. Armstrong followed with a double that drove in another run to up the Jackrabbits lead to 6-2.
Early was able to get two base runners on in the sixth inning after failing to the last two innings, but Swearingin struck out two batters and the defense held to keep the lead at four heading into the final inning. There, Swearingin did not allow any base runners to get on while striking out two more, including the final out to secure the 6-2 win.
Bowie then had to turn around and do it again after a 30-minute break, with the temperature rising and the sun getting more intense.
Cade Thompson got the start on the mound for Bowie and was its final pitcher that had 20 innings or more pitched this season on the roster.
It was the first first inning of the series that Bowie prevented the Longhorns from scoring, though two runners did get on base by getting hit by a pitch and drawing a walk. With one out, the defense pulled off a double play to end the inning.
The second inning again saw both teams get runners on base, but neither team was able to get them home to score. The Jackrabbits pulled off another double play as the game was scoreless moving to the third inning.
Sanders led off for Bowie and got on base with a single. Following a wild pitch that moved him to second base, two batters later Fallis traded places with him by hitting a double to drive in the run.
Melton followed with a triple to drive in another run while Richey then hit a single to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Jackrabbits.
Early never seemed to make it easy on Bowie’s defense despite Thompson and company doing just enough to keep the Longhorns off the board.
Two base runners got on in the third inning with one out, one got on in the fourth inning and reached second base. The sixth inning saw two base runners get on base with no outs. Another double play for the Bowie defense allowed the team and Thompson to squeeze out of that jam again heading into the final inning.
The Jackrabbit bats had been doing the same, rarely going an inning without getting someone on base to threaten the defense. The seventh inning saw Bowie add to its lead.
DeMoss was hit by a pitch with one out to get on base. Fallis followed with a single before Melton drove in one run with a single. An error on the throw in allowed another run to score and put the Jackrabbits up 5-0.
With the Longhorns down to their last at-bats, they were finally able to break through the constant pressure they had been putting on Bowie’s defense throughout the game.
Two singles started off the inning. An error allowed the lead base runner to advance to third base to put runners at the corners.
The team was eventually able to get the lead runner out trying to steal home, which was good as the next two batters hit a single and drew a walk to load the bases up.
A single followed that gave Early its first run of the game, but with only one out and the bases still loaded, the Longhorns were in the best position to try and make a run at coming back.
DeMoss came in to pitch relief to what ended up being the final batter. One pitch and Early grounded into its fourth double play of the game to end the game and the series.
Bowie won 5-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
-
NEWS3 years agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS4 years ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS3 years agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS3 years agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS3 years agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
Show us something good9 years agoCountry music star children perform in Bowie
-
NEWS3 years ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
100th Birthday4 years agoLooking back at the 1958 Centennial edition of The Bowie News