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.