SPORTS
Jackrabbits win game one 9-5
The Bowie Jackrabbit baseball team took game one of its regional quarterfinals series against Wall on Thursday night.
The Jackrabbits won 9-5 in a game that went to extra-innings after nearly giving the game away in the seventh inning when the Hawks came back to tie the score.
Up until then the underdog Bowie team, playing a Wall team that was ranked 10th in the state in the last poll, led for most of the game from the very beginning.
In the first inning, Carson Sanders got on base with a one out single. Kynan DeMoss then drove him in on a double into the gap to put the Jackrabbits up 1-0.
There were no more scores in the second and third inning from either team. The Jackrabbits added to their lead in the fourth inning thanks to some good plate discipline and overall erratic pitching from the Hawk’s pitcher. Bowie drew three walks, had a hit batter and had one fielding error from Wall that got the leadoff runner on base.
Two runs came in to score to put the Jackrabbits up 3-0.
Bowie added some more runs in the fifth inning. After DeMoss and Devin Melton drew walks, Colton Richey drove them both in with a triple to up the lead to 5-0. The Hawks had seen enough and changed pitchers and got out of the inning without letting Richey score from third.
It also was the inning where Wall bats finally broke through. Sanders got the start on the mound for Bowie. He and the defense had been keeping the Hawks at bay by making the routine plays though they had been threatening almost every inning up until then.
After loading the bases up with a base hit, a drawn walk and a hit batter with no outs, Wall finally was able to get one home with a single two batters later to cut the lead to 5-1. The Hawks were set up to score more with only one out at that point, but Sanders retired the next two batters with pop ups to first base to limit the bleeding.
After a scoreless sixth inning and a 1-2-3 inning from Bowie with its bats, the Jackrabbits were three outs away from ending the game. Wall was not going to make it that easy with its backs against the wall.
A leadoff double triggered Jackrabbit Coach Tyler Price to change pitchers to Cade Thompson. After a walk and a forced out at home, a single drove in one run. A sacrifice fly to right field followed that scored another run and made it two outs. A triple was then hit that drove in another run and also put the tying run at third base.
Price made another change at pitcher and put Kawlyer Swearingin in to try and get the last out. With a full count, Swearingin got the strikeout, but it was dropped. It took some bad bounces and it allowed not only the batter to reach first safely, but it also allowed the runner from third base to come in and score to tie the game up at 5-5.
Swearingin retired the next batter with a fly out to right field, but the damage had been done and the game would go to extra innings.
A lot of teams would have been spooked giving up four runs in the last inning, at certain points being one strike away from ending the game. Instead, this Bowie team went back out for the eighth inning with the goal to get its lead back.
Swearingin led off and set the tone. After failing to prevent the tying run from coming in to score on the mound in the previous inning, Swearingin saw only two pitches before he sent the ball over the centerfield wall for a sole home run.
The Jackrabbits were not satisfied with just a one run lead. Logan Hutson and Brody Armstrong followed with back-to-back singles. Following a strikeout, Sanders hit a single that drove in one run. An error in the outfield allowed the other runner to come around and score and for Sanders to reach third base. DeMoss then drove him in with a single. Bowie got the four runs it gave up the previous inning back and led 9-5.
Price changed pitchers again to DeMoss for the start of the eighth inning. After two infield pop ups for outs, a single put one base runner on and the fear of a two-out rally coming from the Hawks again after the last inning was on everyone’s mind.
Luckily DeMoss forced a fly out to left field for out three to end the game. The Jackrabbits won 9-5.
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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