SPORTS
Panthers lose to Dodd City in playoffs
The Saint Jo Panthers season came to an end on Thursday night against frequent foe Dodd City in the regional quarterfinals.
The Hornets won both games in the double-header by the scores 8-6 and 12-2, beating the Panthers for the fourth time in five years.
Saint Jo came into the series feeling like it had a chance. There was talk it was a down year for Dodd City and the Panthers’ team was full of experienced upper-classmen looking to turn the narrative in the playoff matchup against the Hornets.
In the first game Saint Jo pitcher Collin Thomas weathered some big hits to limit Dodd City to scoring only one run in the first, third and fifth inning. The Hornets looked to score another run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, but it turned into two runs thanks to an error getting the ball to home plate.
Saint Jo scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jace Johnson led off and got on base due to getting hit by a pitch. He got moved to second on a groundout, but looked like he might be stranded there with two outs. Logan Brawner came through with a blooper into shallow right field that scored Johnson to make it 5-1 heading into the final inning.
Unfortunately, the defense had a bad seventh. A couple of base hits, some free bases given up and on error in the outfield allowed three runs to score, putting the Hornets up 8-1.
Saint Jo would need some sort of miracle comeback in its final three outs and it just nearly got that.
Kile Thurman led off with a single. Thomas followed with a double to drive in Thurman for a run. After Thomas advanced to third base on a passed ball, Trevor O’Neal laid down a bunt to score Thomas. A fielding error while fielding the bunt allowed O’Neal to be safe and advance to second base.
The Hornets changed pitchers, but it did not matter. Matthew Butler-Everson drew a walk before Johnson hit a single to drive in another run and put runners at the corners. Johnson then stole second base, but an error on the throw allowed Buter-Everson to come in and score another run.
Following a fly out for out one, Payton Harris then hit a groundball to third base that resulted in another error that allowed Johnson to come in and score to cut the lead to 8-6.
The next batter struck out for out two, but Trevor Conner’s groundball to third base resulted in another error, putting the tying run on first base with runners at the corners.
Unfortunately, the magic ended as a groundball to the shortstop in the next at-bat resulted in an out at second base to end the game.
Dodd City won 8-6.
Saint Jo was hoping the momentum from how the first game ended would carry over into the second game. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Dodd City made the Panthers earn their runs in the game by committing no fielding errors. The Hornets also got out to a good start by scoring four runs in the first inning thanks to two singles and three walks.
Saint Jo answered back with a run in the second inning. Brice Durham drew a walk. Harris followed with a single to put runners at the corners with one out. Brawner then came through with a single to drive in a run to make it 4-1.
In the third inning, Dodd City added three runs to its lead thanks to two singles a walk and a fielder’s choice. The Hornets led 7-1.
The Panthers then had a dream scenario to start the fourth inning. Johnson, Durham and Harris led off the inning with back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs.
It looked like Saint Jo might squander the opportunity as the next two batters struck out, but Kile Thurman drew a walk to score one run. Unfortunately, the next batter popped out to right field for out three. The Hornets lead was 7-2.
Dodd City got that run back and then some in the same inning. Two singles, a walk and a fielding error allowed the Hornets to score three runs to up their lead to 10-2 heading into the fifth inning.
The Panthers had no luck with their bats and Dodd City needed to score only two more runs to end the game early due to run-rule.
A single and a hit batter led off inning before an error trying to field a bunt allowed both runners to come in and score to end the game.
The Hornets won 12-2.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Lady Indians played their final game of the regular season with a drubbing of Alvord at home.
The Lady Indians won 11-1 after six innings due to run-rule to end their season on a positive note despite no playoffs.
The game was rescheduled from last week due to weather.
Nocona was coming off a tough loss against Muenster the previous game, but knew it had a chance against Alvord after beating the Lady Bulldogs 6-4 in the first game.
The game started slow, but the Lady Indians got the lead with one run in the first inning. Alvord answered with one run in the third inning before Nocona retook the lead and never let it go.
The Lady Indians scored three runs in the third inning, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and the final two in the sixth inning to end the game on Charity Claxton’s sacrifice bunt that scored the last run.
Nocona won 11-1.
Coach Nolan Lanham thought it was the most complete game the team had played all season.
While he is sad this year’s season is complete, he is excited about what the team accomplished this year and what it can build off of it in the coming years.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians won their first game against Chico on Tuesday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Indians won 9-4 against the Dragons.
Nocona was coming into the game after a close, low-scoring series against Perrin-Whitt that saw the Indians win one game and lose another.
The Indians took an early lead with Brody Langford driving in a run on a single. Chico answered with two runs in the same inning to take back the lead 2-1.
The teams exchanged runs in the next four innings.
Nocona tied the score at 2-2 in the second inning when RJ Walker hit a sacrifice fly ball deep enough to score one run. The Dragons took the back the lead with an RBI double in the third inning to make it 3-2.
The Indians again tied the score in the fourth inning when Langford hit into a fielder’s choice out with the bases loaded. Once again, Chico retook the lead in the fifth inning, also scoring on a fielder’s choice groundout to go up 4-3.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Nocona was down to its final three outs of the game.
With two runners on base and two outs and looking at a full-count, Caden Belcher came through for the Indians with a base hit. It scored the tying run and the second runner was waived home and had a chance to score the game’s winning run. He was just tagged out for out three, but not before Nocona had tied the score at 4-4.
Chico loaded the bases up with one out in the seventh inning, but Wesley Murphey stepped up and struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam scot free and force the game into extra-innings.
Nocona was still reeling from the momentum of the last inning and it came through in the eighth inning.
With two runners on base and two outs, the Indians started a two-out rally with Wesley Murphey hitting a triple that brought both runners home to score.
Langford followed with a single that drove in one run. Following another single, Konnor Harrington hit a single that drove in another run. Following a walk that loaded the bases, a passed ball allowed Nocona to score another run.
The Indians more than doubled their seven inning total, scoring five runs and leading 9-4.
Wesley Murphey and the defense then closed the door, striking out the first batter before inducing groundouts to shortstop and second base for outs two and three to end the game.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers played their final regular season series in a double-header on Tuesday against Lindsay.
The bigger Knights won both games by run-rule, 12-2 after six innings and 15-2 after five innings.
Saint Jo had last played a week ago in a double-header against Muenster’s JV and varsity teams. The Panthers competed well with the JV team, but struggled more against the varsity team.
Lindsay had no JV team so Saint Jo had to play the 2A school twice and hoped it could compete.
The Knights got off to a fast start in game one, scoring seven runs in the first inning and never looking back.
The Panther defense played better from then on, never allowing Lindsay to score more than two runs in an inning and even holding the Knights scoreless in two innings.
Saint Jo was able to score in the fifth inning when the team loaded the bases and drew two walks to score two runs.
That was enough to keep the game from ending after five innings, but Lindsay scored two runs in the sixth inning to end the game early with the score 12-2.
The second game saw Lindsay score at least one run in every inning, highlighted by seven in the second inning.
Saint Jo scored two runs in the fourth inning. Charlie Evans hit an RBI double. Later he scored on the base paths after Lindsay failed to prevent a stolen base elsewhere.
The game ended after five innings with the Knights winning 15-2.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles lost its final regular season game against Alvord on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings due to run-rule.
Bellevue knew it was going to be tough competing against a bigger school, but was hoping to compete.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs came through and scored 14 runs in the first inning to suck any momentum from the Eagles before they had even had a chance to bat.
Bellevue prevented Alvord from scoring in the second inning, but not the third or fourth innings.
The Eagle bats did not have much luck scoring any runs as the Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings.
Bryce Ramsey and Blake Reese got the only two hits for Bellevue in the game. Alvord racked up 15 hits, drew nine walks and were hit by five pitches which led to all of the runs.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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