SPORTS
Panthers sweep Northside in playoff series win
The Saint Jo Panthers demolished Vernon Northside in Thursday’s double-header bi-district playoff round.
The Panthers won both games by run-rule 12-1 and 19-1 in games that were never close or dramatic.
Saint Jo came into the games as favorites after winning the district title and not having lost any playoff series to anybody except for Dodd City the past five years.
The Panthers pounced on the Indians from the jump in the first game thanks to a large helping of Northside fielding errors.
Saint Jo scored in the first inning as Payton Harris groundball induced an error at third base to drive in a run. Jonathan Diaz then laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored a run. On the same play, Logan Brawner was able to score somehow thanks to some messy fielding to put the Panthers up 3-0.
Brice Durham got the start on the mound for the Panthers. Despite allowing a single following two strikeouts, he forced a groundout to move to the second inning.
The Panthers loaded the bases with no outs in the second inning. Matthew Butler-Everson hit into a fielder’s choice out, but drove in one run. Another run was scored on the basepaths from Collin Thomas to make it 5-0.
The Indians got their best start to an inning with their leadoff hitting a line drive into right field that induced an error and allowed him to reach third base. Durham rebounded well, striking out two batters and forcing the next one to groundout to keep the shutout going.
Saint Jo again loaded the bases up in the third inning. With one out, Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored a run.
After drawing a walk to load the bases again, Jace Johnson hit a single that drove in two runs. Harris followed with a double that drove in two more runs to make the score 10-0.
Northside batters did draw two walks and would advance both runners into scoring position to threaten the Panther defense. A fielder’s choice allowed the Indians to get on the board with one run to cut the lead to 10-1, but Saint Jo made sure that would be all by making the routine plays on groundball hits.
The fourth inning was one of the few scoreless innings for the Panthers in either game. Durham and the Saint Jo defense got back on track as well with a strikeout and two groundball outs.
In the fifth inning, Payton Harris hit a single into left field with two runners on base. It would have driven in one runner, but an error trying to gather the ball off the ground allowed the other to score and Harris to reach third base. Unfortunately, that was where he would stay as the next two batters struck out looking to end the chance.
The Panthers were up 12-1 and needed to not let Northside score two or more runs to end the game early due to the run-rule being 10 runs or more after five innings would be stopped.
Durham and the defense did not allow any base runners in the final inning as the first game came to a close and the final being 12-1.
The second game got started 20 minutes after the first and it was more of the same story.
Thomas was starting on the mound for Saint Jo and despite a fielding error allowing one Indian runner to get on base with two outs, it did not result in any runs coming through in the first inning.
The Panther bats picked up right where they left off in the first inning. Butler-Everson hit a groundball that induced an error that allowed the first run to score. Harris later drove him in on a single to left field. Substitute runner Diaz would advance to second base on a sacrifice bunt and then steal third base, before scoring thanks to a bad throw to make it 3-0.
Thomas struck out the side in the second inning before the Saint Jo bats came alive again.
Thomas hit a double that drove in two runs. Later, with the bases loaded and two outs, Durham hit a ball into the outfield that induced an error that scored all three runners on base and allowed him to reach third base. Next batter Logan Hoover then drove him with a single to up the Panthers lead to 9-0.
The third inning saw Thomas again strike out the side. Unfortunately, it was also the second inning of the series that saw the Saint Jo bats not only fail to score a run, but the only one where it did not get a base runner on.
The fourth inning saw Northside bats finally pick up. A leadoff single was nullified when the Panthers later caught the runner trying to steal second base. A double put a runner in scoring position and it was followed up with another double that drove in the runner to cut the lead to 9-1.
Saint Jo was able to shake off that moment of vulnerability and get that run, and then some, back with its hot bats again.
Harris drove in a run with a single. Durham followed with a double that drove in another run. Two batters later Brawner drove in a run on an infield single.
The team wasn’t done.
Following a fielder’s choice out, Kile Thurman drove in a run on a double. Following a hit batter, Butler-Everson drove in a run on a single. Johnson then grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, but it drove in a run.
Harris and Durham followed with RBI singles. Hoover then hit a groundball that induced an error that allowed another run to score. Brawner then laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first base to drive in another run to make the score 19-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The Indians would need to score nine runs to prevent from getting run-ruled again. Instead, Thomas struck out the side for the third time to end the game and the series.
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.
-
NEWS1 year ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS6 months agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS1 year agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS1 year agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS9 months agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS12 months ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS1 year agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS1 year ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint