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.
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.
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