The magical ride came to an end for the Bowie Jackrabbits as they played number one ranked Brock in the regional finals.
The Eagles won game one 3-0 on Wednesday and outlasted the Jackrabbits 4-1 on Thursday in extra innings.
Bowie came in as underdogs, as it was in almost every one its playoff matchups. Brock’s reputation precedes them no matter the sport and this Eagles team’s last loss was nearly two months ago against 4A state power Argyle.
Still, the Jackrabbits had beaten similarly acclaimed teams and programs the last two rounds against state-ranked Wall and Shallowater and were not coming into the series with any intimidation.
Game one started and Bowie leadoff Cade Thompson drew a walk. Unfortunately, the next batter’s bunt attempt was popped up and the Brock pitcher barely caught it. He threw the ball to first base to turn a double play to get things going for the Eagles.
They carried it over into their at-bats.
Carson Sanders got the start for the Jackrabbits and had his biggest issues in the first inning.
After a groundout, he hit the next batter. The following batter hit a fly ball to centerfield, but it got lost in the sun and was dropped for an error. Two singles followed to drive in two runs to put Brock up 2-0 after the first inning.
Bowie’s batters would continue to struggle against the Eagles starter Tristan Boedeker for the rest of the game, but Sanders and the defense rebounded to keep the game close.
In the second inning, the leadoff batter was again hit by a pitch despite protests of him leaning into it. A sacrifice bunt and a groundout moved him to third base, but Sanders retired the next batter to prevent another run.
Kawlyer Swearingin was able to get base in the third inning for the Jackrabbits thanks to an error, but Bowie had no luck getting him home. In the same inning, Sanders surrendered a one out single that could have spelled trouble. Fortunately, the next batter hit a liner to right field that Devin Melton caught on a run before throwing to first base for an inning ending double-play.
Only one batter on either team got on base in the fourth inning. The Jackrabbits Kynan DeMoss drew a walk with one out to give the team some scoring potential. Unfortunately, that is where he would stay as the next two batters were dealt with.
In the fifth inning, Swearingin again got on with one out, this time with a single up the middle. Still, Bowie hitters could not get the timely hits they needed to get him home.
In the same inning Brock tried to start a two out rally. A single to centerfield saw the runner reach second on the throw to put himself into scoring position. Sanders was able to avoid trouble forcing a pop out into foul territory.
The sixth inning saw Sanders get into a trouble again. A leadoff double and a wild pitch put a runner on third base with no outs. The next batter did hit into a groundout to second base, but it was enough to score the runner from third and extend the lead to 3-0.
Sanders and the defense made sure there would be no more damage as the next two batters grounded out to head to the final inning.
Down to their final three outs and needing three runs, the Bowie batters tried to dig deep, but just could not touch Boedeker’s stuff at that point. All three batters struck out to end the game as the Eagles took game on 3-0.

To read the full story that includes a game two summary and more pictures from the series, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.