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.

Montague County will have athletes from six schools competing at the state track meet in Austin later this week.
All together, 13 athletes from Bowie, Nocona, Saint Jo, Forestburg, Prairie Valley and Gold-Burg will compete on the biggest high school stage to see if they can bring home a medal.
From Bowie, senior Tucker Jones is competing in the 3A boys 110 meter hurdles event for the second straight year. Jones earned the one wildcard spot as he finished third at the regional meet this year.
Despite that, his qualifying time and personal record 14.73 seconds is better than several runners in the field. Jones finished ninth at state last year. With it being his final high school race, Jones is putting no pressure on himself outside of trying his best while enjoying the experience.
Jones is scheduled to run around 5:45 p.m. on May 2.
From Nocona, junior Graci Brown is back for the second straight year and is hoping she can repeat as state champion in two of the events she won last year. She won the 400 meter and 800 meter races last year.
This year, she won the 400 meter race at regionals, but finished second in the 800 meters after getting caught at the end. Still, her times compared to her competitors put her in the company to try and repeat again.
Brown also is a part of the 4×400 relay along with Ava Johnson, Ayden Patton and Meg Meekins, with Avery Crutsinger being an alternate runner, that got to state last year where they placed sixth overall. The team earned the wildcard after finishing third at regionals, but got the best time out of all third place teams.
Brown was not pleased with her tactics in the 800 meter race at regionals, but liked how she attacked the 400 meters. She knows she has it in her to repeat in both races again and is looking forward to proving it once again.
Brown and her teammates will compete on May 3, with the 800 meter race scheduled for 5:20 p.m., the 400 meter race at 7 p.m. and the 4×400 meter relay scheduled for 8:45 p.m.
Everyone else from 1A schools will compete on May 4.
Gold-Burg junior Isaac Renteria is returning to the state meet for the second straight year. With three appearances at the state cross country meet, Renteria is very familiar with what level it takes to compete on the biggest stage.
Renteria qualified in the 3200 meter race as a wildcard entry. His finished third at regionals, but his time was not only the best among other third place finishers, but better than half the field he will race at state ran.
Renteria just missed out on a medal last year as he finished fourth by three seconds. He is not the only repeat name in the race.
Renteria is scheduled to run at 9:15 a.m.
From Forestburg, the Lady Horns have two first time state qualifiers on the different sides of their career.
Reagan Ladewig is a senior representing Forestburg one last time while freshman Brenna Briles is hoping to cap off a spectacular first year in high school.
Ladewig finished second at regionals in the shot put. She is a longshot for a medal as her qualifying throw is one of the lower throws, but still Ladewig hopes she can break her personal record and hope for the best.
For Briles, she won the high jump at regionals. Her height puts her in the vicinity to possibly get a medal if she can either do it again or jump even higher.
Briles is scheduled to compete at 11:30 a.m. and Ladewig at 12:30 p.m.
From Prairie Valley, junior Linzie Priddy is going to the state track meet for the first time. Priddy has competed at the state cross country meet twice, in 2021 and 2023 so the state stage will not be new to her.
Priddy finished second in the 800 meters at regionals. She will have to improve on her qualifying time by a lot if she wants to earn a medal, but anything could happen.
Priddy is scheduled to run at 5:20 p.m.
From Saint Jo, freshman Damon Byrd made it to state in three events. His first two are solo field events as he won the long jump and finished second in the triple jump. His qualifying jumps put him right in the mix for a medal if he equals or surpasses his totals.
The long jump is scheduled for 9 a.m. and the triple jump at 1 p.m.
Byrd also is a part of the 4×200 meter relay team along with Blaine Penaluna, Devin Stewart and Lee Yeley. Wyatt Lucas and Barrett Johnson are alternate runners.
The team finished second at the regional meet. Its qualifying time puts them right in the mix with other top teams for a medal in what could be a close race.
The 4×200 relay is scheduled for 6:25 p.m.
All times and dates are scheduled to change in case of weather complications.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.