SPORTS
Nocona baseball breaks playoffs drought
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.
A positive culture can be tough to install but will reap dividends if done correctly.
Trinadee Imotichey is trying to do just that with her Forestburg Lady Longhorns.
Imotichey, an assistant coach on the 2025 Forestburg volleyball team, was moved into the head coaching position. Last year’s coach, Cori Hayes, took over as football head coach.
Imotichey, in her 2nd year in Forestburg, said she learned a lot from Hayes and is ready to take over.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie’s summer softball league team overcame a 6-1 deficit with a six-run third inning for a 7-6 win over Bridgeport in its season opener July 6.
The league consists of teams from Bowie, Nocona, Lindsay, Bridgeport, and Alvord and will last three weeks. Bowie will host games each week.
Bowie pitcher Hazel Trahern gave up two singles and a groundout to put the Sissies on the board in the first. It would be the only hits she gave up in the game. Two groundouts and a strikeout got the Lady Rabbits out of the jam.
Bowie got the run back in the bottom of the first with Andee Jo Miller opening the frame with a walk and a stolen base. She then scored on Kynlee Baker’s groundout to tie the game at one.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Rest. Run. Repeat.
Sage Keck, an 8th grader at Montague, lives by this mantra. No ifs, ands and buts about it.
She’s been running since fourth grade PE classes where she would run a mile every week. After discovering she could outrun the other students, she began to enjoy it and continued doing it.
Her success continued, as she finished 2nd overall against more than 200 runners at the Old Saint Jo 5K July 4. In last weekend’s Texas Junior Olympics, she reached the pinnacle of her career so far by qualifying for the United States of America Track and Field (USATF) National Junior Olympics in Norwalk, Calif. in three events.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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