SPORTS
Nocona Indians lose playoff series to Windthorst
The Nocona Indians’ season came to an end on Wednesday night with their playoff series against Windthorst at Bowie.
The Trojans won both games by the scores of 4-0 and 11-5 against the Indians.
Nocona came into the series fresh off of the high of securing the program’s first playoff berth since 2005.
The Indians were coming off a sweep of Chico and had won five of their last six games. Still, Nocona was expecting a tough series as the underdogs, playing a district champion in Windthorst.
The Trojans got on the board first with an RBI single in the first inning. They added to it in the third inning with another RBI single and then an fielding error that allowed two runs to score.
Windthorst led 4-0 after three innings.
Nocona pitcher RJ Walker and the defense did its job the rest of the game, allowing only three base runners for the rest of the game and shutting down the Trojan batters with his off-speed pitches.
In the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, the Indians were able to get two base runners on in each inning, but never could find a way to get a run across home plate.
In the seventh inning the team had no such luck getting runners on base. Two strikeouts and first pitch fly out to right field ended the first game.
Windthorst won 4-0.
Both teams had seven hits in the first game. The only difference was the timing of the hits and the one fielding error that allowed two unearned runs to score.
Still, Nocona had some momentum with how it had played in the second half of the game. With the Indians having some one-sided losses against the top teams in their district, there might have been some worry that could happen.
Instead they had shown they could hang with the Trojans and knew that heading into the start of game two 30 minutes later.
Nocona went with a senior, Wesley Murphey, on the mound to start game two. Windthorst got to him and the defense in the first inning. An RBI double and an error at third base that allowed two runs to score put the Trojans up 3-0.
This game, the Indians’ offense had more luck as they answered back in the same inning.
Nocona loaded the bases with a single and two drawn walks. Landon Fatheree then drew a walk to score one run. Konnor Harrington followed with a fly ball out to deep left field. It was deep enough to get one run to come in and score.
Caden Belcher then followed with a double that drove in the final runner to tie the score up at 3-3.
Murphey and the defense settled down and shut out Windthorst in the second inning while the Indians bats were not done.
A fielding error, a walk and a single loaded the bases up with one out. Brody Langford and Fatheree each drew walks to score two more runs to give Nocona its first lead of the series 5-3.
The Trojans got one run back in the third inning. With two runners in scoring position, a groundout allowed one to score as Windthorst cut the lead to 5-4.
The teams then exchanged scoreless fourth and fifth innings before Windthorst grabbed control back in a sixth inning from hell Nocona would like to forget.
With two runners on and two outs with a full count, a double drove both runners in to give the Trojans back the lead.
A hit batter and a walk followed to load the bases. A change in pitching did not help the Indians as the next batter scored three runs with a bases clearing triple. A passed ball then allowed the runner to go home.
Windthorst had scored six runs and now led 10-5.
The Trojans were not done. In the seventh inning, a sacrifice fly ball to center field was deep enough to score one more run to put Windthorst up 11-5.
Nocona had three outs to make it all up, but the bats could not deliver as no base runners got one.
The Trojans won game two 11-5 to win the series 2-0.
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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