SPORTS
Baseball Roundup

Nocona
The Nocona Indians were able to get wins against the two local 1A teams last week fairly easily to tune up for the start of district play.
The Indians beat Bellevue 7-0 and run-ruled Saint Jo 12-1 to get some winning momentum heading into this week.
Nocona played the second year Eagle program at home on March 18. Despite playing a younger and inexperienced Bellevue team, the Eagles gave the Indians a game.
Both teams committed only one fielding error all game and Nocona never ran away with the game like it was probably expecting to. The Indians scored two runs in the second and third innings before scoring three in the fifth inning, but did not run-rule Bellevue.
Walker Murphey got the start on the mound and pitched all seven innings for a shutout allowing four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters.
Landon Fatheree and RJ Walker led the team with two RBIs each as the team finished with 10 hits.
Nocona then played Saint Jo two days later on March 20 and was able to get the job done after five innings due to run-rule.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed one run (zero earned) on two hits while he struck out 12 batters. He also drove in four runs on three hits to lead the team.
The team got eight free bases on walks and hit batters to go with 10 hits. Miller Jentry and Miller Jhett each drove in two runs each as well.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a tough start to district play this week with a close loss to Perrin-Whitt on Monday.
The Pirates won 7-6 in extra innings, walking off with an RBI single to win in heartbreaking fashion.
Saint Jo was hoping it could shrug off the bad game it played against 2A Nocona on March 20. The bigger Indians beat the Panthers 12-1 in five innings, with little going right for Saint Jo. Sam Martin drove in the only run for the Panthers on a single.
Playing a team its own size and a program where the two play each other in everything meant the game would mean more than just on the district standings.
The Panthers took the early lead in the first inning, with a fielding error and three walks leading to one run and a groundout from Trent Gaston driving in a run. Saint Jo led 2-0
Perrin-Whitt scored one run in the first and fourth innings to tie the game before taking the lead with two runs in the fifth inning to go up 4-2.
The Panther bats fired back in the sixth inning, with Charlie Evans coming through with a two RBI single with two outs to tie the game at 4-4.
Saint Jo then took the lead in the top of the seventh inning when Devin Stewart and Martin had back-to-back RBI singles. The Panthers led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Unfortunately, the Pirates answered. Two doubles and a triple tied the game up at 6-6. Saint Jo’s defense responded well with the winning run sitting on third base by striking out the next batter and getting a ground out to the short stop.
The game went into an extra eighth inning. With two outs, Saint Jo got a break when its batter got hit by pitch. Mathew Sampson hit the ball to the shortstop, but the forced out at second base resulted in an error. The base runner went for third base, but was thrown out for out three.
Perrin-Whitt then got a leadoff triple before two batters later he was sent home on a single to end the game. The Pirates won 7-6.
Evans led the team with two RBIs while Stewart, Martin and Gaston each had one. The team drew 10 walks and were hit by five pitches to go along with eight hits.
On the mound, Gaston pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits while striking out four batters. The team committed three fielding errors.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played two 2A teams competively last week as they get ready to start district play this week.
The Eagles lost at Nocona 7-0 before tying Chico 7-7 after seven innings of play.
The young Bellevue team and program hoped it could compete well against an Indian team that is coming off a playoff berth and is hoping to get there again, but it didn’t go well last year at all against Nocona.
On March 18, the Eagles played quite well despite not putting enough hits together to score. Bellevue fielded well and avoided innings turning into nightmares on defense.
The Indians scored two runs in the second and third innings before scoring three more in the fifth inning as Nocona won 7-0.
Walker Strahan led the team with two hits as the team finished with five while drawing three walks.
With few chances to take extra bases due to stolen bases or inaccurate pitching, the scoring chances were limited and it just did not happen for the Eagles even though they more often than not put the ball in play, striking out seven times in 24 at-bats.
Bryce Ramsey pitched the whole game and gave up seven runs on 10 hits while he also struck out nine and walked only one batter, though he hit four of them.
Bellevue then played Chico on March 21 and the game was much more even. The Eagles scored five runs in the first inning to take the lead until the Dragons tied the scored in the fourth inning 5-5.
Chico then scored four runs in the fifth inning to take its first lead 9-5. Bellevue answered with two in the same inning to cut the lead to 9-7. In the Eagles final at-bats in the bottom of the seventh inning, Bellevue scored two runs to tie the score at 9-9.
The game was called instead of going into extra innings, ending in a tie.
Brycen Bancroft and Kobe Jones led the team with two RBIs each. The team finished with 10 hits and drew four walks.
With ace Ramsey not able to pitch, the rest of the Eagles pitching staff got about two innings each. Strahan did the best, allowing no runs or hits while striking out four batters and walking four. The defense was again solid as well.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from Saint Jo’s game against Nocona, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6873815&T=1
SPORTS
Oil Bowl Pictures

Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
SPORTS
Langford coming back home

Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Two teams compete at state tourney

The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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