SPORTS
Panther baseball earns first playoff win in 35 years
History was made Saturday night as the Saint Jo baseball team won the program’s first playoff game in more than 30 years against Northside.
Moved from Windthorst to Bowie High School due to weather, the Panthers were able take control early and win 6-2 against the Indians.
Saint Jo had beaten Northside 14-2 and 12-1 earlier in the season and came in confident they would be able to easily get the win. The Panthers learned they were going to have to work for it this time around.
The Indians were able to draw a one out walk. The runner was able to advance to second due to a bad pick off throw that put Northside in position to score first. Fortunately, pitcher Harper Roberts was able to get the next two outs seamlessly to get out of the inning.
Roberts led off for Saint Jo and was able blast a line drive single. The quick Roberts was able to steal second and third. A wild pitch then allowed him to advance home as he beat the throw to score the game’s first run and put the Panthers up 1-0.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Saint Jo batters were having some trouble. The Indians pitcher threw a slow ball with an unorthodox delivery that gave many Saint Jo batters trouble squaring up to it as hit balls landed safely in fielder’s gloves as the game moved to the second inning.
Roberts had some trouble on the mound again as he walked two batters with one out to put a runner in scoring position. He was able to bounce back by striking out the next two batters to get out of the pickle.
Wyatt Geurin led off the inning with a single. He was able to advance to second due to a bad pickoff throw.
Cody Thurman was able drive him in with a single line drive to put the Panthers up 2-0 heading into the third inning.
A leadoff walk came back to bite Saint Jo. The runner was able to advance to second due to a ground out.
With two outs, the Indians got their first hit of the game on a bloop single right in between the infield and outfield. It was enough to score the runner and cut the lead to 2-1 for Northside.
The Panthers answered back with Connor Thompson who was able to get on base with a hit.
After advancing to second, he was able to steal third base. The throw was bad and this allowed Thompson to advance home as he beat the throw, bumping Saint Jo’s lead to 3-1.
It was the Panther’s second run due to advantageous base running as the game went into the fourth inning.
A leadoff walk from the Indians got worked into scoring position at second on a ground out.
The next batter hit a fly ball to the center fielder, who caught it and threw the ball to second before the runner could get back for the inning ending double play.
The Saint Jo Panthers could not get anything going offensively as the game moved into the fifth inning.
Northside was able to draw another leadoff walk to start the inning. A ground out moved him to second and into scoring position, but Roberts was able to get the next two batters out to leave the runner stranded on second.
Jose “Pepe” Gams led off the inning with a drawn walk. Next batter Preston Lyons was then hit by a pitch to put two base runners on.
Thompson came up to bat and drilled a ball into the gap of the outfield. There was some trouble handling the ball and this allowed Thompson to get all the way around the bases for an inside the park home run to put the Panthers up 6-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The Indians started to get a hold of some of Roberts pitches as they led of the inning with back-to-back singles. With no outs, Roberts looked like he might be in trouble.
Roberts was able to pick off the runner on second who was not paying attention to get the first out. He was then able to strike out the next batter and force a ground out to third base for the third out.
Thurman was able to get on base due to fielding error and Logan Morman followed with a single. Unfortunately, Saint Jo was not able to get extend their lead any as both runners stayed where they were and the lead stayed 6-1 heading into the final inning.
Roberts looked like he was going to be able to finish the game on the mound, despite his pitch count reaching its limit. He was able to get the first two outs easily enough and was one strike away from ending things. Another bloop single right over the second basemen’s head and right in front of the right fielder allowed a runner to get on base. A passed ball allowed the runner to advance to second and put himself in scoring position. The next batter hit a ground ball, but the infielder could not make the play at first for the final out, allowing the base runner on second to score and cut the lead to 6-2.
It was the final batter Roberts could face due to his pitch count and Thompson came in to close the game. It did not take him long as his three pitches all went for strikes as he struck out the final batter to end the game.
To read more, pick up a copy of the mid-week 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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