SPORTS

COLLEGE RECRUITING: Cantwell flies like an Eagle

Published

10 years ago

11/18/2014

Bowie Jackrabbit baseball standout Cooper Cantwell rounded out a big week for athletes preparing to play on the college level.
Cantwell was the third and final athlete to pen his signature to a National Letter of Intent on Friday afternoon – opting to play for Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla.
“I’m super excited,” said Cantwell, the Jackrabbits ace pitcher. “I’m looking forward to going up there.”
The 17-year-old senior said he had compiled a list of schools he was interested in.
“I went through them one by one and visited a couple of them,” he said. “But once I got to Oklahoma Wesleyan, I knew it was the place for me. The coaches really liked me, and I think it’s beautiful up there, so I knew it was the right fit.”
In the 11 games Cantwell started in the 2014 season, he pitched 43 innings, striking out 56 batters and walking 17. He surrendered 12 earned runs, and ended the season with a 1.92 earned run average.
Before advancing to the next level in his playing career, Cantwell has one final season left as a Jackrabbit. Read more in the mid-week Bowie News.

Bowie’s Cooper Cantwell (front and center) signs his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla. Cantwell is surrounded by his family, mother Kristen, younger sister Kamryn, father Jerry and older sister Kendal. Oklahoma Wesleyan is a powerhouse in NAIA baseball circles. (News photo by Blake Wood)

SPORTS

District awards for 1A released

Published

3 days ago

05/18/2024

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Bellevue’s Bryce Ramsey was named his district’s newcomer of the year.

With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.

Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal

Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue

Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo

Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo

Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo

To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Forestburg coach retiring

Published

3 days ago

05/18/2024

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Forestburg boys basketball coach Eldon Van Hooser helped lead the program to its first playoff win in nine years in his last year coaching.

Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

SPORTS

Bowie Sports Banquet

Published

6 days ago

05/15/2024

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The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.