The Bowie Jackrabbits traveled to Nocona to start the second round of district play on Tuesday.
The Jackrabbits led for most of the game and easily won 10-1 against an Indians team that had trouble putting together enough offense to keep pace.
Bowie led off and Evan Kennedy singled to left field. Nocona tried to pick him off at first, but an error allowed Kennedy to advance all the way to third base.
The next batter Taylor Pigg hit a fly to left field for the first out, but it was deep enough for Kennedy to tag up and score to give the Jackrabbits a 1-0 lead. The Indians were able to force the next two batters to ground out to third base to end the inning with no further casualty.
Nocona was able to start off hopeful on offense. Hunter Fenoglio led things off with a single. Logan Barnes followed with another single up the middle. After Bowie pitcher Boo Oakley struck out the next batter, a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Things ended with a ground out to the shortstop as the runners were left stranded and the game moved to the second inning.
After the Jackrabbits leadoff struck out swinging, Bowie loaded the bases with three straight walks. Kash Stockard hit a fly ball to center field that was caught for the second out. It was far enough to drive in one run as the Jackrabbits took a 2-0 lead.
Nocona failed to get any offense going as their batters were retired in order to end the second inning.
The third inning was uneventful. Bowie batters failed to reach a base for the first time. The Indians leadoff drew a walk, but was caught stealing second base before the next two batters were retired as well as the score stayed 2-0 after three innings.
The Jackrabbits got back on track in the top of the fourth as Braden Armstrong led off with single up the middle. Next batter Weston Partridge hit a double into the gap in the outfield that allowed the speedy Armstrong to score from first.
After drawing a walk, Nocona was able to retire the next two batters. Bowie pulled a double steal to get both runners into scoring position. Kennedy then hit a ground ball, but an error from the Indians allowed one run to score and Kennedy to reach first.
Another double steal from the Jackrabbits and a base hit from Pigg drove in two more runs to make the score 6-0 before Nocona got the third out. Besides an error at third that allowed Trenton Womack to reach first, the Indians could not capitalize on this.
Despite the first two batters for Bowie getting out, the Jackrabbits were able to build some offensive momentum. Partridge hit a line drive single. Ozzie Phillips hit a double to left field. Oakley drove in both runners with a single to right field.
After a hit batter moved Oakley into scoring position, Kennedy drove him in with a single to center field to make the score 9-0. Nocona was able to stop the bleeding with a pop out to the short stop for the third out.
After the first two batters were retired, the Indians Duece Glasker hit a line drive single to left field. Nocona could not build any momentum like Bowie had with two outs as the next batter lined out to center field to end the fifth inning.
The Indians made a change at pitcher to the inexperienced Kooper Hansard. The Jackrabbits hoped to score one more run in the hope to run rule Nocona like they had in the first game. A leadoff single to right field from Bowie’s Payton Price looked like the Jackrabbits were on their way to achieving that.
Hansard was able to keep his cool and for a fly ball to left field for the first out before striking out the next two batters. On offense the Indians Barnes led off with a double to right field.
Bowie was able to nullify this as Barnes was caught trying to steal third base. Nocona next drew a walk and Trenten Womack then was allowed to reach first thanks to an error at third base. With two runners on base and one out, it was the Indians best chance to score all game.
The Jackrabbit’s Oakley was able to work out of the situation with a strike out and a fly out to left field to advance the game into the final inning.
Ryan Henson came in to pinch hit for Bowie and hit a line drive single to right field. Luis DeLeon also pinch hit and hit a single into the outfield. With two outs, Pigg hit a ground ball to second base. A fielding error allowed Henson to score to make the lead go to 10-0 heading into the final half inning.
DeLeon came in to get the save for the Jackrabbits. Sparkman led off for Nocona and had a base hit. Sparkman stole second base and advanced to third base on a ground out. With two outs, Sparkman was able to go home on a called balk to cut the lead to 10-1. With the shutout gone, Bowie was able to force a pop out to the short stop to end the game.