SPORTS
Lady Rabbits battle Holliday
The Bowie softball team tried to beat Holliday at home Friday night.
The Lady Rabbits came up short late as the Lady Eagles scored six of their runs in the fifth and sixth inning to win 8-3. Early in the game it was back and forth. Holliday batted first and took the early lead. The leadoff batter was hit by a pitch. Four batters later with two outs, a single drove in the runner to give the Lady Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Bowie answered in the same inning. Gracie Bentley hit a double to right field with one out. Two batters later there were two outs and Bentley had advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Alexa Holzer hit a ground ball to the third basemen, committed an error that allowed her to reach first base and Bentley to reach home, tying the score 1-1.
A leadoff walk was left stranded at first as Lady Rabbit pitcher Alexa Holzer retired the next three batters in order. On offense Hannah Love hit a two out single up the middle, but that was all as the game advanced to the third inning.
The Lady Eagles were able to break the tie. A single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. After the second out, an error at third base allowed one run to score. Holliday led 2-1 before Holzer forced a pop out to the short stop for the third out.
Again Bowie’s offense responded. A fielding error allowed Bentley to get on second base with one out. Carrington Davis followed with a single that put runners at the corners.
Pinch runner Maril Gatewood stole second before Holzer grounded out to the shortstop for the second out. It was enough to drive in Bentley and move Gatewood to third.
Jasmine Jones gave Bowie the lead as she put the ball in play and an error at second base allowed Gatewood to score. The Lady Rabbits led 3-2 after three innings.
In the fourth inning both teams had their leadoff batters get on base. A fielding error on a bunt allowed the Lady Eagles to get a base runner. Despite reaching third thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a ground out, that is where the runner stayed as Holzer forced another ground out to first base for the third out.
Leadoff for the Lady Rabbits Addie Farris hit a double to right field. Following a strike out and a ground out, Farris was at third base ready to score on a base hit when the next batter struck out to end the fourth inning.
Holliday was able to retake the lead. With two outs and two runners on base, back-to-back singles scored two runs to give the Lady Eagles a 4-3 win. Besides a drawn walk with one out from Bowie’s Davis, the Lady Rabbits could not respond as the game moved to the sixth inning.
Things kind of went off the rails for Bowie. Three hit batters, a fielding error in the outfield and a base hit doubled Holliday’s score to 8-3. Besides a single from Farris, the Lady Rabbits struck out three times as the game moved to the seventh inning.
Bowie was able to keep the Lady Eagles at bay despite a walk, an error and a base hit. Chelsey Ketchum got on base by being hit with a pitch with one out. Unfortunately it was followed by a strike out and a ground out to end the game. Holliday won 8-3.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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.
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.
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.
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