SPORTS
Bowie baseball loses close game on the road 4-2
In the last game of the regular season the Bowie baseball team traveled the two plus hours to Childress.
While Jackrabbits were able to take an early lead, the Bobcats won the low scoring game 4-2, giving Bowie only its third defeat during district play.
Evan Kennedy led off with a groundball single. Two batters later Payton Price followed with a single. Cooper Little drove in Kennedy with a single for the games first run.
Childress tries to pick off Little at first base, but an error not only allows him to reach second, but for Price to score, giving the Jackrabbits a 2-0 lead early on.
The leadoff batter for Childress drew a walk, but it was maid up for as the runner was thrown out trying to steal second base. Pitcher Boo Oakley then struck out the next two batters to keep Bowie’s lead heading into the second inning.
The Jackrabbits did not have any luck on offense. While the batters made good contact, they were right at Bobcat defenders who made the plays to get the outs.
Again the leadoff batter for Childress was allowed to get on base, this time do to an error at second base. A balk moved the runner to second base with no out.
Oakley and the Bowie defense went to work. A ground out to third base for the first out also kept the runner planted at second. A three-pitch strikeout swinging was good for the second out. The next batter hit the first pitch he saw to straightaway centerfield for the third out.
The third inning saw the Jackrabbits top of the lineup come back around. Leadoff Kennedy got on base thanks to an error from the shortstop. He quickly stole second and third base to put him in scoring position.
The next batter hit a groundball to third base. The player quickly threw the ball home in time to get Kennedy out at home. Price followed with a drawn walk. A fly out to right field allowed the lead runner to advance to third base. A wild pitch allowed Price to reach second, but not for the lead runner to advance home.
Unfortunately, a line out to center field on a 2-0 count was good for the third out as the Jackrabbits runners were left stranded at third and second base.
The Bobcats’ offense strung along some runs after barley avoiding falling further behind. A leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt started the things. A wild pitch moved the runner to third base in the same at bat as a walked batter.
A passed ball allowed a runner to advance to second base, but the lead runner stayed at third base. Oakley struck out the next batter for the second out of the inning, but a clutch double drove in both base runners to tie the game up.
A wild pitch allowed the runner to reach third base. From there, a steal home was successful, giving the Bobcats a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth inning.
Bowie’s bats tried to respond. Weston Partridge led off with a line drive to center field for a single. After a line out, pinch runner Camden Starnes stole second base. A groundout to the shortstop followed for the second out, but it allowed Starnes to reach third base. Unfortunately, Starnes was left stranded as the next batter struck out swinging.
Oakley followed the last inning with a furry on the mound, striking out the side with just 14 pitches to keep the Bobcats lead to just one run.
The top of the lineup came again for the Jackrabbits. For the third straight time, leadoff batter Kennedy found his way on base by drawing a walk. A fielder’s choice hit to second base saw Kennedy out at second base. Taylor Pigg advanced to second base from first thanks to a wild pitch.
Price also hit into a fielder’s choice where Pigg was thrown out at third base. Price replaced him at second. A wild pitch allowed Price to go to third base, but that is where he stayed as the next batter grounded out to the pitcher for the third out.
Childress got its leadoff hitter on base with a drawn walk. After a ground out into a fielder’s choice, the Jackrabbits picked off the runner trying to steal second base. The next batter lined out to centerfield for the third out.
Bowie continued to threaten with one base runner. Partridge was hit by a pitch with one out. Pinch runner Starnes advanced to second on a ground out, but he was stranded again as another ground out to second base ended things.
Childress added to its lead a little bit. A leadoff double to right field was followed by a stolen third base and a ground ball single. The Bobcats lead was 4-2. Pigg came in to relieve Oakley. He struck out two of the three batters to keep the game within reach as the Jackrabbits entered the final inning.
Kennedy hit a groundball single with one out. Unfortunately, he was caught trying to steal second base for the second out. Pigg hit a single to get on base and advanced to second base on a passed ball. With the tying run up to bat, the game ended on a pop out to second base. The Bobcats won 4-2.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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