SPORTS
Bowie baseball season ends against Clyde
The Bowie Jackrabbit baseball had their season come to an end on Saturday in Graford as they lost the area round playoff series to Clyde.
Losing game one 6-1 and game two 4-2, it was a sad end to a great season for a team that always played its best when the mostly senior led class was having the most fun.
Game one was played Friday night. Bowie led off the game and struck first in the opening inning. Taylor Pigg hit a line drive single to centerfield.
A fielder’s choice for the second out saw Pigg out at second base and Payton Price replace him at first. Camden Starnes came in to pinch run for Price.
Next batter Cooper Little hit a double to left field. An error trying to field the ball allowed Starnes to score from first and Little to advance to third base. The Jackrabbits led 1-0.
Braden Armstrong’s drawn walk put runners at the corners to threaten the defense more, but the next batter struck out looking to end things before Bowie could pile on.
Price started on the mound for the Jackrabbits. Despite giving up a one out single and a wild pitch to put a runner in scoring position, Price struck out two batters and popped out another to left field to get out of the first inning.
Luis DeLeon hit a one line drive single to left field. Kash Stockard followed with a drawn walk. Unfortunately, the base runners stayed put as a strikeout and a pop out to first base followed.
After striking out two batters and walking one, an infield single put two runners on base. Thankfully Price fielded a ground ball to get the force out at first base to end the second inning with Bowie still leading.
In the third inning the Jackrabbits failed to get a base runner on for the first time. A dropped third strike out, a ground out to third base and a pop out at first saw all three batters sat down in order.
A leadoff infield single came back to bite Bowie later in the inning. A sacrifice bunt and a ground allowed the runner to advance to third base with two outs. A wild pitch allowed the runner to score and tie the game at 1-1 before walking the next batter. Thankfully, a hard hit ball to right field found its way into the glove of Boo Oakley for the third out.
In the fourth inning, Weston Partridge led off with an infield single. Ozzie Phillips followed him with a drawn walk. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position to retake the lead.
A strikeout and a fly out to left field left both runners stranded and the score tied.
The Bulldogs led off with a single. A wild pitch and a bunt for a single allowed the runner to reach third base with no outs. Price almost worked out of the jam. Back-to-back strikeouts looked like the runners were going to end up stranded, but a passed ball allowed the runner to score and give Clyde a 2-1 lead after four.
In the fifth inning, Price drew a one out walk, but back-to-back fielder’s choice outs followed. The Bulldogs continued to grow the momentum they had built the previous two innings.
A double, a base hit, a walk and a fielding error allowed two runs to score as Clyde doubled its lead to 4-1 heading into the sixth inning.
Phillips and DeLeon both reached base with one out thanks to back-to-back errors. Even with both runners executing a double steal to get into scoring position, the Jackrabbits just could not get them home.
Bowie’s bullpen tried to come in to keep the game close in the sixth inning, but giving up four walks and an error in the field allowed the Bulldogs to score two more runs to improve the lead to 6-1.
In the seventh and final inning Pigg led off with a single. Price was able to reach thanks to a fielding error. After grounding into a fielder’s choice, the next batter grounded into a game ending double play as Clyde won game one 6-1.
All was not lost for the Jackrabbits, who had lost game one in their previous series against Boyd and had played much worse. A few more clutch hits with runners in scoring position and cutting out some of the wild pitches and passed balls and the game could have been theirs.
Game two was played a little before noon on Saturday, still in Graford. Pigg got the start on the mound for Bowie. The Bulldogs threatened with a leadoff single and a double with one out, but a pop out in foul territory and a line out to right field saw the Jackrabbits escape the inning.
The top of the lineup put balls in play, but Clyde’s defense made the routine plays to get them out. The game was still scoreless after one inning.
The Bulldogs leadoff runner got on base thanks to an error. After stealing second base, a ground out allowed the runner to advance to third base. Another fielding error allowed the runner the score and give Clyde a 1-0 lead.
Despite a two out double into the gap from Partridge, a ground out to second base left him stranded.
Oakley came in to pitch relief in the third inning. Besides giving up a one out double, a ground out to third base and a pop up to the pitcher allowed him to get out of the inning. Bowie’s bats continued to struggle as no batters could get on base.
In the fourth inning, the Bulldog’s leadoff batter was hit. A wild pitch allowed him to reach second base while Oakley struck out the next batter. After a passed ball allowed the runner to reach third base, the next batter drew a walk.
The runner on first stole second base before a double was hit that scored both runners. Clyde’s lead grew to 3-0.
Despite another runner reaching third base after a wild pitch, a pop out and a ground out to second base followed to limit the scoring.
Pigg led off with a single, but two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice out never allowed the Jackrabbits to put much pressure on the Bulldogs.
Clyde added one more run in the fifth inning. After a one out single, an error at second base trying prevent a stolen base allowed the runner to advance to third base.
The next batter put the ball in play and a fielding error allowed the runner to get home to make the score 4-0.
Bowie’s offense responded. Partridge and Phillips led off with back-to-back singles. DeLeon then came up and a double into the gap to drive in one run. After a strikeout, Evan Kennedy hit a sacrifice fly to drive in another run to cut the lead to 4-2.
Besides giving up a walk, the Bulldogs were shut down for the final two innings on offense as the game stayed within reach. The Jackrabbits leadoff batter tried to reach for a double in the sixth inning, but was thrown out. Two outs followed as Bowie had one last chance to either tie or take the lead.
Phillips and DeLeon hit back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh inning. After a pitching change from Clyde, a strikeout and a ground out to first base followed to end the game 4-2 and Bowie’s season.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of 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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