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.