SPORTS
Saint Jo baseball loses to Dodd City
Despite receiving a bye in the bi-district round, Saint Jo baseball drew state ranked Dodd City in the regional quarterfinals of the playoffs and were underdogs.
Playing a double header on Friday at Bells High School, the Panthers could not pull the upset that day as the Hornets won both games 11-1 and 12-3 to end their season.
The first game was rough since it had been more than a week since Saint Jo had played. Tyler Cook got on base with two out single in the first inning, but it did not lead to anything.
Dodd City went to work, scoring four runs thanks to two hits, two walks and a couple of steals. The Panthers found themselves behind 4-0 after one inning.
Saint Jo batters failed to get on base in the second inning. A leadoff walk from the Hornets led to another run to extend the lead to 5-0 after two innings.
The Panthers offense built some real momentum in the third starting off with Eli Jones drawing a walk with one out. Jones stole second base and Wyatt Geurin followed with a single to put runners at the corners.
Connor Thompson came through, driving in Jones with a single to left field, cutting the lead to 5-1. Unfortunately, the next two batters failed to get on base even after both runners stole bases to move into scoring position.
Dodd City doubled its runs thanks to three base hits and three drawn walks to go up 10-1 as the game started to slip away after three innings.
Brock Durham led off with a single for the Panthers, but the pinch runner was picked off at first base later in the inning while the next two batters were retired. Despite hitting a batter with one out, Saint Jo kept the runner from scoring as the game advanced to the fifth inning.
Geurin reached first base thanks to an error at third base with two outs, but there would be no two out rally for the Panthers. Despite keeping the Hornets from scoring in the last inning, four walks scored the winning run in the fifth as the game ended due to run rule 11-1.
Saint Jo gave up double digit walks and stolen bases that made all the difference in game one and could only play better in game two.
It proved to be the better game. The Hornets continued to find ways to capitalize on lone base runners as a leadoff walk came around to score thanks to an error in the top of the first inning to lead 1-0. Cook drew a two out walk for the Panthers, but it did not lead to any scoring.
Dodd City drew two walks, but Saint Jo did a better job of limiting steals on the base paths and threw out a runner at second base for the third out of the inning. Like the first inning one batter, Trevor Conner, drew a walk. Just like the first inning, the runner was stranded at first base as the next two batters were retired.
The Hornets added to their lead in the third inning. A two out walk and a stolen base was capitalized on by a base hit to right field to score the runner, upping the lead to 2-0.
Geurin hit a one out single to center field. Geurin was able to reach second base thanks to an error, but was out at third base right before Thompson hit a single to left field. Thompson advanced to second on a passed ball, but the next batter struck out for the third out.
A leadoff walk and a single from Dodd City normally would have scored a run, but the Panthers prevented any stolen bases, even throwing a runner out at third base for the third out.
Saint Jo’s offense came to life as Jace Johnson led off with a drawn walk. Durham followed with a single to right field, good enough for pinch runner Hunter Garrett to reach third base.
After a strikeout, Logan Morman put the ball in play. The shortstop committed an error that allowed Garrett to score, Durham to reach third and Morman to reach first. Next batter Pepe Gam grounded out to third base, but Durham was able to score on the play to tie the game up at 2-2.
In the fifth inning, the Hornets started a two out rally with a walk and a single. An error at first base allowed the lead runner to score as Dodd City retook the lead 3-2.
The Panthers answered as Thompson hit a one out line drive single to center field. Cook followed with a walk to advance Thompson. Johnson put the ball in play and thanks to an error at first, Thompson scored to tie the game at 3-3.
The Hornets secured the lead again in the sixth inning as a hit batter was driven in after advancing to third base thanks to a failed pick off attempt and a passed ball. Dodd City led 4-3.
While Saint Jo’s offense had answered the previous two innings, only Gam getting hit by a pitch with two outs prevented the Panthers from getting shut down. A failed stolen base attempt by the pinch runner ended things on the base paths as the game advanced to the seventh and final inning.
After liming the free bases all game compared to game one, Saint Jo pitchers could not find the strike zone in the final inning. The Panthers walked eight batters, hit two batters and allowed one hit in the seventh inning as the Hornets lead grew to 12-3 in an inning that would not end.
Saint Jo tried to be aggressive till the very end. Thompson hit a two out single and hoped to inspire a rally. After stealing second base, the game ended on the base paths with Thompson trying to steal third base.
Dodd City won 12-3.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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