The Bowie Lady Rabbits faced a tough test at home on Tuesday night against Iowa Park.
The Lady Hawks were able to end the game early after five innings, winning 11-0 as the Lady Rabbits struggled against the bigger school.
In the first inning Bowie allowed a leadoff walk to start the game. Fortunately, the defense was able to get the runner out trying to steal as catcher Kenzi Short made a great throw to second base. The next two batters were out with no problem thanks to solid defense and the Lady Rabbits escaped with no runs given up.
Bowie did not have much luck with its first time up to bat. All three batters struck out as the team had an issue getting its bat on the ball.
In the second inning, pitcher Alexa Holzer forced a ground out to the shortstop and struck out the next batter for the first two outs. The next batter hit a blooper over the shortstop for a single as Iowa Park hoped to rally with two outs.
Two wild pitches allowed the runner to advance to third base, where a base hit would score. The batter hit the ball hard into the outfield, but it had enough air under it for the outfielder to catch the ball cleanly for the third out, escaping another inning with a runner on base.
Unfortunately on offense, the Lady Rabbits did not have much more success. All three batters were sat down with strike outs as the game moved to the top of the third inning still scoreless.
The leadoff batter was hit to get on base. After a strike out, an infield single and fielder’s choice loaded the bases up. A bases clearing double and a triple followed, scoring four runs for the Lady Hawks as they took the lead 4-0. Bowie was able to get out of the inning with a pop up double play.
The Lady Rabbits needed to respond with their bats, but still could not make much contact. The first two batters struck out. The third batter laid down a successful bunt and tried to run out the throw, but Iowa Park covered it well and threw the runner out at first base for the third out.
The fourth inning did not start well again for Bowie. The leadoff batter hit a single into left field and the next batter was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base. A successful bunt advanced both runners into scoring position, where they would eventuaully score on a single and a steal home, upping the score to 6-0 for the Lady Hawks.
While the Lady Rabbits leadoff batter avoided striking out with a hard hit ground ball to second base, Iowa Park made the play for the first out. The next two batters struck out swinging as the game moved to the fifth inning.
A hit batter and single started the inning off not well for Bowie. After a strike out, an error in right field allowed the bases to be loaded. The Lady Rabbits defense was able to force a fielder’s choice out at home for the second out as the team hoped to get out of the jam.
Unfortunately another fielding error this one on a tough pop fly in the shallow outfield, allowed two runs to score. A bunt was laid down that loaded the bases again and a double drilled into the gap cleared the bases, putting Iowa Park up 11-0. Bowie got out of the inning two batters later with a fly out to center field.
The Lady Rabbits needed to score at least two runs to avoid having the game stopped due to run rule. The first batter struck out, the teams 11th of the game. Though it was dropped, the batter could not beat the throw to first base and was out.
The next and final two batters were able to put the bat on the ball. A bunt down the third base line was fielded well by the Lady Hawks for the second out. That was followed with a ground ball hit to third base. Again, Iowa Park fielded the ball clean and the throw was good for the third and final out as Bowie would lose 11-0.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.