SPORTS
Lady Indians softball wins 35-6
The Nocona Lady Indians put on quite the show at Gainesville on Tuesday.
The Lady Indians beat the Lady Leopards by the football-like score 36-5 in just three innings, with most coming in the first inning.
Nocona scored 21 runs to lead off the game, with many coming from hits. Kycelynn Contreras drove in a run on a double. Jessica Dingler hit a three-run home run. Tobie Cable hit a two-run home run. Jenna McBride hit an RBI single.
Still in the first inning, Contreras drove in another run on a single. Laci Stone drove in a run on a single. Katy Barrett hit a three-run home run. Makenna Nobile drove in a run on a double.
Contreras drove in two runs on a double. Stone drove in a run on a single. Barrett then drove in the last two runs on a single before the next two batters struck out to end the onslaught, the Lady Indians up 21-0.
Besides a hit batter with one out, Gainesville had no success getting any offense going as Stone forced two ground outs and a pop out to the catcher.
In the second inning, Nocona still had its foot on the gas pedal. With two runners on and one out, Contreras hit an RBI double to score one run. Next batter Paige James came in to pinch hit and came through with a single up the middle that scored both base runners.
A couple of batters later with the bases loaded, Logan Patterson drove in a run with a single. Two passed balls scored two more runs to go up 29-0.
Nocona had the bases loaded with two outs when a pop out to the short stop put an end to the scoring.
The Lady Leopards did bounce back some in the second inning. Gainesville had five hits, two walks and took advantage of one fielding error to score five runs, but is was just a drop in the bucket as the Lady Indians still led big 29-5 heading into the third inning.
Nocona was not going to back off even with the big lead. Dingler drove in a run on a double.
Barrett traded places with her with a double of her own. Cable made it three straight RBI doubles with a double to left field.
After loading the bases with one out, Ramsey hit a double to center field that drove in two runs. Contreras then hit an RBI single to third base. A fielding error at third base allowed another base runner to score to make it 36-5.
The next two batters flew out and grounded out to end Nocona’s offensive day.
The Lady Leopards would need to score 17 runs to avoid being run ruled after three innings, let alone trying to come back and win.
Besides a walk with one out, Stone struck out two batters and forced the final batter to ground out at second base to end the game, the Lady Indians victorious.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
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