SPORTS
Nocona softball falters 11-3
The Nocona Lady Indians lost their second district game on Friday after traveling to Breckenridge.
The Lady Buckaroos won 11-3 against the Lady Indians as Nocona is still searching for their first district win.
After the Lady Indians failed to get a runner on to start the game, Breckenridge got one on with a single to left field. After stealing second and third base, an error on the throw to third base allowed the runner to score. The Lady Buckaroos led 1-0 after the first inning.
Nocona answered in the second inning. The lead off Tobi Cable was able to get on base thanks to an error at third base. Cable was able to steal second and reach third base thanks to an error at catcher. A passed ball then allowed her to score and tie the game at 1-1.
The good fortune would not last long for the Lady Indians.
Breckenridge would score six runs before the second inning was over thanks to five hits, one walk and one fielding error. The Lady Buckaroos led again, but now it was 7-1
Nocona failed to get anything going in the third inning, but did prevent Breckenridge from scoring as well despite giving up three singles.
A leadoff double from Katy Barrett started out the fourth inning well for the Lady Indians. She advanced to third base thanks to a passed ball, but stayed there for the next two batters who got out.
Kamryn Weaver then hit a ball to the shortstop, who thankfully committed an error, allowing Barrett to score and cut the lead to 7-2.
Nocona prevented the Lady Buckaroos from getting on base as the game moved to the fifth inning.
MaKenna Nobile led off the inning with a single. She advanced to second base with a groundout for the second out, but was left stranded there.
Breckenridge was then able to score in a flurry, scoring four runs thanks to four hits, one walked batter and one hit batter. The Lady Buckaroos lead was up to 11-2 and Nocona was running out of innings to try and come back.
Barrett led off the sixth inning getting on base thanks to getting hit by a pitch. She would steal second before Laci Stone would drive her in on a single to right field to cut the lead to 11-3.
Unfortunately, that would be all the runs for Nocona. Despite Kamryn Weaver hitting a double later that inning, it came with no base runners on thanks to the substitute runner being picked off.
The Lady Indians did sit down all three Breckenridge batters to move the game into the seventh and final inning.
Nocona started the inning off promising with Nobile drawing a leadoff walk. Despite reaching third base thanks to a steal and ground ball, that is where she would stay as the final batter struck out to end the game.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week 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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