SPORTS
Jackrabbits upset Holliday 7-6
The Bowie Jackrabbits walk-off win against state-ranked Holliday on Tuesday was a good bounce back after falling to Jacksboro the day before.
The Jackrabbits lost to the Tigers 11-4 on Monday before turning around and beating the Eagles at home on Tuesday 7-6.
Holliday was not only the district favorites, but also were ranked number eight in the state in 3A in this week’s coaches poll with only one loss all season.
The game did not seem to start off great as the Eagles leadoff drew a walk. Pitcher Kawlyer Swearingin bounced back though as the next three batters were grounded or flew out.
Bowie batters made contact early, but failed to get the ball anywhere the Holliday was not as the first inning ended scoreless.
The Jackrabbits allowed nothing from the Eagles hitters in the second. On offense, Bowie put together a two-out rally starting with Kynan DeMoss hitting a double. After Logan Hutson hit a single to move him to third base, an error allowed him to score to make the score 1-0.
The Eagles answered in the third inning. A dropped third strike followed by two singles scored two runs. After a double steal, a squeeze bunt play allowed one more run to score as Holliday’s lead was at 3-1.
The Jackrabbits had no answers as all three batters grounded out in the infield on only four pitches to move the game into the fourth inning.
The Eagles added another run thanks to a leadoff walk. Bowie forced two outs, but a ground out had moved the base runner to second base. A two out double allowed the runner to score to extend Holliday’s lead to 4-1.
A single followed and it looked like the Eagles might add more, but Swearingin struck out the next batter to get out of the jam. The Jackrabbit’s batters again had trouble hitting to where Holliday players weren’t as all three batters were sat down.
Parker Price came in to pitch in the fifth inning. After forcing an out, the Eagles loaded the bases thanks to two singles and a hit batter. With the momentum going Holliday’s way, it looked like it might be the big inning the Eagles would need to break open the game.
Instead Bowie’s defense stepped up. A hit to third base allowed the Jackrabbits to get the force out at home for the second out. Bowie catcher Melton was then able to pick off the runner at third base during the next at bat for the third out, leaving all three runners stranded.
That kind of sequence was just what Bowie needed to get some momentum going, which carried over to its bats.
DeMoss and Price led off with back-to-back singles. After two groundouts, Sanders came through with a single to drive in one run.
Cade Thompson then hit a double to score another runner followed by Melton driving in two runners on a single to give the Jackrabbits the 5-4 lead.
Holliday looked like it was going to respond with its leadoff batter hitting a single. The defense came through again though, pulling off a double play to clear the base paths. Price then struck out the next batter for the third out.
Bowie had a chance to add to its lead in the sixth inning. Swearingin led off with a single and DeMoss followed up by getting hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, the next three batters failed to move the Jackrabbit runners any as the game moved to the final inning.
The Eagles were not going to make this easy though. They led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Following a strike out, a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.
Sanders came in to pitch and forced a ground ball to third base. Bowie got the out at first base, but failed to get the third out at home due to miscommunication. This allowed both base runners to score as Holliday now led 6-5.
The costly mental error looked like it might cost more runs as a double, a walk and a hit batter followed to load the bases. Thankfully, Bowie was able to get the force out at home for the third out.
The Jackrabbits would need to come back while also bouncing back mentally from a blown defensive sequence that would have ended the game.
Sanders led off with a single. A ground out moved him to second. Melton then hit an infield single. Following a steal from Melton, Richey was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Swearingin came through with a single to drive in one run to tie the score. It was then DeMoss who hit a line drive to left field to end the game with the walk-off RBI. His teammates swarmed him in right field as Bowie won 7-6.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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