SPORTS
Saint Jo baseball loses at Chico
The Saint Jo Panthers played their final regular season game on Friday in Chico.
While the rematch against the Dragons did not go the Panthers way in the 4-1 loss, it was a much more competitive game.
Saint Jo had trouble most of the game getting a handle on Chico’s pitching, but thanks to a good start on the mound from Payton Harris and the best defensive performance of the season, the Panthers were able to hang around.
Saint Jo had no luck getting anyone on base in the first inning. The Panthers did the same against the Dragons on defense as Harris struck out one batter and forced two groundouts.
The Panthers had some good luck in the second inning as Brice Durham was able to get on base thanks to an error at third base. Unfortunately, the other three batters were struck out.
The game stayed scoreless as Harris forced a pop out to right field and a ground out before striking out the next batter for out three.
The third inning was more of the same for Saint Jo with the bats. After the first two batters struck out swinging, ball hit well into the outfield went right into the glove of the center fielder.
The Dragons got a bit of help going offensively in the third inning. With one out, a hit batter and a walk put two runners on base. A single followed, but a quick throw from outfielder Jordan Reeves did not allow a run to come. It did load the bases though.
Another single followed to drive in the first run of the game. A sacrifice fly to center field allowed another run to score.
As if the inning could not get any worse, the next batter hit a two RBI double to make the score 4-0.
It seemed like Chico was rolling at this point. The next batter hit a line drive to left field. The base runner was waved home for what would be the fifth run of the inning. Fortunately, the rally home was fast as catcher Chance Bennett had a beat of a second to prepare to make the tag at home for out number three to end the inning.
The Panthers needed to answer or the lack of anything good happening could fester over to other defensive innings.
Collin Thomas led off the fourth inning by drawing the first walk. Jase Johnson followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Payton Harris then got some revenge with his bat as his single broke up the no-hitter up to that point.
Durham grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base for out two, putting runners at the corners. Durham went to steal second base. Chico tried to throw him out, but an error allowed not only Durham to be safe at second, but allowed Johnson to advance home.
The lead was cut to 4-1 before a strike out ended the scoring chance.
Harris struck out the first two batters, but the next batter hit a single to left field. The base runner was able to steal second base and threatened to score on another base hit. Fortunately Harris struck out the next batter, though it was a dropped third strike so catcher Bennett had to throw the batter out.
Trevor Conner led off the fifth inning by getting hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt moved Conner to second base. David Moreno then was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base.
Following a line out to right field, Thomas hit a single to left field, but the rally home prevented any runners from scoring.
With the bases loaded and two outs, this was the best chance the Panthers would end up having in trying to cut into the three-run lead. Unfortunately, the next batters struck out.
Harris was able to retire the first two batters with little issue as the defense continued to make the routine plays.
The Dragons next batter tried to spark the offense with a double into the gap. Harris bounced back by striking out the next batter to end the fifth inning.
With too many strike outs up to that point, the Panther hitters tried to get a bat on the ball early in the count. It backfired in the sixth inning as all three batters hit balls right to infielders. Three outs were had after only five pitches.
Durham came in to pitch for Saint Jo. He retired the first two batters with balls hit right to short stop Tyler Cook. A single followed as Chico again tried to get a two-out rally going to try and extend its lead.
The base runner successfully stole second base to be put in scoring position. Durham bounced back by striking out the next batter, though the dropped third strike mean the runner was thrown out at first.
The Panthers had only one more chance in the seventh inning to make up three runs. The two innings they had had success in either scoring or loading the bases had been sparked by being gifted a free base.
That did not come. The three Saint Jo batters were retired with little drama as Chico won 4-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week 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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