SPORTS
Bowie softball loses
After starting out district play with a win, the Bowie Lady Rabbits lost their next two district games.
Henrietta beat them on the road on Saturday 17-7 and Jacksboro won 12-4 on Monday.
The game against the Lady Cats was rescheduled for Saturday due to the weather on Friday. Coming off a big win where Bowie scored a lot of runs in its win against Nocona, the Lady Rabbits started the game on the right foot.
Stephanie Allen hit an RBI triple in the first inning and would later score on a passed ball to put Bowie up 2-0. The Lady Cats would tie the score in the same inning before a scoreless second inning.
In innings three, four and five Henrietta would score nine runs to take control of the game. Bowie answered back in the sixth inning.
Allen drove in a run with a single. Katie Boyles followed with an RBI single. Later in the inning Addie Farris drove in two runs with a triple. She would later score on a passed ball to cut the lead down to 11-7.
Unfortunately, Bowie’s defense could not feed off the momentum change. Henrietta scored six runs to end the game one inning early due to run-rule as the Lady Cats won 17-7.
Allen and Farris both led the team with two RBIs each while both also hit triples in the game.
The defense was not good as the team committed six fielding errors. Of the nine runs given up by starting pitcher Kaylie Kinney in the first three innings, only two were earned. Sadie Britt came in to pitch the final two innings.
Monday’s game at home against Jacksboro again started well for the Lady Rabbits. After giving up no runs to the Lady Tigers in the first inning, Bowie scored three runs.
With two runners on base, Allen hit a ball to second base that induced an error that allowed one run to score.
Allen then successfully stole second base thanks to another error on the throw, which allowed two more runs to score and make it 3-0.
The next three innings saw Jacksboro score two runs each inning to take the lead. The Lady Tigers added one more in the fifth inning to lead 7-3. Bowie answered in the bottom of the fifth inning as Maddie Mandela grounded out to second base, but drove in a run to cut the lead to 7-4.
The defense then came through and prevented the Lady Tigers from scoring in the sixth inning for the first time since inning one. Unfortunately, Bowie’s offense could not make up the three run lead as the game moved to the seventh inning.
Jacksboro then exploded for its biggest offensive inning of the game, scoring five runs to build up its lead to 12-4. Unfortunately, the Lady Rabbit offense could not get any base runners on and ended the game.
Mandela got the team’s only RBI in the game as the three runs in the first inning came on the base paths. Farris hit the only extra base hit of the game for Bowie with a triple.
The defense played better with only two fielding errors, but they still cost big. Of the 12 runs given up, eight were earned. Jacksboro did most of its damage by getting 14 hits in 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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