The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a low-scoring rematch at Jacksboro on Friday night.
The Tigers never trailed as they won 3-1 in a game the Jackrabbits needed to win to keep their district title dreams alive.
Bowie’s only loss in the first round of district play, minus not playing Holliday, came against Jacksboro where the Tigers won 8-6 after getting a big lead in the first inning.
The Jackrabbits split with Jacksboro and Holliday the previous year allowed the team to get the second seed in the district. With the team still needing to play the Eagles twice in the next two weeks, Bowie knew the importance of the game.
Carson Sanders was able to get on for the Jackrabbits with a one out single. He would later steal second base to put himself into scoring position. Unfortunately, the next two batters flew out and struck out to end the chance.
Kynan DeMoss got the start on the mound and got into a jam in the first inning. After a leadoff single, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases with one out. DeMoss induced a fly ball to centerfield. Brody Armstrong caught it cleanly and tried to gun down the runner on third tagging up and trying to score.
The throw was on target, but just a tad too late as catcher Logan Hutson’s lunge came up short to prevent the run. Jacksboro was up 1-0. DeMoss prevented any other runs as the next batter grounded out at third base to end the first inning.
Bowie answered back in the second inning. Kawlyer Swearingin led off with a single. He would later advance to second base on a passed ball. Troy Kesey then hit a ground ball that induced an error on the throw that put runners at the corners with no outs.
Devin Melton drove Swearingin in on a sacrifice fly to centerfield to make it 1-1. Before that, Kesey was thrown out trying to steal second base. The next batter popped out to second base for the third out.
DeMoss found himself in trouble again to start the inning. A leadoff single and walk put two runners on base with no outs. A passed ball then put both runners into scoring position.
After a strikeout, another sacrifice fly was hit to centerfield that allowed the runner on third base to tag up and score, giving Jacksboro back the lead 2-1. The next batter lined out to second base for out three.
The third inning saw Jackrabbits have no success with their bats as all three batters retired with little drama. On defense, Swearingin came in to pitch in relief.
The Tigers leadoff batter again got on base with a single. A later wild pitch allowed him to advance to second base. The next two batters were retired with a fly out and a strikeout.
A single followed that put runners at the corners with two outs. The runner on first would eventually take second base with no challenge to prevent a double-steal that could score a run. Swearingin came through and struck out the batter to get out of the inning with no runs given up.
In the fourth inning, after two fly outs, Swearingin started something with a two-out single. During the next at-bat, Swearingin was able to advance first to second and then to third base thanks to wild pitches. Unfortunately, the next batter struck out for out three.
Swearingin got some revenge on the mound. He not only struck out the side swinging, but did it throwing only 12 pitches.
The bats continued to have trouble for Bowie in the fifth inning. A fly out to the outfield and a pop up to the infield got the first two outs. Colton Richey tried to spark a two-out rally with a single up the middle. It led to nowhere though as the next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice for out three.
The defense continued to limit Jacksboro as the first two batters grounded out. A two-out walk could have come back to bite them if it had festered, but the next batter popped out to third base for out three to end the inning.
Bowie was running out of outs to give heading into the sixth inning, but needed just one run to change the context of the game. After the leadoff batter grounded out, DeMoss hit a single to left field. A wild pitch during the next at-bat put him on second base and into scoring position.
Needing a well-placed single at the least to tie the game up, unfortunately, the next two batters could not get him in. A pop out in foul territory near first base came followed by a groundout at second base for out three.
Jacksboro was able to capitalize on a minor mistake at the beginning of the inning. A leadoff walk was followed by a single into right field. Bowie’s outfielder had trouble gathering the ball rolling on the ground for an error that led to the runner on first base coming in to score a run to extend the Tiger’s lead to 3-1.
With the other baserunner ending up on third base and with no outs, it looked like Jacksboro was about to open up its lead before heading into the final inning.
Swearingin followed with a strikeout. The threat at third base was later eliminated as Hutson picked off the runner for out two.
The Tigers were not done threatening to score. A walk and an infield single followed to put two runners on base. Thankfully the next batter popped out to first base for out three.
Down two runs heading into the last inning, this was not the first time this team had been in that situation. Famously last year’s team, which is made up of all of the same players along with some new ones, won three games on walk-off hits heading into the last inning down.
It was not looking good though as the first batter flew out to centerfield and the next batter struck out. Armstrong was up next and hit a groundball to the shortstop that looked like it would be out three. The throw went over the first basemen’s head for an error and allowed Armstrong to advance to second base.
It gave Bowie at least one more chance to try and come back. Unfortunately, the next batter flew out to the outfield for out three to end the game.
Jacksboro won 3-1.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.