The Bowie Jackrabbit baseball team took game one of its regional quarterfinals series against Wall on Thursday night.
The Jackrabbits won 9-5 in a game that went to extra-innings after nearly giving the game away in the seventh inning when the Hawks came back to tie the score.
Up until then the underdog Bowie team, playing a Wall team that was ranked 10th in the state in the last poll, led for most of the game from the very beginning.
In the first inning, Carson Sanders got on base with a one out single. Kynan DeMoss then drove him in on a double into the gap to put the Jackrabbits up 1-0.
There were no more scores in the second and third inning from either team. The Jackrabbits added to their lead in the fourth inning thanks to some good plate discipline and overall erratic pitching from the Hawk’s pitcher. Bowie drew three walks, had a hit batter and had one fielding error from Wall that got the leadoff runner on base.
Two runs came in to score to put the Jackrabbits up 3-0.
Bowie added some more runs in the fifth inning. After DeMoss and Devin Melton drew walks, Colton Richey drove them both in with a triple to up the lead to 5-0. The Hawks had seen enough and changed pitchers and got out of the inning without letting Richey score from third.
It also was the inning where Wall bats finally broke through. Sanders got the start on the mound for Bowie. He and the defense had been keeping the Hawks at bay by making the routine plays though they had been threatening almost every inning up until then.
After loading the bases up with a base hit, a drawn walk and a hit batter with no outs, Wall finally was able to get one home with a single two batters later to cut the lead to 5-1. The Hawks were set up to score more with only one out at that point, but Sanders retired the next two batters with pop ups to first base to limit the bleeding.
After a scoreless sixth inning and a 1-2-3 inning from Bowie with its bats, the Jackrabbits were three outs away from ending the game. Wall was not going to make it that easy with its backs against the wall.
A leadoff double triggered Jackrabbit Coach Tyler Price to change pitchers to Cade Thompson. After a walk and a forced out at home, a single drove in one run. A sacrifice fly to right field followed that scored another run and made it two outs. A triple was then hit that drove in another run and also put the tying run at third base.
Price made another change at pitcher and put Kawlyer Swearingin in to try and get the last out. With a full count, Swearingin got the strikeout, but it was dropped. It took some bad bounces and it allowed not only the batter to reach first safely, but it also allowed the runner from third base to come in and score to tie the game up at 5-5.
Swearingin retired the next batter with a fly out to right field, but the damage had been done and the game would go to extra innings.
A lot of teams would have been spooked giving up four runs in the last inning, at certain points being one strike away from ending the game. Instead, this Bowie team went back out for the eighth inning with the goal to get its lead back.
Swearingin led off and set the tone. After failing to prevent the tying run from coming in to score on the mound in the previous inning, Swearingin saw only two pitches before he sent the ball over the centerfield wall for a sole home run.
The Jackrabbits were not satisfied with just a one run lead. Logan Hutson and Brody Armstrong followed with back-to-back singles. Following a strikeout, Sanders hit a single that drove in one run. An error in the outfield allowed the other runner to come around and score and for Sanders to reach third base. DeMoss then drove him in with a single. Bowie got the four runs it gave up the previous inning back and led 9-5.
Price changed pitchers again to DeMoss for the start of the eighth inning. After two infield pop ups for outs, a single put one base runner on and the fear of a two-out rally coming from the Hawks again after the last inning was on everyone’s mind.
Luckily DeMoss forced a fly out to left field for out three to end the game. The Jackrabbits won 9-5.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.