The Nocona Indians won their bi-district series against Archer City on Thursday night in a double-header at Bowie, the first playoff series win for the program since 2005.
The Indians won both games convincingly 6-2 and then by run-rule 14-2 after five innings played.
Nocona came into the playoffs this season with a one-seed since the team’s that finished in front of it in district play were slotted into the smaller school bracket. This meant the Indians were favored playing a two-seed like Archer City, but that still meant they had to play like it.
Early on in game one, the Wildcats let it be known they were not just going to lay down for Nocona. A leadoff triple to start the game set the tone early. The Indians got out of the jam when the next batter lined out to left fielder Colten Anglin for an out. Anglin quickly threw the ball to third base and was quick enough to get the runner out for the rare outfielder double-play.
The Indians’ first two batters got on base with a walk and a single, but Nocona failed to get them home despite them advancing to second and third base and in prime scoring position.
The second inning saw no runs again while both teams were only able to get one base runner on.
The third inning saw Archer City get on the board first. With one out, a catcher’s interference and a walk allowed two runners to get on base. After a strikeout, a double hit down the third base line allowed both runners to score. The batter tried to stretch for a triple, but was called out for the third out, but the runs counted at the Wildcats were up 2-0.
Despite a two out single in the third inning from Nocona, the Indians would not respond until the fourth inning.
Kutter Cabrera led off and his hit ball to third base induced a fielding error that allowed him to get on base. Miller Jentry then drew a walk to get two runners on base with no outs.
Following a pop out and a groundout which advanced Cabrera to third base but put runners at the corners with two outs, Jayce Lehde came through with a single to drive in a run. Walker Murphey loaded the bases with a walk and Brody Langford delivered with a bases clearing double that put Nocona up 4-2.
The Wildcats were not giving up though. A leadoff single and later a balk, or illegal pitch, allowed the runner to advance to third base and threaten to score, but pitcher RJ Walker, following an intentional walk to get to the next batter, came through with a clutch strikeout for out three to get out of the jam unscathed.
He led off the next inning with a single, but nothing got going for the Indians as the game moved to the sixth inning.
When Nocona next came up to bat, Zyrus Moreno led off with a single. Lehde followed with a drawn walk. With the top of the lineup coming around and no outs, the Indians were primed to score again.
The next two batters flew out, the second one deep enough to advance both runners, but it looked like Nocona might have been too eager to make something happen. Next batter Landon Fatheree came through, hitting a double that drove in both base runners and added to the Indians lead to make it 6-2.
Archer City was eager to try and make something happen with its bats, leading to a fly out to right field, and line outs to shortstop and at first base to end the game.
Nocona won 6-2.
Langford and Fatheree led the team with three and two RBIs each on doubles they hit while Lehde drove in the other run. Nocona finished with seven hits and drew five walks.
On the mound, Walker pitched all seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out seven batters. The defense committed two fielding errors.
The Indians did not have long to relish the win because they had to turn right around and play game two shortly afterwards.

To read how game two went and see the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

For photos from game one, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874865&T=1

The area sent 17 athletes to compete at the state track meet last week and four brought back medals competing against the best.
Nocona’s Graci Brown earned a gold medal, Forestburg’s Brenna Briles earned a silver medal, Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard and Saint Jo’s Damon Byrd won bronze medals.
Lightning on Friday afternoon pushed 2A/5A running events to Saturday morning where runners was competing at the same time 1A/6A field events were going on. Despite that the weather, while being a bit humid, was perfect during Thursday and Saturday.
The Lady Indian’s Brown was making her third and last appearance at the state meet. She won two gold medals and a bronze medal in her past two trips, but was disappointed by her performance last year.
She rededicated herself this season and it paid off. She came into state with the fastest qualifying time in the 2A girl’s 400 meters event. She improved on her time, running a personal best 57.33 seconds, winning by more than a second to earn her third gold medal. She leaves Nocona as the most decorated track athlete in program history.

For Forestburg’s Briles, the sophomore leaves state a bit disappointed at not defending her gold medal from the year before in the 1A girl’s high jump event. Both she and the girl from Silverton ended up jumping the highest at 5-2.
After both failed to jump 5-3, the gold was figured by who had fewer faults up to that point. Briles had taken three tries to make 5-0 height earlier, which was one more than the other girl.
Briles then immediately went to compete in the 1A girls triple jump where she jumped 34-3.75 on her final attempt and finished in fifth place.

Saint Jo’s Byrd, a sophomore, had an up and down day at the jumping pit. It was his second year competing at state after competing last year as a freshman and earning a bronze in the triple jump.
Competing first in the 1A boy’s long jump, he was well out of medal contention after faulting on three of his five jumps heading into his final attempt. He jumped 22-1.75, which moved him up to third place where he finished to earn his second bronze medal.
Unfortunately, Byrd could not replicate that success when he competed in the 1A boy’s triple jump later. He faulted on his first three attempts. Without a successful jump, he was not allowed his final three attempts. Still, Byrd was pleased with getting a medal on his second trip back to state.

For Bellevue freshman Mattie Broussard, everything was new for her competing at the state track meet. Not only that, but she had three races to compete in and was not a favorite to medal in any of them based on qualifying times.
In the 1A girl’s 3200 meter race in the morning, she finished in fifth place with a time of 12:02, improving her time by 52 seconds and setting the tone for the day despite not getting a medal.
Later she ran the 1A girl’s 800 meters. Coming down the final straightaway, she was sitting in third place with a runner from Borden County who had been drafting behind her the whole final lap. She made a play to pass Broussard, but Mattie held on to finish third and earn the bronze medal. Her time of 2:22 was eight seconds faster than her qualifying time.
Broussard then finished her busy day by running in the 1A girl’s 1600 meter race near the end of the meet. Broussard could not slip up into medal contention again, finishing in seventh place with her time of 5:32 being a 13 second improvement from her qualifying time.
Broussard had little expectations coming in and leaving with Bellevue’s first medal at the state track meet, according to Athletic Director Colby Broussard, along with three new personal records is more than she could have imagined.
Those were the athletes who left Austin with a medal, but the area still sent 12 more athletes to state who did their best competing against the best.
From Bowie, sophomore Tyler Richey competed in the 3A boy’s pole vault. He jumped 14 feet and finished in eighth place. Competing later in the day, senior Russell Anderson competed in the 3A boy’s 400 meter race. He ran 50.58 and got seventh place.
Saint Jo brought 11 more athletes who competed. Individually Devin Stewart nearly medaled, finishing fourth in the 1A boy’s 300 meter hurdles with a time of 41.17. Savannah Hill got sixth place in the 1A girl’s 300 meter hurdles with a time of 49.75. Lee Yeley got seventh place in the boy’s 1A high jump, completing 6-0.
Maxey Johnson competed in the 1A girl’s discus where she got eighth place, her best throw being 98-6. Trent Gaston competed in the 1A boy’s 110 meter hurdles where got ninth place with a time of 16.27.
Saint Jo also had two relay teams for both the boy’s and girl’s teams get through and competed, with many athletes competing in other events as well.
The Lady Panthers 4×100 relay team, made up of Hill, Abigail Carter, Aubrey Morman and Jordyn O’Neal got fourth place with a time of 51.21. Their 4×200 girl’s relay team, consisting of Taylor Patrick, Olivia Johnson, Carter and O’Neal got seventh place with a time of 1:50.
Saint Jo’s 4×200 boy’s relay team, made up of Barrett Johnson, Stewart, Byrd and Yeley got seventh place with a time of 1:32. Later the boy’s 4×400 relay team, consisting of Gaston, Stewart, Yeley and Johson, got eighth place with a time of 3:34.

To see results for all area athletes, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the state meet, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6874863&T=1

Nocona
The Nocona Indians ended their regular season with a sweep of Alvord to secure a number one seed heading into the playoffs.
The Indians won 13-6 and 3-1 to earn the top seed in the big school division in the playoffs.
With that much on the line despite already securing a playoff spot the previous week, Nocona had a lot to play for in its final regular season series.
The Bulldogs got on the board first with two runs, but the Indians answered with nine runs in the bottom of the first inning to retake the lead 9-2.
Both teams scored one run in the third inning before Nocona scored three runs in the fourth inning to go up 13-3. Alvord was able to extend the game and avoid getting run-ruled by scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth inning.
The Indian bats were cold in the final three innings, but the defense bounced back to shut out the Bulldogs in the seventh inning to win 13-6.
RJ Walker and Jayce Lehde each drove in three runs to lead the team while Ladon Fatheree and Zyrus Moreno both drove in two runs. Nocona finished with nine hits and drew nine walks during the game.
On the mound, Walker Murphey pitched six innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on 12 hits while striking out one and walking two.
The second game was more a pitcher’s duel that had far less action scoring runs.
The Indians scored first in the second inning with one run, but Alvord tied the game with one run in the fourth inning. Nocona answered with two runs in the fifth inning and held on to win 3-1.
Lehde and Fatheree drove in one run each while Murphey scored the other run on the basepaths thanks to a wild pitch. Nocona had only two hits while the team drew seven walks.
Walker helped carry the team on the mound, pitching the whole game while giving up one run on four hits and striking out 13 batters. The defense committed no fielding errors.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles ended their season on Monday this week, losing some tough games on the way out before closing with a win.
The Eagles lost to Perrin-Whitt 13-1, to Bryson 17-2 before beating Saint Jo 7-2 to end the season on a high note.
Bellevue struggled against the two other 1A teams in its district in its previous matchups as both teams are heading towards the playoffs. Both the Pirates and Cowboys proved it once again in the final matchup on April 22 and Monday before playing a team more on its level.
The Eagles and Panthers were 1-1 against each other this season. Playing after Bellevue’s loss to against Bryson right before on Saint Jo’s home field, the Eagles wanted revenge.
Bellevue got it with a 7-2 win against the Panthers to end both team’s season and this year improve the series 2-1 in the Eagles favor.
River Trail led the team with two RBIs while Hunter Blackburn had a team high two hits.
The team finished with seven hits and drew 10 walks.
On the mound, Bryce Ramsey allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out seven and walking five. The defense committed one fielding error.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a tough final week to their disappointing season.
The Panthers lost to Bryson 10-4 before losing to Bellevue 7-2 to close out their season.
Saint Jo knew it was out of the playoff hunt and was playing for pride as it hoped to end the season with its head held high.
The Panthers played the Cowboys on April 22 and were put behind the eight ball when Bryson rallied off seven runs in the third inning. Saint Jo closed the game well, but could not overcome that bad inning as it lost 10-4.
Sam Martin, Charlie Evans, Mathew Sampson and Jayden Curry each drove in one run each. Saint Jo had nine hits and drew six walks during the game.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo’s defense allowed 10 hits and nine walks while committing five fielding errors.
The Panthers then waited a week before ending their season on Monday, due to rain causing the game to be rescheduled, against Bellevue. Each team had beaten the other so far this season and with both teams out of the playoffs, it was a game about local pride more than anything.
Unfortunately for Saint Jo, it did not go its way on Monday. The Eagles scored in every inning besides the first and seventh inning while the Panthers only scored in the fourth inning. Bellevue won 7-2.
Devin Stewart led the team with two RBIs on a double he hit. The team finished with eight hits and drew six walks, but it was not enough to hang with the Eagles.
The pitching staff allowed only four hits, but three fielding errors and nine walks allowed Bellevue to rack up the runs.

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