SPORTS
Baseball Roundup
Saint Jo baseball
The Saint Jo Panthers got to play several games and picked up a win at the Era tournament during the weekend.
The Panthers went 1-2 as the young team continues to gel together early in the season.
There were few positives to take away from Saint Jo’s first two games against Sam Rayburn (13-0) and Callisburg (9-0) as the Panthers struggled to throw strikes and get on base.
In Saint Jo’s final game against Sacred Heart, the Panthers were able to ride a 13 run inning to a 14-7 win after only three innings.
Devin Stewart led the team with four RBIs and hit a double while Charlie Evans drove in three runs and Logan Hoover drove in two.
Bellevue baseball
The Bellevue Eagles played games against Bryson and Harrold on Friday and Saturday.
While neither game resulted in a win, they were both competitive for an Eagles program that is still very young.
Bellevue first played Bryson and it was the closest game the Eagles have had this season. After Bellevue got on the board first, the Cowboys answered with three runs and led 3-1 heading into the fifth inning.
The Eagles then tied the game with two runs, but Bryson answered with one of its own in the same inning to retake the lead. Bellevue could not answer and the Cowboys won 4-3.
Ryan Jones and Bryce Ramsey each drove in one run. Ramsey led the team with two hits, River Trail drew two walks and Brennan Criswell hit a double to lead the team.
Ramsey pitched the whole game and allowed four runs, one earned, while striking out 11 batters.
The Eagles then played Harrold the next day and lost 5-1 after three and half innings. Brayden Moore scored the one run for Bellevue on the basepaths.
Missing scores
Nocona’s games were canceled due to the girl’s basketball team playing at the state tournament at the same time. The Saint Jo softball team did not have a game scheduled for late last week.
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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