SPORTS
Baseball Roundup
Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost a close game at home against Lindsay on Tuesday.
The Knights won 5-1 in a game where the Indians just could not get enough hits to come back.
Lindsay got out to a lead to start the game, with three runs on base hits in the top of the first inning to go up 3-0.
Nocona was able to scrape a run in in the bottom of the first inning.
Walker Murphey was able to draw a leadoff walk. He advanced to second base thanks to an error trying to pick him off.
A batter later, a dropped third strike got by for a passed ball that allowed him to come in and score during the confusion to cut the lead to 3-1 and keep the Indians in it.
Lindsay only added two more runs in the game on a two out RBI double in the fourth inning and an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Nocona drew four more walks in the game, but ended with only one hit. The Knights committed three fielding errors, but none came at the right time to allow the Indians to score any more runs.
Lindsay won 5-1.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a tough district game against Perrin-Whitt on Monday night.
The Pirates won 13-3 after five innings due to run-rule against the Panthers.
The game started out close in the first inning as the teams exchanged one run. After a scoreless second inning, Perrin-Whitt broke the game open with six runs in the third inning to go up 7-1.
Saint Jo’s offense could not respond until the Pirates added three runs in both the fourth and fifth inning to go up 13-1.
The Panthers needed to score three runs to keep the game going and avoid getting run-ruled.
Saint Jo scored two, but came up one run short to keep the game from ending early.
The Pirates won 13-3.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles had a tough game at Muenster.
The Hornets won 28-0 after three innings due to run-rule.
It would always be hard for a 1A school to compete against a playoff 2A program like Muenster, let alone a 1A school just starting up its baseball program.
There were not a lot of positives in a game like this.
The Eagles finished with three hits and two walks on offense. Despite the amount of runs given up, Bellevue committed only four fielding errors in the game.
But too many hits and walks given up will undo even the best defense.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend 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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