SPORTS
Bowie baseball loses to Iowa Park
It was a game to forget for the Bowie Jackrabbits baseball team on Wednesday against Iowa Park.
The Hawks won 13-1 in six innings to win by run-rule against the Jackrabbits.
Bowie was coming off a competitive, but losing effort against Jacksboro, but knew Iowa Park would be just as tough or better with the Hawks sitting in second place in the district standings.
The Jackrabbits had lost the first game at Iowa Park in 7-3, with most of the action happening in the later innings, so they knew they could play with the Hawks. Unfortunately, Bowie did not show it on Wednesday.
Iowa Park scored three runs in the opening inning to grab a lead it would never let go. It forced the Jackrabbits to change pitchers to get out of the inning after giving up two doubles, a single, two walks and a hit batter.
Down 3-0, Bowie showed some fight in the same inning. Rayder Mann took advantage of a dropped third strike to get on base with one out. Troy Kesey hit a double and Seth Mann drew a walk to load the bases up.
After a strikeout, Hayden Rodriguez was then hit by a pitch, which allowed one run to some in and score to cut the lead to 3-1.
Iowa Park scored one run in the second inning, but it was the third inning that broke the game open.
Seven walks, two singles and a hit batter allowed the Hawks to score six runs to up their lead to 10-1. Bowie cycled through three pitchers during the inning.
While the Jackrabbit bats did have several chances to score with runners in scoring position in the second and fourth innings, the chances dried up as the game went along.
Iowa Park scored three runs on three singles and a double in the sixth inning to go up 13-1.
Bowie would need to score at least three runs to prevent the game from stopping early.
Unfortunately, despite a one out drawn walk, the Jackrabbits did not threaten to score and the game did end early.
Iowa Park won 13-1.
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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