SPORTS
Lady Rabbits beat Vernon on senior night
The Bowie Lady Rabbits won their senior night on Friday against Vernon.
The Lady Rabbits won 10-4 against the Lady Lions.
Bowie was hoping it could play well after a couple of losses where one bad defensive inning had really set the team back. The Lady Rabbits knew it would be a good opportunity as they had beaten Vernon a few weeks back 14-3.
The first two innings saw Bowie’s bats fail to go off and challenge the Lady Lions much. In the second inning, Vernon hit a leadoff single and two fielding errors later allowed one run to score.
Down 1-0 heading into the third inning, the Lady Rabbits started to get hot with their bats following a flawless defensive inning.
After two singles, Serenity Klump drove in two runs with a double to help Bowie take the lead. After getting on third base, she eventually was able to score thanks to a passed ball.
Following a walk and a double hit by Sadie Britt, Kaylie Kinney followed with a double that drove in two more runs to make it 5-1 for the Lady Rabbits.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Vernon answered back in the fifth inning. After hitting a batter and walking another, a Lady Lion hitter drove the ball into the gap. An error trying to field the ball allowed not just both base runners to score, but the batter to get all the way around to score. Vernon cut the lead to one run 5-4.
Bowie got one of the runs back. Klump led off with a walk and Laci Goodwin then drove her in with a triple to make it 6-4.
After another flawless defensive inning, the Lady Rabbits added to their lead in the sixth inning to put the game away.
After three straight singles from Victoria Cox, Chloe Kinney and Rhyan Carle led off the inning, Klump cleared the bases with a double to drive in three runs.
Three batters later, she was able to score from third base after an error at catcher to make it 10-4.
The Lady Lions needed to come alive in the final inning, but besides a one out single, the Bowie defense was able to shut them down for the final two outs with no issue.
The Lady Rabbits won 10-4.
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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