Nocona
The Nocona Indians were able to get wins against the two local 1A teams last week fairly easily to tune up for the start of district play.
The Indians beat Bellevue 7-0 and run-ruled Saint Jo 12-1 to get some winning momentum heading into this week.
Nocona played the second year Eagle program at home on March 18. Despite playing a younger and inexperienced Bellevue team, the Eagles gave the Indians a game.
Both teams committed only one fielding error all game and Nocona never ran away with the game like it was probably expecting to. The Indians scored two runs in the second and third innings before scoring three in the fifth inning, but did not run-rule Bellevue.
Walker Murphey got the start on the mound and pitched all seven innings for a shutout allowing four hits and three walks while striking out seven batters.
Landon Fatheree and RJ Walker led the team with two RBIs each as the team finished with 10 hits.
Nocona then played Saint Jo two days later on March 20 and was able to get the job done after five innings due to run-rule.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed one run (zero earned) on two hits while he struck out 12 batters. He also drove in four runs on three hits to lead the team.
The team got eight free bases on walks and hit batters to go with 10 hits. Miller Jentry and Miller Jhett each drove in two runs each as well.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers had a tough start to district play this week with a close loss to Perrin-Whitt on Monday.
The Pirates won 7-6 in extra innings, walking off with an RBI single to win in heartbreaking fashion.
Saint Jo was hoping it could shrug off the bad game it played against 2A Nocona on March 20. The bigger Indians beat the Panthers 12-1 in five innings, with little going right for Saint Jo. Sam Martin drove in the only run for the Panthers on a single.
Playing a team its own size and a program where the two play each other in everything meant the game would mean more than just on the district standings.
The Panthers took the early lead in the first inning, with a fielding error and three walks leading to one run and a groundout from Trent Gaston driving in a run. Saint Jo led 2-0
Perrin-Whitt scored one run in the first and fourth innings to tie the game before taking the lead with two runs in the fifth inning to go up 4-2.
The Panther bats fired back in the sixth inning, with Charlie Evans coming through with a two RBI single with two outs to tie the game at 4-4.
Saint Jo then took the lead in the top of the seventh inning when Devin Stewart and Martin had back-to-back RBI singles. The Panthers led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Unfortunately, the Pirates answered. Two doubles and a triple tied the game up at 6-6. Saint Jo’s defense responded well with the winning run sitting on third base by striking out the next batter and getting a ground out to the short stop.
The game went into an extra eighth inning. With two outs, Saint Jo got a break when its batter got hit by pitch. Mathew Sampson hit the ball to the shortstop, but the forced out at second base resulted in an error. The base runner went for third base, but was thrown out for out three.
Perrin-Whitt then got a leadoff triple before two batters later he was sent home on a single to end the game. The Pirates won 7-6.
Evans led the team with two RBIs while Stewart, Martin and Gaston each had one. The team drew 10 walks and were hit by five pitches to go along with eight hits.
On the mound, Gaston pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits while striking out four batters. The team committed three fielding errors.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles played two 2A teams competively last week as they get ready to start district play this week.
The Eagles lost at Nocona 7-0 before tying Chico 7-7 after seven innings of play.
The young Bellevue team and program hoped it could compete well against an Indian team that is coming off a playoff berth and is hoping to get there again, but it didn’t go well last year at all against Nocona.
On March 18, the Eagles played quite well despite not putting enough hits together to score. Bellevue fielded well and avoided innings turning into nightmares on defense.
The Indians scored two runs in the second and third innings before scoring three more in the fifth inning as Nocona won 7-0.
Walker Strahan led the team with two hits as the team finished with five while drawing three walks.
With few chances to take extra bases due to stolen bases or inaccurate pitching, the scoring chances were limited and it just did not happen for the Eagles even though they more often than not put the ball in play, striking out seven times in 24 at-bats.
Bryce Ramsey pitched the whole game and gave up seven runs on 10 hits while he also struck out nine and walked only one batter, though he hit four of them.
Bellevue then played Chico on March 21 and the game was much more even. The Eagles scored five runs in the first inning to take the lead until the Dragons tied the scored in the fourth inning 5-5.
Chico then scored four runs in the fifth inning to take its first lead 9-5. Bellevue answered with two in the same inning to cut the lead to 9-7. In the Eagles final at-bats in the bottom of the seventh inning, Bellevue scored two runs to tie the score at 9-9.
The game was called instead of going into extra innings, ending in a tie.
Brycen Bancroft and Kobe Jones led the team with two RBIs each. The team finished with 10 hits and drew four walks.
With ace Ramsey not able to pitch, the rest of the Eagles pitching staff got about two innings each. Strahan did the best, allowing no runs or hits while striking out four batters and walking four. The defense was again solid as well.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from Saint Jo’s game against Nocona, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6873815&T=1