Facing off with fifth-ranked Lubbock Coronado in a big District 4-5A matchup at Bulldog Field, Wylie junior Brooks Gay knew he’d need to be on his game to give his team chance to beat the Mustangs and open league play at 2-0.
Boy, was he ever on his game.
The talented right-hander held Coronado to a single hit over seven shutout innings and took advantage of some solid run support to help the No. 23 Bulldogs to a 9-0 win that improved their record to 12-3 overall.
The Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes announced Thursday morning the coaching staffs for this year’s All-Star Festival that will be held in June in multiple locations.
The event, which started in 2000, features football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball and is expanding to include a two-day boys and girls golf tournament. Continue reading “FCA announces 2021 All-Star Festival coaching staffs”
THIS WEEK: Hamlin’s Russell Lucas talks about his move to Sweetwater
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LINK … GAME STORY: Chorn’s walkoff, Neuman’s pitching lead Clyde past Ballinger
SAN ANGELO — Jahlissah Marquez and Kaleigha Kemp combined for a five-inning one-hitter and got ample run support from their lineup Tuesday as the Cooper softball team coasted to a 13-1 nondistrict win over San Angelo Lake View.
Marquez did the heavy lifting in the circle, allowing one unearned run in four innings, surrendering just a single hit while posting a 9-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. With her team up 13-1 after four, Kemp finished things off, striking out two in a perfect fifth.
Those two pitched the entire game with a lead after the Lady Coogs followed a five-run first with one in the second, five in the third and two in the fourth to put the run rule into effect.
LUBBOCK — The Wylie baseball team opened District 4-5A play with a shutout win Tuesday, riding a strong start from Dash Albus and a big offensive night for Landon Bailey to a 6-0 victory over the Lubbock Monterey Plainsmen.
Albus scattered seven hits and two walks over six shutout innings to earn the win, while Bailey went 3 for 4 with a run and two RBIs to head a list of four players to post multi-hit games for the Bulldogs.
CLYDE — Tuesday night’s District 6-3A baseball game between Clyde and Ballinger got started nearly 30 minutes late due to a pregame issue that resulted in a portion of the infield grass behind the pitchers mound at Bulldog Field being left under a significant amount of water.
The delayed start seemed to have a bigger effect on the two defenses more than starting pitchers Dylan Neuman (Clyde) and Nakia Villarreal (Ballinger) as the two aces matched each other nearly pitch-for-pitch once the game got going.
In the end, it was Clyde’s Luke Chorn singling home Monroe Burleson with one out in the bottom of the seventh over a drawn in infield for a 4-3 walk-off win for the Bulldogs.
Facing off with Class 4A No. 3 Iowa Park for the second time in four days while playing its first home game of the season Tuesday, the Wylie softball team was hoping to build on the hard-fought 3-1 loss it suffered at hands of the Lady Hawks on Saturday at the Graham tournament.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way for the Lady Bulldogs.
An error-plagued second inning led to nine unearned runs for Iowa Park, and the Lady Hawks cruised from there to a 19-6 win at Lady Bulldog Field, handing Wylie its first run-rule loss of the season in the process.
Comanche Athletic Director–Head Football Coach Stephen Hermesmeyer has been named as the new AD-head football coach at Troy High School.
Hermesmeyer has posted an 84-64 career mark in 13 years of coaching, including a four-year stint at Winters from 2008-2011.
At Comanche, Hermesmeyer was 61-42 in nine seasons, including three straight district titles between 2016-2018. His most recent club finished the 2020 season at 8-3.
“It’s been a tremendous nine years,” Hermesmeyer said. “Comanche is a great community with a great staff, hard-working kids and tremendous support from everyone and I’m very thankful for that.
“I enjoyed being able to raise my kids there.”
At Troy, he will inherit a 5-5 club while replacing coach Ronnie Porter, who stepped down in January.
“I’m leaving a great job and great community for a new opportunity in my career,” Hermesmeyer said. “Sometimes in life you’re ready to turn the page to a new chapter.
“Change isn’t always something that people enjoy, but you have a choice with change. You can either make it great, or figure out what’s wrong with it. But I’m just excited about having an opportunity to go and prove myself again — to get it going at a place I’m not familiar with.
“There’s great football played along the I-35 corridor and we’ll be playing some bigtime opponents. It’s a new chapter in my life as far as the coaching part of it.
“It will more than likely be my last stop in the coaching ranks and I’m ready to get it started.”
Hermesmeyer has remained a wing-T coach throughout his coaching career and intends to retain a ball control style of offense at THS.
The challenge ahead is, by all accounts, quite difficult.
Based in District 11-3A DI, the Trojans have a league slate with the likes of Lorena, Cameron Yoe, Rockdale and Little River-Academy in the mix.
A year ago, Troy’s non-district schedule was murderous, with powerhouses such as Salado (11-2) and Class 3A DII state runner-up Franklin (12-3) both on the menu.
“I’ve always been a wing-T guy, a power-run guy with hard-nosed defense,” Hermesmeyer said. “It’s hard to have a physical defense without having a physical offense. … We’re still going to have that same mentality of being hard-nosed, grind the football, make the clock run and play great defense.
“We’ll definitely be the oddball down there, because there’s a lot of spread offenses and a lot of great athletes. But sometimes being the oddball isn’t a bad thing.”
With the second-ranked Jim Ned baseball team off to a 12-0-1 start, it only stands to reason that some of the Indians will begin making appearances in this column.
This week, Jim Ned’s Blaine Palmer has snagged our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending March 13 with a two-sided performance worthy enough for a doubletake.
To begin with, Palmer delivered five perfect innings in a 20-0 win over Brady that saw him fan 14 hitters. He followed that with four solid innings in a 13-1 win over Eastland in the Jim Ned tournament with four more Ks.
His pitching line for the week: nine innings, one hit, 18 Ks, no walks and no runs allowed.
Oddly enough, his pitching performance was so good, it nearly overshadowed a red-hot week at the plate that saw him finish a combined 7 of 10 with a double, two triples and seven RBIs.
STAMFORD — Breckenridge baseball coach Kevin Bartley Jr., is quite open about who his hero is. It is the man who taught him more about baseball and life in general, than anyone else — his father, Stamford baseball coach Kevin Bartley Sr.
In fact, Junior can scarcely approach the topic of his father’s influence without getting emotional. Nonetheless, he welcomes the public into it with an annual meeting against SHS on the diamond — a game that brings both fun and a high level of family competitiveness into the limelight. Some 60 miles and a full generation may separate the two, but the fear of competing with one another does not.
Breckenridge travelled to Stamford on Friday, falling to the Bulldogs 5-1 at Wendeborn Field. There were plenty of smiles on both sides as action got underway. Not so much as Breckenridge boarded the team bus to go home.
At the end of the day, both of these clubs want to win — family ties or no family ties.
The Sweetwater Mustangs have their new head football coach and athletic director and didn’t have to look far to find him.
Sweetwater has tabbed Russell Lucas, Hamlin’s coach for the past 13 seasons, to replace Ben McGehee at the helm of the storied program. McGehee left the program in early February to take over Magnolia West.
That history is one thing that appealed to Lucas, who wasn’t even looking to leave the Pied Pipers. Continue reading “UPDATED: Sweetwater names Hamlin’s Lucas new AD, football coach”
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Day 3 score
Crandall 9, Abilene High 8
Records — Abilene High 2-13
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Day 2 scores
Cooper 9, Southwest Christian 1
Wylie 3, Brownwood 1
MIdland High 14, Brownwood 3
Midland Lee 10, Wylie 4
Abilene High 13, Sweetwater 0
Wichita Falls Rider 7, Cooper 2
Records — Abilene High 2-12; Cooper 7-7; Wylie 10-3; Brownwood 5-5; Sweetwater 3-9-1
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LINK … GAME STORY: Stamford stops Breckenridge 5-1 behind four-hitter from Holt
STAMFORD — They didn’t hit the ball particularly hard. Nor did they hit it that often. But for Stamford, the combination of Bryson Holt’s complete-game
four-hitter and three costly Breckenridge errors were all the Bulldogs needed to walk away with a 5-1 win on Friday at Wendeborn Field.
Pablo Gutierrez, Dylan Faulks and Payton Rosenquist were all 1-for-3 with an RBI to lead Stamford (6-3) which coasted behind Holt’s pitching after grabbing an early 4-0 lead in the first two innings.
“(Holt) was unbelievable,” Stamford coach Kevin Bartley Sr., said. “He threw under 85 pitches and he was really in the zone. He threw hard and threw well. I’ve watched (Breckenridge) play and they’re a good-hitting ballclub. They came out a little flat, but you have to give Bryson credit. He was hitting his spots and doing what he needed to do.”
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Day 1 scores
Wylie 12, Abilene High 3
Cooper 6, Sweetwater 0
Brownwood 7, Sweetwater 5
Southwest Christian 3, Wylie 0
Crandall 4, Brownwood 1
Wichita Falls Rider 11, Abilene High 1
Midland High 5, Cooper 4
Records — Abilene High 1-12; Cooper 6-6; Wylie 9-2; Brownwood 5-3; Sweetwater 3-8-1
STAMFORD — SISD has announced that Britt Hart will be its new Athletic Director and Head Football Coach.
Hart, who posted a 59-11 mark at Falls City between 2015-2019, spent 2020 at Merkel, where he posted a 3-6 mark in his first and only season with the Badgers.
In five seasons at Falls City, Hart led his clubs to two state-semifinal appearances and four state quarterfinals. This included four double-digit win campaigns, including a 14-1 mark in 2018.
He also served as an assistant coach at Wellington, where he helped WHS to a state title in 2013 as its offensive coordinator.
Britt replaces former SHS coach Ronnie Casey, who posted a 50-30 mark in seven seasons with the Bulldogs.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Late Eula rally falls short in state semifinal loss to Texline.
THIS WEEK: Eula coach Josh Fostel talks about the Pirates’ noteworthy season with Evan and Dan (prerecorded Monday night).
CORSICANA — Leading the Brock boys basketball team by just a point midway through the third quarter on Tuesday, No. 10 Tatum closed the period on a 10-2 run to steal the momentum and carried it through the fourth quarter for a 62-45 win in a Class 3A state semifinal matchup at Tiger Gym.
Using intense pressure defense, Tatum wore down Brock over the course of the game, turning a 28-25 halftime lead into a 44-35 advantage by the start the fourth quarter, before putting the game away with an 18-10 run over the final eight minutes.
DENVER CITY — After advancing through the regional tournament with back-to-back one-point wins, the Eula Pirates and coach Josh Fostel believed they had another miracle finish in their back pocket in Friday’s Class 1A state semifinal with Texline.
They were nearly right.
On this occasion, however, random chance didn’t work in favor of the Pirates, who fell in a nail-biter 58-56 at Denver City High School.
There are very few high school track records on the books (state or school) that date back 50 years or more. And most of the ones that are still there have survived for a reason — they are freaky good.
Courtesy of Wall’s Tate Williams, we have just lost one such mark — a WHS school record for the shot put that was set way back in 1969. Williams not only topped it, he shattered it by more than 2.5 feet with a throw of 57-8.5 in last week’s Wall dual meet.
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SAN ANGELO — Playing the “comeback Cats” of Westbrook for a shot at the the Region II-1A title and a spot in the Class 1A state semifinals, Eula boys basketball coach Josh Fostel knew his team would be in for a fight.
Fortunately for Fostel and the maroon-clad fans at Angelo State University’s Junell Center on Saturday, the Pirates were up to the challenge.
Trailing at the end of each of the first three quarters, it was Eula that had to rally in this one. But the Pirates took the lead early in the final period and held off a late Westbrook run for a thrilling 52-51 victory.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Lipan rallies twice to eliminate Cisco
With the No. 15 Eula Pirates and 14th-ranked Westbrook Wildcats set to face off in the Region II-1A championship game Saturday evening, the Big Country is guaranteed to have a representative in the Class 1A state semifinals next week.
The question is who that representative will be.
On one hand, you have a Eula program that has been among the area’s most consistently successful, making four previous state tournament appearances, including a title run in 2011. On the other, you have an upstart Wildcats bunch that’s in the regional tournament for the first time since the 2001 WHS squad earned the only state tournament berth in program history.
Only one will still be playing after Saturday’s clash, which tips off at 7 p.m. at Angelo State University’s Junell Center, and both coaches are expecting a battle.
Photos by Mackenzie Teal, Press Pass Sports
WOLFFORTH — The Westbrook girls basketball team’s historic run came to an end Friday as the Lady Cats fell to Nazareth 48-17 in their state semifinal matchup at Frenship High School.
WHS, which was playing in the state tournament for the first time in school history, fell behind early and was never able to regroup against the No. 2 Swiftettes, who will go for their state record 25th state championship Wednesday against top-ranked Dodd City.
GLEN ROSE — Two things worried Cisco coach Kevin Hearne heading into Friday’s Region II championship game with Lipan. First, the Indians’ ability to get 3-pointers from multiple sources. And secondly, their ability to quickly adjust on the fly to alter the course of a game.
Both factors were on display at Tiger Arena as the Indians rallied from two separate deficits to eliminate the Loboes 59-52.
SAN ANGELO — After leading by as many as eight points in the first half of its Region I-3A championship game against Shallowater, the Brock boys basketball team saw its hopes of a 13th state tournament appearance come down to a late rally Friday at Angelo State University University’s Junell Center.
Trailing 44-40 with 2:34 remaining on the clock, the No. 2 Eagles closed the game on a 9-2 run, going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the final 2.4 seconds to sneak past the sixth-ranked Mustangs 49-46 and into the Class 3A state semifinals, where they’ll take on the winner of Dallas Madison and Tatum at a time, date and location to be determined.
The win avenged a 53-45 loss to Shallowater in last season’s region semifinals and put Brock back in the state semis for the sixth time since 2012.
Coming off an impressive run through the Region II-1A bracket that required wins over Highland (48-36), Roby (60-27), No. 8 May (45-33), No. 4 Veribest (54-45) and No. 12 Rankin (62-41), the 13th-ranked Westbrook Lady Cats enter the Class 1A state semifinals with an abundance of confidence.
And why shouldn’t they? They’ve won nine of their last 10 games to improve to 26-4 on the year, while claiming their first district title since 1980 and their first state tournament berth in program history.
But waiting on the other side of the curtain, as a result of and reward for all that achievement, is Westbrook’s biggest challenge to date — a matchup with the most successful girls basketball program the state of Texas has ever seen.
In the Nazareth Swiftettes, with whom the Lady Cats will tangle at 7 p.m. Friday at Wolfforth Frenship, WHS will not only bear the burden of facing the No. 2 team in the state, it also will be tasked with matching the poise and composure of a program that’s making its 30th trip to the state semifinals and is in search of its 25th state championship.
The two largest boys programs still alive in Big Country Preps’ coverage area — Brock and Cisco — will both have their work cut out for them heading into this weekend’s regional finals.
There’s no real surprise there.
The cupcake tray was emptied four rounds ago and anyone you meet this late in the dance isn’t there by accident.
Brock (28-2), our lone Class 3A team to retain a pulse, will square off with Shallowater in a rematch of last year’s 53-45 regional semifinal loss to the Mustangs. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. Friday at Angelo State University. Cisco, which is making its first appearance in a regional final since 1996, will tangle with perennial power Lipan in Glen Rose at 7 p.m.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Westbrook survives Rankin pressure, advances to eliminate RHS
THIS WEEK: Longtime area basketball official Jeff Groban talks to Evan and Dan about the challenges of his profession
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LINK … GAME STORY: No. 14 Westbrook boys rally again, knock off Rankin to earn II-1A title shot0
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LINK … GAME STORY: Brock dominates Abernathy, advances to regional finals
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LINK … GAME STORY: Gray, Boles and Orozco lead Eula past Irion County, into Region II-1A finals
Leading 19-9 at after one quarter in Tuesday’s Region II-1A title game with Rankin, Westbrook coach Jeff Bontrager had a difficult decision to make.
Would he continue to allow his girls to take advantage of Rankin’s pressure defense, thereby taking the Lady Cats into a tempo for which they were entirely unaccustomed? Or would he slow things down a bit, hoping that his team could still find ways to score without turning the ball over?
Bontrager elected to adjust tempo and it paid off with a 62-41 win at Wylie High School.
Bailey Connell scored a game-high 20 points and Madison Munoz added 10 more to lead Westbrook (26-4) which now advances to the state tournament for the first time in the history of the WHS girls program.
Rankin closed its season at 28-2, led by Madison Jenkins with 15 and Emily Bunger with 14.
A 10-2 Brock run to open Tuesday’s Region I-3A semifinal with Abernathy set the tone for the entire evening in a dominating 75-33 win for the Eagles at Wylie High School.
Nathan Jones poured in a game-high 25 points and Ty McCall added 16 more to lead Brock (28-3), which advances to face Shallowater in the regional title game at a site and time to be determined.
Brock’s combination of an efficient inside-outside game offensively, coupled with sturdy defense, proved too much for Abernathy, which closed the season at 19-6. The Antelopes were led by Anthony White with nine points. Luke Houston and Seth Bender added six apiece.
MERKEL — After rallying from 21 points down in their Region II-1A quarterfinal win over Electra on Saturday, a seven-point third-quarter deficit was nothing for the Westbrook boys in Tuesday’s region semifinal matchup with Rankin.
Following a run of hot outside shooting by the 16th-ranked Red Devils over the middle two quarters, the No. 14 Wildcats calmly pulled within four points by the start of the fourth quarter and outlasted RHS in a tightly contested final period for a thrilling 70-63 victory at Merkel’s Badger Gym.
Westbrook, in the regional tournament for the first time since 2001, will now advance to the II-1A championship, where they’ll take on No. 15 Eula at a time, date and location to be determined with a spot in the Class 1A state tournament on the line.
WINTERS — Tuesday night’s Region II-1A semifinal between Eula and Irion County was a tale of two halves, and it might’ve caused Pirates coach Josh Fostel to age a couple of years in the process.
The Pirates (20-9) jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never trailed in the first half despite withstanding runs of 7-0 and 15-2, before getting two big 3-pointers from Dakota Boles in the second half to earn a thrilling 47-46 win at Blizzard Gymnasium.
Boles’ two big shots came at the buzzer to end the third quarter and with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth as the Pirates advanced to face Westbrook in the regional final.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Huge fourth-quarter run fuels No. 12 Rankin past Hermleigh girls
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For 20 of the 32 minutes in Monday’s Region II-1A semifinal game against Rankin, the youthful Hermleigh Lady Cardinals looked poised to knock off the No. 12 Lady Devils and continue their unlikely playoff run yet another round.
But leading 32-20 at the midway point of the third quarter, the Lady Cards’ youth got the better of them.
Led by seniors Emily Bunger, Jelcie Tubbs and Neveah Cura, Rankin closed the third quarter on a 7-2 run to pull back within seven by the start of the fourth , and Hermleigh could never stop the bleeding after that. The Lady Devils’ game-closing surge eventually reached 29-4 as RHS turned a 12-point deficit into a 49-36 win at Wylie’s Bulldog Gym.
The No. 13 Westbrook girls basketball team took a narrow lead early and held off fourth-ranked Veribest the rest of the way Monday to secure a 51-45 win in the first of two Region II-1A semifinal games at Wylie’s Bulldog Gym.
After pushing out to a 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Cats never led by more than five points until the final period. But Westbrook (25-4) kept the defending region champion Lady Falcons from ever making a significant run and made their free throws down the stretch to earn a date with No. 12 Rankin at 8 p.m. Tuesday back at Bulldog Gym for the II-1A championship.
When one hears the name of Trace Morrison, the first thing that may come to mind among Big Country Sports fans is Stephenville’s utility man extraordinaire who earned All-Big Country Preps honors as a receiver, punter and place-kicker.
Well, you’ve got the right guy. You’ve just got the wrong sport this time around.
As it turns out, Morrison is also one of the area’s top baseball players, as evidenced by him taking our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending Feb. 27.