Month: May 2025

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Sundown ends Stamford’s postseason run with Game 3 regional semifinal win

BIG SPRING —Even an ace will eventually run out of gas and in the case of Stamford standout Emma Follis, that point came in Game 3 of a Region I-2A DII semifinal against a powerhouse club from Sundown in an 11-3 loss. 

Follis, who was effective in a 4-3 Game 1 loss and in a 5-3 Game 2 win, was unable to maintain her level of movement and velocity in her third start in three days. 

Led by Brynly Gregory, who had a two-run homer and Nayleen Morin, who was 2-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBIs, the Roughettes (30-5) touched Ellis for 11 runs (seven earned) on 12 hits through seven innings, six of which went for extra bases. 

Eight of Sundown‘s hits game in the final three frames — the 19th, 20th and 21st innings of work for Follis in the three-day series at Lady Steer Field.  

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Defending state champion Ira Bulldogs sweep May with another shutout in Game 2

ABILENE — After watching teammate Jeren Pena toss a complete-game shutout against an excellent May lineup on Friday in the opener of a best-of-three area-round series with the Tigers, Brandt Cox nearly matched the feat on Saturday.

In fact, the only thing that kept him from having a chance to do so was a pitch count that was inflated in large part by 13 strikeouts.

So instead, the junior right-hander had to settle for six shutout innings and a victory, outdueling May co-ace Kobey Morris in a 6-0 win at Abilene Christian Schools’ Hudson Wade Memorial Field that completed a two-game sweep and earned the defending state champion Bulldogs a Region I-1A semifinal date with Hamlin next week at a time, date and place to be determined.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Stamford sweeps Miles to earn region semifinals date with Ropes

ABILENE — The Stamford baseball team punched its ticket to the Region I-2A Division II semifinals on Friday, defeating Miles 10-6 and 7-2 for an area-round sweep at McMurry’s Walt Driggers Field to earn a date next week with Ropesville Ropes.

SHS never trailed in Game 1, pulling out to a 9-0 lead before holding off a late Miles rally. And coach Steven Gould’s team answered a two-run top of the first by Miles in Game 2 with seven unanswered runs, including three in the home half of the first, to clinch the series in two games.

The victories pushed Stamford’s season record to 22-4, while Miles had its season ended at 8-14.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Hamlin advances to region semifinals with dominant effort against Westbrook

ABILENE — The Hamlin baseball team cruised through the area round Friday, scoring a pair of run-rule wins over Westbrook at Abilene Christian Schools’ Hudson Wade Memorial Field to earn a date next week with either Ira or May.

Behind strong pitching performances by Ian Gruben and Isaiah Hutchings and a steady barrage of offense, the Pied Pipers downed the Wildcats 14-0 and 12-2 to claim their spot in the Region I-1A semifinals.

The victories improved HHS to 17-2 on the year, while Westbrook saw its season end at 7-10.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Fast start fuels Eula to 6-4 win over area rival Hermleigh in series opener

ABILENE — Kicking off a high-profile region semifinal series with Hermleigh on Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field, the Eula softball team grabbed a rare upper hand on its area rival, using a three-run top of the first as the catalyst for a wire-to-wire 6-4 victory in the opener of the best-of-three affair.

With the win, the Lady Pirates snapped a five-game playoff losing streak to the Cardinals, who have eliminated EHS from the playoffs each of the last three seasons and four times total since the Class 1A bracket was introduced in 2016. 

The win also put coach Jayton Thompson’s team in a position to advance past HHS for just the second time in that span with a win in Game 2 or Game 3, when the series resumes at 2 p.m. Saturday back on the ACU campus.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Birdville uses fast start to even series with Abilene High

North Richland Hills Birdville made an emphatic statement in the first inning on Friday night to ensure that the Abilene High softball team wouldn’t get any more Maiya Magic at Hogan Field.

A night after the sophomore stole third and scored to give AHS a walk-off win in the opener of a best-of-three Region I-5A Division I semifinal series, the Lady Hawks evened the series with an 11-1 victory.

Game 3 will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the winner will earn the right to face Aledo for a berth in the state semifinals.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Stamford edges Sundown to knot series at 1-1

BIG SPRING — With back-to-back nail-biters already behind them, the Stamford and Sundown softball teams will meet in a winner-take-all third game on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Lady Steer Field.

The question is, can the rubber match equal what has been displayed in the Region I-2A DII semifinals thus far: A come-from-behind 4-3 Sundown win in the opener on Thursday, followed by a 5-3 Stamford win on Friday that nearly saw Sundown pull off another late miracle. 

Game 2 put us in this position, with Stamford (25-5) knotting the series behind pitching ace Emma Follis, who went the distance for a second straight time. 

Follis limited Sundown (28-5) to three runs (none earned) on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts. The key difference from Game 1 to Game 2 being that the Lady Bulldogs executed down the stretch defensively when it mattered most. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Snyder completes sweep of Greenwood with 2-1 win in Game 2

BIG SPRING — A day removed from a 16-1 mercy rule beating at the hands of Snyder, the Midland Greenwood Rangerettes arrived at Lady Steer Field on Friday hoping for redemption.

They found it, albeit in a 2-1 loss to the Lady Tigers in a Region I-4A DII semifinal series, swept by Snyder 2-0. 

Micaela Martinez was 1 for -3 with an RBI double and Jenna Rodriguez was 1 for 2 with a walk and the game-winning RBI to lead Snyder (25-7), which had to come from behind with two runs in the fifth inning to scratch out a tough win. The Lady Tigers now advance to the Region I-4A DII title series where they will meet either Brock or Monahans.  

Greenwood (17-18-1), which had surrendered 14 hits, eight walks and two errors in Thursday’s Game 1 disaster, cut those numbers to six, four and one respectively on Friday while very nearly forcing a Game 3. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Reichenau’s dominant performance on the mound leads Wall to win over Henrietta

EULA — Postseason flips in the area round have not been kind to Wall baseball coach Jeremy Gordon during his two years leading the Hawk program.

In both 2024 and 2025, Gordon lost the flip to decide if they would have a single-game playoff or a best-of-three series as well as the flip to decide who would be the home and visiting team.

After falling to Iowa Park last year, Gordon’s team ensured that their season wouldn’t end at the hands of another District 7 team, beating Henrietta 4-2 on Thursday night at Pirate Field behind the strong pitching of Gage Reichenau.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Snyder blasts Greenwood, 16-1 to take series lead in Region I-4A semis

BIG SPRING — For Snyder, it was one of those days when virtually everything went right. From Midland Greenwood’s perspective, Thursday’s 16-1 mercy-rule beating at the hands of the Lady Tigers at Lady Steer Field couldn’t have been much worse. 

Jenna Rodriguez was 3 of 4 with two homers and four RBIs while Sydnee Gomez was 2 of 3 with an RBI and went the distance in the circle to lift Snyder (24-7), which now leads the Region I-4A semifinal series 1-0. 

The teams will square off in Game 2 on Friday at 10 a.m. at the same venue. 

“Sydnee is a sophomore, but she does what she needs to do, and she takes care of business,” Snyder coach Regina Cummings said. “She’s very focused and very intense.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Gritty Abilene High Lady Eagles open region semifinal series with walk-off win over Birdville

GRAHAM — During her time at Abilene High, coach Jenna Aguirre’s teams have won a lot of games with gritty — often excellent — pitching and an aggressive, opportunistic playing style on offense.

On Thursday, the Lady Eagles followed that same familiar formula to a 6-5 walk-off victory over North Richland Hills Birdville in Game 1 of their Region I-5A Division I semifinal series with the Lady Hawks.

Junior starter Avah Reyes bent at times in the circle against an explosive Birdville lineup that put near constant pressure on her throughout the game, but she never broke. And her lineup gave her just enough run support, winning the game on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh after the Lady Hawks had scored three runs in the top of the sixth to knot the score at 5.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Sundown comes from behind to edge Stamford 4-3 in Game 1

BIG SPRING — For half of Thursday’s Region I-2A DII Semifinal opener with Sundown, the Stamford Lady Bulldogs had the look of a team that was in control. They led 3-0, starting pitcher Emma Follis was breezing along and Stamford had every ounce of the momentum. 

Sundown, however, didn’t enter this series at 28-4 by accident. The Roughettes not only began to catch up with Follis’ velocity, but they shut out the Lady Bulldogs over the final four innings to win 4-3 at Lady Steer Field. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Eight Abilene High athletes make commitments official at super-sized ceremony

Eight Abilene High athletes made their college commitments official on Wednesday during a Signing Day ceremony at Eagle Gym, capping a week of signings that began Tuesday when Eagle football players Bryson Perez and Dristain Payne solidified their commitments to Hardin-Simmons University.

Kinzley Cantu (softball; Hardin-Simmons), Mason Murray (cross country/track; Baylor University); Jazlyn Ortiz (cross country/track; Franciscan University of Steubenville), Keeley Aston (soccer; Seminole State College), Laly Dehoyos (cheer; Hardin-Simmons), Rylan Stokes (baseball; McMurry University), Camp Churchill (baseball; McMurry) and John Alcantar (cross country/track; Western Texas College) all took part in the event, signing letters of intent in front of friends and family who packed the gymnasium’s lower level. 

That group gave AHS 11 signings in a two-week span, after tennis player Allie Dunn committed to Hardin-Simmons last week. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

SIGNING DAY: Abilene High pair makes Hardin-Simmons decision official

Abilene High seniors Bryson Perez and Dristian Payne were key parts of the Eagle football program over the past four years and the pair will both continue their playing careers on the north side of town after making their college commitments official to Hardin-Simmons University on Tuesday afternoon.

AHS coach Mike Fullen was effusive in his praise of what the pair brought to the Abilene High program over the past four seasons and said that he’s excited to watch them progress.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gordon’s Stryker Reed takes our final accolade of 2024-25 school year

As our tradition dictates, we close the books on our Big Country Preps Player of the Week on the first Monday following the UIL State Track and Field Championships in Austin. 

And more often than not, our final award of the school year goes to someone who scored big at the state capital. 

This year is no exception, with Gordon’s Stryker Reed taking the award after helping GHS win the boys team state championship, setting two individual state records and helping to set a new relay mark in the process.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Lubbock Estacado rallies for pair of wins to slip past Brownwood in three games

ABILENE — Entering Day 2 of its best-of-three Region I-4A Division I bi-district series against Lubbock Estacado off a hard-fought 2-1 win on Friday, the Brownwood baseball team had a pair of chances to close out the Matadors on Saturday.

But after taking a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning of Game 2 and the sixth inning of Game 3, the Lions ended up on the wrong side of pair of one-run games at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field.

Estacado rallied for single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings in Saturday’s opener to grind out a 3-2 win and force a deciding third matchup, before using two-run rallies in the sixth and eighth innings to walk off with a 4-3 win in the clincher. Those outcomes spoiled an outstanding weekend of pitching for Brownwood, which allowed just four earned runs in 21.1 innings in seeing its season end at 13-18.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Anson outlasts Ballinger in thrilling three-game bi-district series

ABILENE — At the end of three thrilling at Abilene Christian School’s Hudson Wade Memorial Field, there wasn’t much separating the Anson Tigers and Ballinger Bearcats in the Region I-2A Division I bi-district series between the two squads.

In fact, none of the three contests had a larger gap than a single run at the completion of seven innings.

But after outlasting Ballinger for a 10-5 victory in a 10-inning marathon game on Friday, it was Anson that prevailed, rallying from a 6-5 Game 2 loss to clinch the series with a wild 9-8 win in Game 3.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wall softball takes thrilling 11-inning win before falling to Jacksboro in Game 3

ABILENE — The Wall Lady Hawks showed up to Wylie’s Bulldog Field on Saturday expecting to have a long day of softball after dropping the opening game of their best-of-three Region I-3A Division II area-round series with Jacksboro 17-6 on Friday night.

Nobody expected the Lady Hawks and Tigerettes to wind up playing 18 innings in one day.

Wall took a 6-5 win in 11 innings in Game 2 before Jacksboro rebounded with a 10-5 win to clinch the series and earn a date with Muleshoe next week.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie polishes off sweep of Plainview in convincing fashion

With an 8-2 victory on Saturday, the Wylie baseball team picked up its eighth consecutive win over Plainview as WHS completed a two-game sweep in a Region I-5A Division II bi-district series.

The win sends Wylie into the area round of the playoffs, where it will face off against El Paso Del Valle next week.

Wylie coach Grant Martin said after the game that playing in front of a home crowd on Saturday helped the team earn the win.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Bangs completes sweep of area series with 13-2 win over Forsan

SAN ANGELO — A fast start and steady pitching lifted the Bangs Lady Dragons to a 13-2 mercy rule win over Forsan to sweep their Region I-2A DI area round series on Saturday at the SAS Softball Complex.

Abby Wolf went the distance in the circle and was 3 of 4 with four RBIs while Neeley Bradley was 3-of-4 with two homers and four RBIs to lead Bangs (24-7) which pounded out a 9-0 lead in the first three innings and never looked back. 

The Lady Dragons now advance to face Clarendon in the Region I semifinals; Forsan, which hurt itself with four errors, closed its season at 13-12, led by Ari Mealing who was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Gordon sweeps team titles as numerous 1A state records are broken

Cover photo courtesy Mike Reed

AUSTIN — Class 1A athletes and teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area set five state records as the track and field season drew to a close at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on Saturday with the UIL state championships.

The Gordon boys (88 points) and girls (52 points) swept the team titles as area athletes put forth a dominant effort on the day, winning a total of 44 medals.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Big Country athletes persevere in 2A/5A meet despite weather delay

AUSTIN — It wouldn’t be the UIL state track and field meet if there wasn’t a weather delay, but this time the UIL was ahead of the game with bad weather forecast for the Central Texas region on Friday.

As the field events were ongoing for Classes 2A and 5A, the UIL made the decision around lunch on Friday to delay the track portion of the two classifications to Saturday morning in the interest of spectator and competitor safety.

When the meet resumed on Saturday morning, all the drama one could hope for, and more, was ready to unfold.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Colorado City advances with Game 2 extra-inning win over Anson

HERMLEIGH — One of the biggest challenges in any sport is to lose a big lead along with the momentum, only to recapture both and win the game. 

The Colorado City softball team managed to pull this off on Friday to capture a Region I-2A DI area title with a 13-7 win over Anson in nine innings at Lady Cardinal Field. 

Southpaw Mia Obenhaus went the distance in the circle and was 3-of-5 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead Colorado City (24-7), which advances to face sixth-ranked Floydada (29-6) in the regional semifinals next week. 

Leading 6-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, and 7-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Wolves absorbed a seven-run Anson rally over the final three frames to send the contest into extra innings. There, Colorado City turned on a dime with a six-run outburst in the ninth to get the win and a 2-0 series sweep. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Hawley takes care of business against Bangs, advances to area round with sweep

EULA — A day after getting a strong start from Alek Southerland and pounding out 11 hits in a 9-1 win over Bangs to kick off their playoff run, the Hawley Bearcats put together a similar performance Friday afternoon to close out a sweep of the Dragons and advance to the area round of the Region I-2A Division I playoffs.

With Keagan Ables taking the mound for Game 2 of the best-of-three bi-district series, coach Jamie Seago’s team collected 13 hits Friday, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings on their way to an 11-0 run-rule victory.

With the win, which saw Ables pitch around one hit and six walks in 4.1 shutout innings, the defending state finalist Bearcats (16-6-2) earned a date with either Forsan or Christoval next week. Those two teams will close out their bi-district series on Saturday after splitting the first two games.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Miller, Hermleigh blank Baird to set up third-round showdown with Eula

CLYDE — After throwing a pair of no-hitters in a bi-district sweep of Ira, Hermleigh freshman Peyton Miller dominated in the circle again on Friday night as the Lady Cardinals shut out Baird 11-0 in a one-game Region I-1A area-round playoff at the Hanner Sports Complex.

Miller struck out eight and walked two in a complete-game effort.

After the performance, Hermleigh coach Sammy Winters said that Miller has the potential to be one of the next star pitchers to come out of the Big Country.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Hernandez pitches Stamford to 8-1 win over Coleman in series opener

EULA — Stamford answered a one-run top of the first by Coleman with three runs in the bottom of the frame, and Alek Hernandez took care of the rest, settling in to shut out the Bluecats after that in an 8-1 win Thursday in the opener of a best-of-three Region I-2A Division II bi-district series at the Eula baseball field.

Coleman outhit Stamford 5-4, but the Bulldogs took advantage of nine walks and a hit batter to follow its big first inning with another three-run outburst in the fifth, before tacking on two more runs in the sixth. That was more than enough offense for Hernandez, who pitched around five hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in the complete-game gem.

With the playoff-opening victory in their pocket, the Bulldogs (19-3) will now try to go for the sweep when the series resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday at the same site.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Brownwood girls claim team title; Wall boys narrowly miss out

Cover photo courtesy Brian Hodnett

AUSTIN — The 2025 UIL state track and field meet got underway on Thursday at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium, and the Big Country is bringing home some hardware.

The Brownwood Lady Lions made the most of their trip to Austin, claiming the Class 4A girls team championship on the strength of their three relays.

The Wall boys came “painfully close” in the words of track coach Craig Slaughter to giving the Big Country Preps area a second team title as the Hawks’ 64 points left them just two points behind Holliday in the Class 3A boys team standings.

Even so, Slaughter said that Wall’s relay teams, both boys and girls, all set personal records in an “incredible day.”

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by Evan Ren

AREA BASEBALL STAT LEADERS (Final stat report for 2025)

Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through May 1.

Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions. 

If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

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