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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Clyde-Ingram Moore softball bi-district playoff (41 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Albany-Hawley baseball (54 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Snyder-Hawley softball (19 images)”
CLYDE — After spending a portion of the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the state, the Clyde softball team found itself with its back against the proverbial wall on Saturday at the Hanner Sports Complex in the Region I-3A Division I bi-district round against Ingram Moore.
With home field advantage in Game 1, the Lady Warriors took advantage of six Clyde errors in a 6-2 win, forcing the Lady Bulldogs into a situation of needing to take two games on their home field to keep their playoff run alive. The loss in the series opener was the Lady Bulldogs’ fifth in their previous six games.
Despite jumping on the Lady Warriors early, the Lady Bulldogs saw their season come to an end in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss. It was a season-ending conversation in the outfield that came too soon for Clyde coach Reagan Sewell as he completed his 30th year in coaching.
After singling in the first inning, Mineral Wells first baseman Kimber Prentice, a freshman, put together a career night as the Lady Rams claimed a 23-8 win over Frenship Memorial in a Region I-4A Division I bi-district game on Thursday night at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field.
Prentice tripled in her next three at-bats and drove in six runs in the game as the Lady Rams advanced to face either Decatur or Fort Worth Western Hills next week.
Entering the playoffs, Prentice was hitting .311 on the season with three triples. With a season-high five hits, she raised her batting average by 36 points to .347. The monster night came after she was forced to miss Mineral Wells’ regular-season finale after sustaining a concussion on April 14 against Stephenville.
TUSCOLA — The District 6-3A race saw a fierce battle between No. 4 Wall and No. 5 Jim Ned all season long and it came down to the final night of the regular season between the two heavy hitters on Wednesday night.
After being postponed by 24 hours due to the storms that came through the Big Country on Monday night, the Hawks won a 2-1 thriller in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Indian Field.
It was a much different outcome than Wall’s 10-5 win over the Indians on Friday — a game that gave Jim Ned its first loss of the season as it had entered that game ranked No. 1 in the state.
HAWLEY — The Hawley baseball team ended its run in the current itineration of District 8-2A on Tuesday night the same way that it started it during the 2014-15 school year: as district champions.
The Bearcats claimed their third district championship in that span — matching the effort of the 2015 and 2019 squads — with an 11-4 win over Albany.
Having spent the past dozen years competing against the likes of Albany, Stamford and Anson, among others, the Bearcats will find themselves in a new look District 8-2A starting next year with Albany, Abilene TLCA, Bangs, Coleman and Cross Plains. After Tuesday’s game, Bearcats coach Jamie Seago took time to recognize the competition that the current version of the district has given his squad.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Wichita Falls Memorial baseball (52 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Cooper baseball (68 images”
April 16 is slowly turning into Jim Reese Day on the campus of Abilene High.
Five years to the day after Reese was honored with a retirement ceremony as he neared the end of his career leading the AHS softball team, the Abilene High baseball team honored the man that led that program from 1995-1999 prior to their District 4-5A matchup with Wichita Falls Memorial at Blackburn Field on Thursday.
Under Reese’s leadership, the Eagles reached the third round of the playoffs in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The final two years were as the District 4-5A champion while the first run came after AHS finished in third place in district.
Coming off a 1-0 win in nine innings over the Mavericks on Tuesday, the Eagles saw several missed opportunities early in the game come back to cost them late as Memorial rallied for a 7-5 win to spoil the night’s festivities that saw former AHS coaches Derran Lackey and Ryan Lewis in attendance, along with a number players whose lives have been touched by Reese.
While the Cooper and Wylie baseball teams will be headed to the postseason in different playoff brackets, there was still a lot on the line for both sides when they met at Cougar Field on Tuesday in a key District 4-5A matchup.
Cooper entered the Southtown Showdown trailing Abilene High by three games in the standings in the race for the top seed in the Division I bracket with four games to play — including a pair with the Eagles next week. The Cougars entered the game knowing that they would probably have to go 4-0 over the next two weeks against their crosstown foes to improve their playoff positioning.
Wylie, on the other hand, trailed Wichita Falls Memorial by one game for the top seed in the Division II bracket — with the Mavericks holding the head-to-head tiebreaker after taking two of three district contests from the Bulldogs. Wylie was in better shape, knowing that Memorial closes out its regular season this week against AHS and the Bulldogs would potentially be in control of their own seeding destiny with a win on Tuesday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Wichita Falls Memorial baseball (61 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper softball (49 images)”
All it took was a 90-second stretch for things to unravel for the Wylie baseball team at home against Wichita Falls Memorial in a crucial District 4-5A matchup on Friday night.
With Carter Hoffman facing a 2-2 count with two outs in the top of the seventh of a 4-4 game, the Memorial senior appeared to swing at an offering from Wylie pitcher Gehrig Fletcher — an effort that had Fletcher walking off the mound and Memorial coach Rob Johnson walking down the third base path towards his own dugout.
In a wild turn of events, Hoffman was ruled to have not offered at the pitch, with an appeal of the checked swing being unheralded to extend the frame. Two pitches later, Hoffman hit an inside-the-park home run when Wylie center fielder Blaze Ruffin appeared to lose his footing while trying to stop a hard charge at cutting the ball off, and the three-pitch sequence allowed the Mavericks to escape with a 5-4 win on Friday night.
Following last Thursday’s 11-4 come-from-behind victory over Wichita Falls Memorial, Abilene High softball coach Jenna Aguirre talked about how being in a routine helps her squad.
Tuesday’s Crosstown Showdown at the CHS softball field helped the Lady Eagles find that routine again as they completed a season sweep of Cooper with a 7-1 win.
It was the first time AHS had played a Tuesday game in two weeks, and the win moved Abilene High to 6-0 this year on Tuesday nights. The Lady Eagles also improved to 18-9-1 overall and 6-0 in District 4-5A play with two games left in the regular season.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Wylie softball (55 images)”
The end result might have been the same, but the journey to get there was anything but when the Wylie and Cooper softball teams started the second half of District 4-5A play Thursday night at Bulldog Field.
The Lady Cougars were without normal shortstop Abbey Alvarado and with six players playing different defensive positions than they did two weeks earlier against the Lady Bulldogs, they committed seven errors while Wylie’s offense pounded out 12 hits in a 13-2 win.
Thursday’s win gave the Lady Bulldogs a season sweep of the Southtown Showdown after taking the first game 5-2 at Cooper on St. Patrick’s Day.
The Wylie softball team closed out the first half of District 4-5A play with a 10-0 thrashing of Wichita Falls Memorial on Tuesday night behind a stellar effort in the circle from Avie Faries.
Faries retired all nine batters that she faced in the game, recording five strikeouts, while benefiting from an offense that had six doubles in the first three innings. Faries needed just 35 pitches, including 25 strikes, to complete her easy night.
Wylie (15-12 overall, 3-1 in district) wasted no time putting the Lady Mavericks (12-10-1, 1-3) on the ropes as Faries retired Memorial in order on just 11 pitches in the first inning before the Lady Bulldogs offense got rolling with a six-run first inning — doing most of that damage with two outs in the frame.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Texas High School Powerlifting State Meet (176 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Wichita Falls Memorial baseball (37 images)”
Abilene High coach Tommy Martinez played a major role in the Texas High School Powerlifting Association moving its state meet to Abilene and the Taylor County Coliseum in 2007, where it’s been for two decades and counting.
On Saturday morning, the THSPA inducted the veteran coach into their Hall of Honor before the final day of the state meet got under way.
While humbled by the recognition, Martinez was quick to deflect the credit to countless others.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jim Ned-Sweetwater baseball (57 images)”
Cooper baseball coach Brandon Stover thought his squad made a lot of great contact on Friday night at Cougar Field in a District 4-5A matchup with Wichita Falls Memorial.
He even though it was better contact than what the Mavericks managed off starting pitcher Johnathon Rico and a trio of relievers.
But it was the Mavericks who took the rubber match of the three-game season series, 11-2, as a patient offensive approach led to nine walks — six of which came in a decisive six-run sixth inning.
SWEETWATER — While baseball superstition says that you don’t talk about perfect games or no-hitters in progress, it also says that you should celebrate lengthy winning streaks.
There’s plenty of reason to celebrate around the No. 4-ranked Jim Ned baseball team, which knocked off Sweetwater 13-4 on Tuesday evening at Sportsman Park to run its season-opening winning streak to 18 games while improving to 4-0 in District 6-3A play.
The Indians won nine of their first 17 games by at least 10 runs with only three games decided by three runs or less.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Aspermont-Hamlin baseball (110 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Hawley baseball (71 images)”
HAMLIN — Saturday’s District 8-1A doubleheader between Hamlin and Aspermont featured something that Hamlin coach Lynn Turner hadn’t experienced in his career as a head coach, which is saying something after he notched his 400th career win the previous week.
Ian Gruben took a perfect game into the fifth inning of the Pied Pipers’ 10-0 win in the opening game at Rock Field before Isaiah Hutchings threw a no-hitter in the second game as Hamlin rolled to a 15-0 win.
The pair combined for 23 strikeouts while facing 29 batters in the two games, with Hutchings even notching a rare four-strikeout inning.
HAWLEY — Stamford pitcher Alek Hernandez and first baseman Carlos Vega constantly work on the hidden ball trick during practice, but they hadn’t tried it in a game.
Stamford baseball coach Steven Gould has preached to the duo the things that they had to do in order for it to be successful — including in Wednesday’s practice when Hernandez stepped on the mound without the ball.
Friday night, the pair ended a 15-4 win over Hawley in a District 8-2A game by perfectly executing the play for the final out as they caught Jesse Nieto after he had reached on a fielder’s choice.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Wylie baseball (72 images)”
Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning at Bulldog Field on Tuesday night, the Cooper and Wylie baseball teams were locked in a 2-2 game that had seen a combined one hit to that point — a first-inning RBI double by Wylie’s Myles McCarty.
That’s when the Wylie offense came to life and propelled the Bulldogs to a 10-2 win as McCarty finished a home run shy of the cycle and drove in five runs while Hudson Tuley added three RBIs.
The win moved the Bulldogs into a tie with Cooper at 2-1 in District 4-5A play, a game behind Abilene High after the Eagles beat Wichita Falls Memorial 5-1 in Tuesday’s other league matchup.
EULA — When Josh Fostel and his family moved to Eula to become the boys basketball coach for the 2003-04 school year, few people could have imagined that being the final stop of his coaching career.
After posting a career record of 647-209, including 610-189 leading the boys and girls programs at Eula, the reality began to sit in that his coaching career was over as Fostel, 48, was named the lone finalist for the Eula Independent School District’s superintendent position during Monday night’s school board meeting.
Due to state laws, Eula must observe a mandatory 21-day waiting period before making the hiring official.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Abilene High baseball (91 images)”
With temperatures approaching 90 degrees on Friday afternoon, Abilene High and Wylie took to the field for their hottest baseball games of the season in a District 4-5A tilt at Blackburn Field.
The Eagles saw junior pitcher George Ferguson throw a complete game two-hitter on a season-high 110 pitches as they improved to 2-0 in district play with a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs, who fell to 0-1 in district.
Ferguson battled through cramps on the hot day as he struck out 14 in an effort that coach Brad Harman simply called gutsy.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wall-Jim Ned softball (85 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: 2026 Eula Softball Tournament (126 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: 2026 AISD Invitational baseball tournament (84 images)”
EULA — For the second straight season, the District 6-3A opener between the Wall and Jim Ned softball programs was impacted by the girls state basketball tournament in San Antonio.
In 2025, Wall delayed the scheduled game by one day because of the Jim Ned girls basketball team playing for a state championship. Following the season, the decision was made to push back district play by one week to avoid having the situation repeat itself — only to see the basketball season get pushed back by one week. Returning the favor from last season, Jim Ned coach Erica Jones was more than willing to push the game to Saturday.
After the massive rainstorm early Saturday morning rendered Jim Ned’s field unplayable, the programs were faced with a dilemma — find another field or postponement.
Ultimately, they moved the game to Pirate Field and played after Eula’s softball tournament concluded, and Jim Ned fended off No. 12 Wall 13-10 in an offensive slugfest under the lights. Runs were scored in every half-inning of the contest except for the top of the third.
CLYDE — When the boys basketball teams from Lubbock Cooper Liberty and Brock met in tournament play over the Christmas break, the Patriots held on for a 53-52 win after the Eagles closed the game on a 10-3 run.
Friday brought a rematch in the Region I-4A Division II championship game, and the two squads went toe-to-toe for 28 minutes of action at Clyde’s Bulldog Gym. But it was the other four minutes that made the difference as Brock claimed a 56-42 win.
Brock junior guard Eli Paez hit a career milestone in the first quarter when he sank a free throw for the 1,000th point of his career. He finished with a game-high 17 points as the Eagles rode a strong finish to the first quarter to the victory and into next week’s state semifinals.
On the opening day of the Abilene ISD Invitational Tournament, Abilene High and Cooper both picked up a pair of wins while Wylie split its two games as offenses took advantage of a howling wind that was blowing out at all three ballparks during nearly all of the dozen games that were played on Thursday.
In addition to the success of the three local schools, Wall picked up wins over Arlington Sam Houston and Copperas Cove with Brock and Brownwood going a combined 1-3 — the lone win coming by Brock against Wylie.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Eula-Spur girls basketball state semifinal playoff (76 images)”
ABILENE — Ira and Robert Lee entered Tuesday night’s Region II-1A Division II semifinal at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum unranked and knowing that the winner would have a tall task with top-ranked Jayton waiting for them in the regional final.
Robert Lee entered the game having won its first two playoff games this season by a combined 100 points, while the Bulldogs followed an 18-point win over Strawn to open the playoffs with a 74-72 win over Benjamin in overtime on Friday.
Tuesday night, it was Ira who jumped out to a fast start and cruised to a 51-30 win as Hudson Luft scored 29 points and Noah Preston added 16 more to send the Bulldogs to the regional championship game for the first time since 2011, when they lost to Bronte. Ira has never made it to a state semifinal.
ABILENE — Eula senior Emma Damron didn’t pull any punches when she said that the Lady Pirates didn’t play their brand of basketball in the first half of Monday night’s Class 1A Division I state semifinal matchup against Spur at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum.
The third quarter, however, saw the Lady Pirates turn things around in a hurry in a 48-34 win over the Spurettes, propelling Eula to its second consecutive state championship game as the Lady Pirates look for the first title in school history. Eula will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Broaddus and Dodd City at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio for the title.
Damron, playing with five stitches above her left eye after suffering a big gash in Eula’s regional championship win over Hermleigh on Thursday, scored just nine points on Monday. But she made several crucial plays on the defensive end as EHS turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 15-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Westbrook-Munday boys basketball area round (54 images)”
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