Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s baseball selections, please click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2026 All-Big Country Preps Softball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s softball selections, please click the links below.
GRAHAM — Heading into her team’s one-game Region I-5A Division I finals playoff against state power Aledo on Friday, Abilene High coach Jenna Aguirre knew the Lady Eagles would need to play their best game of the year to have an opportunity to extend their best season in school history to their first state semifinals appearance.
So when a leadoff error in the second inning led to three unearned runs on a two-out home run by Ladycats pitcher Tempe Perry, the coach knew her team might be in for a long day.
That early miscue proved a harbinger of things to come, unfortunately, as Aledo tacked on another unearned run in the third inning before busting the door down completely in a nine-run fourth to put the wheels in motion for a 13-0 win at Graham’s Hogan Field.
Abilene High softball standout Brieyonna Reed took the first step toward extending her career to the collegiate level on Monday, making her commitment to McMurry University official at a signing day ceremony at Eagle Gym.
Flanked by gymnast Azurae Martin (Hardin-Simmons University for cheerleading), distance runner Aldo Sanchez (HSU for cross country and track) and tennis player Syler Richardson (Gordon College in Massachusetts), Reed signed her college paperwork in front of a mob of maroon-clad supporters — an experience that was a dream come true for the speedy slap hitter and center fielder.
Reed, who missed her junior season while pregnant with daughter Mai’lani, wasn’t sure what her softball future held a year ago. But she was able to return this season to help lead AHS to its deepest playoff run in school history and will now get to extend her playing days into her college years after finding the perfect opportunity right at home in Abilene.
Abilene ISD has named Cooper football coach Aaron Roan as the district’s new assistant athletic director as he will replace the retiring Lou Mora as Jim Garfield’s right-hand man.
Roan has spent the past eight seasons leading the Cougars program, compiling a 52-40 record in making the playoffs each season. His deepest playoff run came in 2019, when he led the Cougars to the third round of the playoffs. Cooper won six playoff games under Roan.
Roan said he’s excited about the challenge that lays ahead and that a move to athletics administration has been something that he’s considered for some time.
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STEPHENVILLE — Playing with their backs against the wall after dropping the opener of their Region I-5A Division I semifinal series against North Richland Hills Richland by a narrow 1-0 margin on Thursday, the Abilene High Lady Eagles responded with a historic effort Friday at the Stephenville softball field.
After staving off elimination with a hard-fought 3-0 win in Game 2, coach Jenna Aguirre’s squad pulled away for a 9-1 victory in the deciding third game to advance to the regional finals for the first time ever as a program.
The doubleheader sweep ends a painful regional semifinals history for AHS, which had fallen in that round six times previously, including each of the past two years. And perhaps more importantly, it gives the Lady Eagles a chance and their first state run if they can knock off Aledo for the Region I-5A DI title next week.
STEPHENVILLE — For seven innings Thursday, Abilene High’s Avah Reyes and North Richland Hills Richland’s Stacy Jennings went toe to toe, matching each other almost pitch for pitch and out for out at the Stephenville softball field.
But a single run, scored on a two-out infield hit in the bottom of the fifth, proved the difference as the Lady Royals escaped the thrilling pitcher’s duel with a 1-0 win to land the first punch in the Region I-5A Division I semifinal series.
The two teams will return to the same field Friday for the remainder of the best-of-three affair, with Game 2 slated for 4:30 p.m. With their backs now against the wall, the Lady Eagles will be looking to rebound with a win in that one to force a deciding third game immediately after.
Nothing quite like starting off a playoff series with a masterpiece from your pitcher.
Wylie sophomore Gehrig Fletcher delivered this artwork last week in a 7-0 win in Game 1 of a bi-district series with Lubbock Coronado.
Not only did the 10th grader throw a seven-inning no-hitter, but he did it with an unusual twist: he only struck out three batters.
No-hitters are rare enough, but throwing one while pitching to contact is something one almost never sees in a game dominated by aluminum bats.
“Gehrig is a kid that puts in the work every day,” coach Grant Martin said. He is the epitome of hard work, determination, and resilience.
“He is the best teammate and exemplifies what a student athlete should be. What a performance in a big time setting. So proud of him!”
LUBBOCK — The Wylie 800-meter relay team of Adrian Jurado, Max Thornton, Jett Wilson and Liam Chapman and Abilene High sprinter Jaden Jackson both earned bronze medals Saturday at the Region I-5A meet to top the list of performances by local qualifiers at Lowrey Field.
Behind its relay effort, the WHS boys finished with 12 team points, while AHS earned seven and Cooper finished with two.
On the girls side, meanwhile, Wylie scored two team points and Cooper earned one.
If you’re going to top someone who throws a perfect game in our in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, you had better do something very special.
This rare occurrence took place last week when Brock sophomore shortstop Kayden Blue helped the Lady Eagles to a three-game bi-district series win over Levelland with a truly memorable performance. In the process, she edged Abilene High ace George Ferguson, who delivered a perfect game win over Cooper.
With Brock sandwiching wins in Games 1 and 3 (5-1 and 5-2) around a 5-4 loss in Game 2, Blue was quite literally unstoppable, going 10-for-10 in the series with five runs scored (accounting for more than a third of BHS’ run tally. Yet it doesn’t stop there. She also posted a pair of walks (one intentional), making her a perfect 12 for 12 in reaching base throughout a difficult series against excellent competition.
“Kayden showed all the characteristics of a great leader in all three games and was phenomenal in the leadoff spot for us”
The Abilene High baseball team locked up a share of its first district championship in more than a decade on Friday, shutting out Cooper 7-0 at Cougar Field to finish the District 4-5A season in a first-place tie with Wylie.
Led by junior starter Gavin Colley, who struck out 11 on his way to a two-hit shutout, the Eagles (21-9-1 overall) improved to 9-3 in league play to match Wylie (20-5-1, 9-3), which rallied for a 5-2 win over Wichita Falls Legacy on Friday to clinch its share of the district title.
In support of Colley, who worked around a pair of walks and three errors to keep Cooper off the board, AHS scored one run in each of the first two innings before breaking the game open with a four-run third. That early production allowed the Eagles to coast to the season sweep of the Cougars, who fell to 11-20-1 overall and 3-9 in league play with the loss.
During a junior season that might best be described as “otherworldly,” Abilene High ace George Ferguson has flirted with perfection on several occasions.
On Tuesday, against crosstown rival Cooper, the 6-foot-4 flamethrower finally achieved it.
Pitching in front of a packed Senior Night crowd at Blackburn Field, Ferguson retired all 21 batters he faced to lead the Eagles to a 5-0 win over the Cougars. The University of Texas commit needed just 82 pitches to complete his first career perfect game, notching 16 strikeouts in the process.
There are varying degrees of “no-hitter” in both high school baseball and softball. This is especially true when the mercy rule is concerned, with pitchers holding the opposition hitless through five innings (in a 10-run rule game) and in the case of the 15-run rule, through only three frames.
Whether those should be called actual no-hitters, depends on who you speak to.
There was, however, nothing arguable about the potential no-no delivered by Abilene junior pitcher George Ferguson in last week’s 2-0 win over Wichita Falls Memorial. To begin with, Ferguson held Memorial hitless through 8.2 innings before finally giving up an infield single in the ninth. In the process, he walked only one batter and fanned 17.
It was nothing short of a brilliant performance against a Memorial team that had won eight straight games. If ever one deserved credit for a no-hitter without actually throwing one, it’s Ferguson.
“George did a great job on the mound from start to finish and that included a 45-minute weather delay,” coach Brad Harman said.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Wichita Falls Memorial baseball (52 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.
When the Abilene High and Wylie softball teams have met in recent years, the result has typically been a thrilling, low-margin pitcher’s duel, where scoring opportunities are rare and every run feels like a small victory.
Heading into Tuesday’s matchup between the teams at Bulldog Field, the last five regular-season meetings had been decided by two or fewer runs with just 14 combined runs being scored in those games.
Tuesday’s game was … well … different. After a scoreless first inning seemed to foreshadow another tight, low-scoring affair, the Lady Eagles exploded for five runs in the second. And the hits and runs continued from there for AHS, which pounded out an 18-2 victory to spoil Wylie’s Senior Night and complete its second consecutive perfect run through District 4-5A play.
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.
In a week that featured at least a half dozen athletes who could have taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, we finally settled on a Stephenville senior for our weekly award.
Willis Jackson, one of the premiere speedsters in the Big Country, took four district titles in the District 6-4A meet last week
This included individual gold medals in the 100 meters (10.66), long jump (22-8.5) and Triple jump (43-8.5). He also collected gold with the 800 relay team (1:28.53), along with a silver with the 400 relay (42.45).
“Willis is headed to the area track meet in five events,” coach Kolt Kittley said. “He comes to workouts every day with a big smile and a great attitude.
“He was huge in helping us win the district track meet this year.”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Cooper softball (49 images)”
Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2025-26 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
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.
Facing off with Abilene High ace George Ferguson, who had not allowed an earned run all year entering Thursday, Wylie coach Grant Martin knew he’d need a strong start of his own to have any chance of leaving Blackburn Field with a win.
In his pursuit of that, he turned to a senior who had done most of the pitching in his career out of a relief role.
Colby Garrett, who pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to beat AHS on Tuesday, delivered exactly what his coach was looking for in Thursday’s rematch, allowing one run in a gusty complete-game effort to outduel Ferguson in a 5-1 Bulldogs victory.
Trailing Wichita Falls Memorial 4-1 after two and a half innings, the Abilene High softball team found itself in an unfamiliar spot Thursday at the AHS softball field.
But after mustering just one run through the first two innings, the Lady Eagles scored 10 runs over their final four trips to the plate, chasing Lady Mavericks starter Madi Walker after just 2.1 innings before abusing reliever Sam Lail for seven runs in an an 11-4 win.
The victory, which came on Strikeout Cancer and Teacher Appreciation night for AHS, kept the Lady Eagles (17-9-1 overall) perfect in District 4-5A play at 5-0. With it, they remain game ahead of second-place Wylie, which they’ll face for the second time April 14 after matchups against Cooper (Tuesday) and Wichita Falls Legacy (April 10).
For most of five innings Tuesday, the Wylie and Abilene High baseball teams were locked in a thrilling pitcher’s duel, competing with playoff intensity in front of an engaged capacity crowd at Bulldog Field.
With the Eagles leading 2-1 in the home half of the fifth after George Ferguson had broken a 1-all tie with an RBI single in the top of the inning, the outcome of the key District 4-5A matchup was still very much in doubt, and a narrow win one way or the other seemed all but inevitable.
But with two outs in that frame, Wylie freshman Myles McCarty launched a game-tying home run to right field, flipping the momentum on a dime. The blast kicked off a walk-fueled five-run rally that would finally give WHS some separation in a 7-2 win for the Bulldogs.
As one would expect, the Jim Ned Relays had a quality field of competition last week, opening the door for one of its athletes to snag Big Country Preps Player of the Week honors.
So it’s not surprising that its top performer sits atop of our weekly list of highlighted competitors from around the area.
Wall senior Bryson McFarden takes our weekly accolade after medaling five times in Tuscola with four golds and a silver.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Texas High School Powerlifting State Meet (176 images)”
Taking a brief break from their respective district races, the Abilene High and Brock baseball teams met for a nondistrict matchup Saturday at Blackburn Field, and the outcome was a competitive game between two league-leading squads.
AHS led 2-1 after four innings, but the visiting Eagles scored the game’s final three runs to leave Abilene with a 4-2 victory and a six-game winning streak that included a pair of run-rule wins over defending regional finalist Graham last week.
Brock (13-3 overall, 2-0 in District 6-4A) took advantage of some shaky defense by Abilene High to pull ahead with a pair of runs in the fifth, before tacking on an insurance run in the seventh. And that late offense was all the support necessary for Austin Gallogly and Brody Burns, who earned a win and save, respectively, in relief of starter Colton Ripple.
Wylie junior Avie Faries pitched a good game Friday against crosstown rival Abilene High. AHS senior Avah Reyes pitched a great one.
That was the difference as the Lady Eagles took sole possession of the District 4-5A lead with a 2-0 win on their home field.
Taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Reyes worked around one hit and a pair of walks to finish with a complete-game shutout, facing one batter over the minimum to outduel Faries, who allowed single runs in the third and sixth innings to take a hard-luck loss.
Entering Tuesday with a one-game lead on Wylie for first in the District 4-5A championship race, the Abilene High baseball team took care of business against last-place Wichita Falls Legacy, riding a nine-run first inning to a 16-1 run-rule victory at Blackburn Field.
Ten Eagles players had at least one hit as AHS combined for 15 hits as a team, providing plenty of support for starter Gavin Colley, who limited Legacy to two hits and one run over four strong innings to earn the victory.
Tuesday’s outcome, which improved the Eagles to 15-5-1 overall and 5-0 in district play, added a half game to Abilene High’s lead over Wylie (14-3-1, 3-1), which is idle this week. Wichita Falls Memorial (8-13, 2-3) defeated Cooper (9-11-1, 2-3) by a 6-4 margin in Tuesday’s other league game to provide some separation for the Eagles and Bulldogs atop the district standings.
In the pitcher’s circle, there are varying degrees of perfection. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, that statement was fully illustrated on Friday in a 6-0 Clyde win over Merkel.
Yes, CHS freshman Brynli Reynolds threw a perfect game. But this wasn’t your standard, every day, run-of-the-mill, garden variety perfecto.
In fact, it may have been the most dominating performance by a baseball or softball pitcher the Big Country has seen in the last two decades.
Aside from retiring 21 straight hitters from a very good Merkel team (19-2), Reynolds fanned the first 17 batters she faced and finished with 20 strikeouts. She also helped herself at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
It was the second time this season that the Clyde freshman has taken our weekly accolade.
George Ferguson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before “settling” for a two-hit shutout Friday to lead the Abilene High baseball team team to a 7-0 win over crosstown rival Cooper in a District 4-5A matchup at Cougar Field.
The standout right-hander tallied 12 strikeouts without issuing a walk, pitching around leadoff singles in the sixth and seventh innings to help the Eagles (13-5-1) wrap up the first of three trips through the league play at 4-0.
Behind its hard-throwing starter, AHS took control of the game early, following a one-run second inning with a two-run third to put the Cougars in a hole they had little hope of climbing out of against one of the top junior pitchers in the nation.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Abilene High baseball (91 images)”
Trailing by one with runners on second and third and no outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Abilene High softball team looked poised to rally for a walk-off win over Wolfforth Frenship in its nondistrict finale Friday at the AHS softball field.
But a series of unfortunate events left the Lady Eagles with a 3-2 loss on a frustrating night where missed opportunities were a recurring theme.
AHS had a runner gunned down at the plate in the first inning and failed to cash in on a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fourth, which left the game tied at 1-1 until the top of the sixth, when the Lady Tigers scored a pair of runs to set up the seventh inning’s dramatics. Down 3-1 in their last at-bat, the Lady Eagles didn’t flinch, getting a leadoff single from Jazlynn Johnson-Burns and an RBI double from Avah Reyes around a Leilani Valero walk to narrow the gap to one, but the rally would end there due to an out on the basepaths and back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded.
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.
A week after Lipan’s Court Gaylor took our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award, yet another Lipan player has done the same thing.
And by sheer coincidence, her last name is Gaylor as well.
This time around it is freshman guard Sydni Gaylor, Court’s Younger sister, who has taken the accolade after leading the LHS girls to a Class 2A Division II state title in San Antonio on Thursday.
Helping the Lady Indians to a 42-35 over perennial power Martin’s Mill, Sydni finished with 23 points and was voted by attending media as the game’s MVP.
And the good news (at least for Lipan) is, this kid is only a freshman.
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.
Entering the week at 35-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, the Lipan Indians have won 33 straight games since suffering their only loss of the year to Class 4A Dallas Roosevelt in mid-November.
At the heart of that success has been standout point guard Court Gaylor, who performed at a high enough level in LHS’ first two playoff games to claim our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
When Cisco junior guard Carter Toof is on his game, there is little one can do to stop him. He’s going to get his point, whether you like it or not.
That was the case last week when Toof helped Cisco to a win over Abilene TLCA with 43 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. He followed that with 20 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals in a playoff warmup loss to Benjamin.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 19. With the end of the regular season, this will be the FINAL boys basketball leaders we post this year.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.