Category: Baseball

by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Wylie races out to early lead, earns crucial win over Abilene High

After getting rained out on Friday and Saturday, the Abilene High and Wylie baseball teams finally were able to meet on the diamond for their District 4-5A rubber match on Monday at Bulldog Field.

While the Eagles stayed with their original plan of starting Connel Colley on the mound, the Bulldogs decided to turn to Dylan Regala, a sophomore who hadn’t pitched in exactly one month.

It was Regala who pitched well enough to earn the win as the Bulldogs claimed the season series with a 6-3 decision in a game that saw the two squads combine for 16 walks and five hit batters over nearly three hours of action.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior takes the top spot with no-hitter

While no-hitters are fairly common at the high school level, the bulk of them are of the five-inning variety — ending early while locking down a mercy rule win. 

Going the full seven innings without allowing a hit, however, is much less common. And in the case of Cisco junior Case Williams, his seven-inning no-no in a 2-0 win over a good Coleman team last Tuesday secured our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the Week ending April 5.

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by Evan Ren

Area Baseball Stat Leaders (through April 3)

Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 3.

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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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Ferguson tosses another gem as Abilene High tops Wylie 6-0

Abilene High scored four early runs and Eagles ace George Ferguson handled the rest Tuesday, pitching 6.2 innings of shutout ball to fuel coach Brad Harman’s squad to a 6-0 win over Wylie at Blackburn Field.

The hard-throwing right-hander allowed just one hit, striking out eight Bulldogs hitters to pitch around what little base traffic he faced throughout the night, before leaving the game one out shy of a complete game due to pitch count rules.

The victory was a big one for AHS, which improved to 15-5-1 overall and 5-1 in District 4-5A play to stay alone atop the league standings. Wylie, meanwhile, fell to 12-4-1 on the year and 3-2 in district action with the loss.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Boys Basketball Team: Second-Team Roster

Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.

  • Girls Superlative Award Winners
  • Girls First Team
  • Girls Second Team
  • Girls Third Team (w/ honorable mention)
  • Girls Rising Stars Team (area’s top underclassmen)
  • Boys Superlative Award Winners
  • Boys First Team
  • Boys Third Team (w/ honorable mention)
  • Boys Rising Stars Team (area’s top underclassmen)
  • Gym Rat Team: The toughest, hardest-working teammates in the Big Country! (Sunday)
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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Boys Basketball Team: Third-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball team. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.

  • Girls Superlative Award Winners
  • Girls First Team
  • Girls Second Team
  • Girls Third Team (w/ honorable mention)
  • Girls Rising Stars Team (area’s top underclassmen)
  • Boys Superlative Award Winners
  • Boys First Team
  • Boys Third Team (w/ honorable mention)
  • Boys Rising Stars Team (area’s top underclassmen)
  • Gym Rat Team: The toughest, hardest-working teammates in the Big Country! (Sunday)
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by Evan Ren

Area Baseball Stat Leaders (through March 27)

Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 27.

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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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Abilene High routs Legacy 11-0; Cooper falls at home to Memorial

The Abilene High and Cooper baseball teams were on opposite ends of a shutout Tuesday, as the Eagles routed Wichita Falls Legacy 11-0 on the road and the Cougars suffered a 9-0 home loss to Wichita Falls Memorial.

Connel Colley pitched a five-inning one-hitter to lead AHS, which improved to 12-5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play to take a half-game lead over Wylie (12-3-1, 3-1) in the District 4-5A standings.

Cooper, meanwhile, saw Jeron Flores outdueled by Brady Pope in a battle of left-handed standouts to fall to 12-5 on the season and 2-3 in 4-5A action.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: After honoring Turner’s legacy, Clyde gets emotional win over Merkel

CLYDE — “Aiden might have only had one best friend, but there were 30 people that called him their best friend.”

On a night when Clyde honored junior Aiden Turner after he passed away early Saturday morning from injuries sustained in a car wreck, Turner’s mother Amber Courson had those words to say about her son.

Turner, a JV player for the Bulldogs, was a passenger in the wreck that occurred as Clyde’s 14-2 road win over Merkel was getting started on Friday night. The two District 6-3A foes made sure that Tuesday’s rematch honored Turner before the Bulldogs took a 6-0 win at the Hanner Sports Complex.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde hurler takes this week’s award

Clyde softball has been overdue for landing a Big Country Preps Player of the Week award and senior pitcher Kaycee Bingham has just ended the drought. 

The Lady Bulldogs have been posting big numbers on a weekly basis, falling just short of the top spot. But Bingham has landed the spotlight with a 26-0 mercy rule perfect game win over San Angelo Grape Creek last week. She followed that with a three-hit 11-0 shutout of Merkel. 

Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde hurler takes this week’s award” →

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Ferguson outduels Henderson in battle of aces, AHS grinds out 4-1 win over Cooper

With Abilene High’s George Ferguson and Cooper’s Brady Henderson both coming off no-hitters in their most recent trips to the mound, Tuesday’s Crosstown Showdown was expected to be a low-scoring pitcher’s duel with a limited margin for error.

As it turned out, Friday’s matchup between the Eagles and Cougars for a share of the District 4-5A lead was exactly that.

Ferguson outdueled Henderson in a 4-1 Eagles win at Blackburn Field that saw AHS score two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to break open a game that was shaping up to be a classic to that point. The victory narrowed a three-way tie atop the 4-5A standings to two teams, as Abilene High kept pace with Wylie following the Bulldogs’ 13-3 home win over Wichita Falls Legacy in Friday’s other league game.

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by Evan Ren

Area Baseball Stat Leaders (through March 20)

20Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 20.

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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by Daniel Youngblood

LOCAL BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Cooper outlasts Wylie in 3-2 thriller; Abilene High downs WF Memorial 4-2

Tuesday was a banner night for Abilene ISD baseball squads, as both Abilene High and Cooper picked up big District 4-5A wins to move into an early tie with crosstown rival Wylie for the league lead.

The Eagles rode a gritty start from Connel Colley and some timely offense to a 4-2 road win over Wichita Falls Memorial, while the Cougars rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fifth against Wylie to make a 3-2 winner out of left-hander Jeron Flores at home.

The night’s results created a three-team logjam atop the 4-5A standings, where AHS (10-4-1), Cooper (12-3) and Wylie (11-3-1) are all 2-1, while Memorial (9-6 overall) sits just a half-game behind at 2-2.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall takes down Sweetwater, 20-5

SWEETWATER — After Wall produced 20 runs on 15 hits and three homers (including two grand slams) in Tuesday’s 20-5 win over Sweetwater, the Hawks’ No. 2 ranking in Class 3A was difficult to argue with. 

At least, no challenges to that effect were audible as Sportsman’s Park emptied, with the Hawks (12-4, 4-0) leaving in a first-place tie with Clyde in District 6. 

Hagyn Barbee was 3-for-4 with a grand slam and Caleb Braden was 2-for-3 with another grand slam to lead Wall, which built an 11-1 lead after only two innings and was able to give several reserve players a shot at some playing time. 

Sweetwater dropped to 6-9 and 0-4, led by Jade Rodriguez, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Gordon’s Stryker Reed earns this week’s accolade

At the Class 1A level, where it is common for athletes to participate in multiple sports at the same time due to a lack of numbers, individuals who excel in different disciplines are invaluable. 

At Gordon, junior multi-sport star Stryker Reed falls into this category, and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week is now demonstrating it on the heels of an amazing effort. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Henderson no-hits WF Legacy as Coogs roll to 20-0 victory

Brady Henderson had nine strikeouts while allowing just one walk in a no-hitter as Cooper beat Wichita Falls Legacy 20-0 on Saturday afternoon in blustery conditions at Cougar Field.

It marked the second time this week that the Leopards were no-hit, following Abilene High’s George Ferguson achieving the feat on Tuesday afternoon.

Cooper coach Brandon Stover was pleased with how Henderson attacked the zone with his 64 pitches — 44 of which went for strikes — as well as the Cougars’ defensive effort behind him.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie rallies from early deficit, pulls away late to open district with 15-8 win over AHS

The Wylie baseball team rallied from a pair of early deficits to defeat Abilene High 15-8 on Thursday, using a seven-run bottom of the sixth to finally put the Eagles away in a three-hour affair at Bulldog Field.

Trailing 2-0 after one inning and 5-2 after three, the Bulldogs followed three-run outbursts in the fourth and fifth innings with the seven-run explosion in the sixth to open District 4-5A play with a comfortable win.

Wylie, which outhit AHS 11-8 on the afternoon, took advantage of 12 walks and turned three Eagle errors into seven unearned runs on the way to scoring 11 of its 15 runs with two outs.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Ferguson’s five-inning no-hitter fuels AHS to district-opening rout of WF Legacy

George Ferguson was utterly dominant on the mound, and he got far more run support than needed Tuesday as the Abilene High baseball team opened District 4-5A play with a 10-0 run-rule victory at Blackburn Field.

Ferguson struck out 14 batters in a five-inning no-hitter, allowing just two base runners — one of those on an error — in an outing that was almost perfect.

And behind the hard-throwing sophomore, who struck out the side in four of his five innings, the Eagles put up four runs in the first inning and five more in the third to take control early in joining Wichita Falls Memorial atop the district standings after the Mavericks downed Cooper 8-1 in their league opener Tuesday.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Eula’s Hailie Cauthen earns this week’s spotlight

Fresh off a successful basketball season, Eula’s Hailie Cauthen has transitioned to softball as though she were in mid-season form. 

In fact, the senior shortstop was good enough through five games last week to take our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending March 8. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Abilene High, Cooper close AISD Invitational with wins

The annual AISD Invitational came to a cold, windy and wet end on Saturday as Cooper finished an undefeated tournament with a 9-2 win over Burleson, while Abilene High beat Copperas Cove 10-6.

Cooper finished the tournament at 5-0 while AHS went 4-1.

Meanwhile, a highly anticipated game between Brock and Wylie was canceled on account of the weather.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Area squads have monster second day at AISD Invitational

Five teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area picked up a pair of wins on Friday on the second day of the AISD Invitational.

Abilene High, Cooper and Wylie all had relatively stress-free days, while Brownwood and Brock combined for four wins.

Wall, which struggled at times during its tournament action, closed out its play in the event with a big win over San Angelo Central.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Local schools go 5-1 on opening day of AISD Invitational

Cooper and Wylie swept their opponents as the AISD Invitational got under way on Thursday at three different locations across town, while Abilene High split a pair of games with Brock and Wall.

The Cougars knocked off San Angelo Lake View and Brownwood, while the Bulldogs were able to dispatch Andrews and San Angelo Central in their two games. The Eagles fell to Brock in their tournament opener before rebounding with a resounding win over Wall.

Teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area went a combined 8-4 on Thursday with Brock joining the two Abilene schools with an undefeated day.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stephenville’s Gentry lands the top spot

While Stephenville’s Tristian Gentry is no stranger to this column, it’s usually via football that he lands in our Top 10 — especially after missing track last year due to injury.

Well, it’s track season again and it just so happens that the SHS senior is healthy this time around — returning as one of the area’s top guns in that sport. He’s already off to a great start, having captured four gold medals at a talent-loaded Brock meet last week.

Aside from first place leaps in the long jump (21-1) and triple jump (43-2), he also helped SHS’ 400 and 800 relay teams take gold with splits of 43.26 and 1:30.1, respectively. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Munday freshman captures this week’s top spot

Munday’s Caisen Lee isn’t the first freshman to whom we’ve given our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. But during the basketball playoffs, it is indeed a rare occurrence. 

Nonetheless, Lee takes our top spot with a pair of top notch efforts in playoff wins over Aspermont (77-48) and Westbrook (48-36).

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Baseball Position Rankings: Utility Players

After recognizing the Big Country’s top pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders, we wrap up our baseball position rankings series with the area’s multi-position standouts.

For the final installment in our five-part series, we take a look at the top utility players, ranking our top-10 with others to watch in 2025. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these lists and are as excited as we are that baseball season is underway.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Baseball Position Rankings: Outfielders

For the fourth installment of our five-part baseball position rankings series, we shift our focus from the infield dirt to the outfield grass.

After highlighting the Big Country’s top pitchers, catchers and infielders earlier this week, we now do the same with the area’s best outfielders, ranking our top 10 with others to watch in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Baseball Position Rankings: Infielders

After ranking the top pitchers and catchers on the Big Country baseball scene the past two nights, we now turn our attention to the infield.

For the third installment in our five-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 infielders in the area with a list of others to watch in 2025.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Baseball Position Rankings: Catchers

After opening our baseball position rankings series with the pitchers on Wednesday, it’s time to shift our attention to their battery mates.

For the second installment in our five-part series, we celebrate the Big Country’s top catchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2025.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Baseball Position Rankings: Pitchers

After kicking off the spring sports season with our softball position rankings last week, it’s time to turn our attention to the the baseball field and the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2025 campaign.

For the first installment in a five-part series that will cover all position groups on the area baseball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s best pitchers, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.

We hope you enjoy reading through our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIGNING DAY: Wylie baseball star Briscoe, standout OL Peck headline list of four signees

Tye Briscoe — and those who have followed his decorated baseball career — have known where he was going to play his college ball for going on three years now. On Wednesday, the talented pitcher and outfielder got to make it official.

Flanked by football players Sutton Peck (Abilene Christian University), Andre Gjerpe (Morehead State University) and Keegan Anderson (Independence College), who also locked in their college choices during Wylie’s Wednesday afternoon Signing Day ceremony, Briscoe signed with the University of Arkansas, making good on the commitment he made to the Razorbacks on Aug. 25, 2022.

And though there was little mystery or suspense to his recruitment process, the fire-balling and power-hitting lefty was happy to put pen to paper in front of friends, family and supporters at Bulldog Gym.

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by Evan Ren

SIGNING DAY 2025: Top area athletes sign on the dotted line

National Signing Day is typically a busy one in the Big Country Preps’ coverage area and 2025 was no exception with several players inking and/or confirming their commitments to play at the next level. 

At various signing ceremonies held throughout the area, athletes celebrated their final choices to pursue a degree while competing collegiately. 

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

BREAKING NEWS: Ira’s Toby Goodwin announces retirement

Toby Goodwin never would have dreamt he would become a six-man football coach.

In fact, when Goodwin made his debut leading Ira’s football program in 1997 fresh out of college, it was only the second time he’d ever witnessed a six-man football game in person.

Goodwin never left Ira, amassing 237 victories in those 28 seasons. He also reached the pinnacle last baseball season when the Bulldogs captured the 1A state championship.

And now Goodwin has only one semester to add more coaching memories as he announced his retirement this week.

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by Evan Ren

FALL SIGNING DAY: Area athletes put pen to paper, make college decisions official

The fall national signing period opened Wednesday, and a number of athletes throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area either made their college decisions official at signing day ceremonies or have announced plans to do so in the near future.

Here’s a list of those area seniors and where they’ll be competing next season:

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Stamford, Hawley clash in rematch of last season’s thriller

LAST WEEK: 45-8, .849
SEASON TOTAL: 464-122, .791

The regular season ends Friday night (if you can believe it) and there’s no better way to close things up than with No. 5 Class 2A DI Hawley (9-0, 4-0) at No. 1 Stamford (9-0, 4-0). 

The winner will earn the District 4 championship and No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs, so much is at stake.

I’m leaning toward Stamford here for three reasons: First, the overall team speed of SHS is unmatched by anyone in the area.

Secondly, the Bulldogs have an intangible working here — specifically a last-second miracle touchdown scored by Hawley’s

Camden Ables from 45 yards out with 0:47 left in last year’s game.

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2024 Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (the hardest-working baseball and softball players in the area)

OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS

Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring. 

This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.

The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.

It is for that reason that this team is largely selected by area coaches and described in their own words.

Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the best team players (boys and girls) that the the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.

The players below are listed in no particular order. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

2024 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Superlative Award Winners

Here are our superlative award winners for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2024 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: First-Team Roster

Here are our first-team selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2024 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

Here are our second-team selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2024 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Baseball Team: The top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2024 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.

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