Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.

Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
A five-run first inning sent all the momentum to the Stamford dugout, and the Lady Bulldogs never let it go, cruising to a 13-2 win over Colorado City on Saturday at the Abilene High softball field to clinch a sweep of their Region I-2A semifinal series with the Lady Wolves.
After Thursday’s Game 1 saw SHS grind out a 2-0 win that was competitive throughout, coach Sean Slavin’s team jumped on C-City early in Game 2, building a 9-0 lead before the Lady Wolves finally got on the board.
The Lady Bulldogs scored in four of their seven trips to the plate, plating at least two runs on each occasion to give starter Emma Follis far more run support than she would need. The victory earned Stamford (25-6-1) a trip to next week’s Region I-5A championship round, where it will face off with Forsan at a time, date and place to be determined.
For the second time this week, Laylonna Applin’s bat in the sixth inning delivered a backbreaking home run.
After doing it in Stamford’s Game 3 win over Cisco on Monday, the senior hammered one out in Game 1 of the Region I-2A semifinal series against Colorado City on Thursday night at Abilene High.
Applin’s blast on Thursday was an insurance run that Emma Follis wound up not needing, but it was the key blow in a 2-0 win by the Lady Bulldogs, who will look to close out the series at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Colorado City-Hamilton baseball playoff (56 images)” →
AUSTIN — After a slow start in the field events on Friday saw the Big Country net just four medals, things heated up in the evening session when the track events got rolling.
Big Country athletes picked up 10 medals under the lights at Mike A. Meyers Stadium at the University of Texas, giving the area 14 for the day.
On top of that, the Stamford girls team finished in a three-way tie with Refugio and Panhandle with 32 points to claim a share of the state championship. Goldthwaite’s girls finished three points back in fourth.
The Colorado City baseball team had no answers for Hamilton ace Chase Weaver on Friday, getting no-hit by the standout lefty in a 10-0 loss to the Bulldogs in a one-game Region I-2A area playoff at Abilene Christian High School.
Weaver struck out 15 of the 19 batters he faced, finishing a first-inning walk shy of a perfect game. And his lineup gave him plenty of support, scoring four in the bottom of the first and adding to their lead in four of the next five frames to put the Wolves away in six innings.
The win earned Hamilton (24-11) a Region I-2A quarterfinal date with Albany next week, while Colorado City closed its season at 11-12-1.
It’s always a great accomplishment to go to the state track meet in multiple events. But when it’s done in dominating fashion at the Class 4A level or above, you’re generally talking about a very special, gifted athlete.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Victoria Cameron of Stephenville, falls directly into that category and she has the regional hardware to prove it.
Taking four gold medals at the Region I-4A meet, Cameron scored 30 individual points while clinching four berths to the state meet.
CANYON — Behind gold medal efforts by Coleman’s Braxton Smith and Colorado City’s Jordan Raschke, the Big Country locked up seven state berths over the weekend at the Region I-2A track meet at West Texas A&M University Track & Field Complex.
Smith won the boys long jump and Raschke the boys 110-meter hurdles to headline a list of 12 area entries to medal at the meet — six on the boys side and six on the girls side.
The Bluecats, who also got a silver medal from Clayton Lackey in the discus and a bronze in the 400 relay, had the top team finish of any Big Country squad, scoring 34 points to finish third behind champion Panhandle (77) and runner-up Plains (47).
Clyde’s Payton Phillips is no stranger to our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. She’s no stranger to gold medals either.
And for the third time since last year, the CHS senior has captured our weekly accolade — this time with an armful of hardware.
In her latest performance, Phillips won four separate district championships and took silver in a fifth at the District 6-3A track meet.
It’s difficult to trump a no-hitter, though Snyder’s Ava Aviles came close last week.
Aviles, who threw back-to-back two-hitters for Snyder softball, is our first runner-up to her classmate, Player of the Week Ty Davis and his first career no-hitter.
Davis earned a 13-2 five-inning win over Levelland last week, holding LHS hitless in the mercy rule win, finishing with five strikeouts.
“Ty has continued to improve on the mound and has given us some excellent innings this season, none bigger than last Tuesday with his no-hit performance,” Snyder coach Shane Stewart said. ” I am proud of him and looking forward to watching him mature as a pitcher and a young man.”
It’s not often that a Big Country baseball team charts two no-hitters in the same week. But when two pitchers with the same last name are charting the no-nos it’s about as common as the planets aligning.
That was the case last week with the Albany Lions, who in sweeping Haskell (15-0) and Stamford (11-1) saw Cole and Tyler Chapman (non-siblings) post back-to-back no-hitters.
Cole, a senior, blanked Haskell in four innings of work in a mercy rule win, fanning six. Three days later, Tyler got into the act in a five-inning run-rule win with 12 Ks.
They now share our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award — another rarity.
“We were very proud of our pitchers last week,” Albany coach David Fairchild said. “Both pitchers were in control and in command of their pitches.”
Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir.
Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval.
In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13.
“Damarrius Walker is a very talented young man,” Sweetwater coach Brian Hodnett said. “There isn’t much in track and field that he can’t do!
“We as a staff are excited to see how far he can go this year.”
So is the rest of the area as our Big Country Preps Player of the Week collects the award after scoring 44 points individually at the Hamlin Pied Piper Relays last week.
It’s always a good sign early in the season when you’re getting good pitching against quality competition. And in the case of the Big Spring Lady Steers, the numbers in the circle thus far are downright encouraging.
Courtesy of senior Alexcia Munoz, the Lady Steers are off to a 5-1 start, including a 4-0 mark from Munoz in last week’s Abilene Icebreaker tournament.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene Icebreaker Softball Tournament (241 images)” →
While Hawley’s Kason O’Shields is better known for his prowess on a football field, the HHS senior is actually a remarkable all-around athlete who is capable of having an impact in a variety of different sports.
This week is a prime example of that, as O’Shields takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending February 18.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Coleman-Colorado City basketball doubleheader (178 images)” →
COLORADO CITY — Leading Colorado City just 22-20 at halftime Friday, the Coleman boys basketball team opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run and protected that cushion the rest of the way for a 49-41 win to close the first half of District 8-2A play with a perfect 5-0 record.
That surge out of halftime was part of a 15-6 third-quarter run for the Bluecats that turned a tie game in the final minute of the second quarter into an 11-point lead by the start of the fourth.
The Wolves never got closer than seven points in the the final eight minutes, seeing their district record fall to 3-2 with the loss.
NOTE: This will be our final Player of the Week column for 2022. It will return on Monday, Jan. 9.
It’s always a significant accomplishment to chart a double-double. But when one averages a double-double over the course of five straight games, you begin to put a blip on the area radar screen.
Munday senior Jaxon Bowman did precisely that last week, helping the Moguls to a 5-0 record and the tournament championship at Blackwell. Aside from averaging 11.2 points per game, the senior grabbed a whopping 13 boards per contest to along with a combined 12 steals as Munday improved to 12-2.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday with the guards, we now shift our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top-10 players at that position for 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Stamford 45, Colorado City 0 — The SHS defense limited Colorado City to only 133 yards in total offense as the Bulldogs solidified their hold on the No. 3 seed.
Stamford finished with 398 yards in total offense, including 281 yards on the ground through seven different ball carriers.
After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.
For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2022-23 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.
After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Tuesday, we now turn our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 players at that position with some others to watch for in 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Cisco 41, Anson 6 — Trent Huston rushed for 187 yards and five scores on only 16 carries as Cisco topped Anson.
Leading 21-6 at the break, the Loboes blew the game open with three unanswered touchdowns in the second half.
Colorado City 38, Winters 8 — Mayson Monroe threw for 181 yards and two scores and Aedan Brisen rushed for 161 yards and another TD to lift C-City (1-7, 1-3) to its first win
of the year, snapping a 10-game losing streak that dated by to last season.