Here are the Big Country’s passing leaders through Week 4:
Category: Hamlin Pied Pipers
PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin-Munday football (84 images)
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GAME STORY: Hamlin runs all over Munday for Saturday night win
MUNDAY — Swenson Benavides, Colten Spalding and Hudson Smith all ran for more than 100 yards as the Hamlin offense piled up 568 total yards and the Pied Pipers spoiled Munday’s quadrennial homecoming celebration with a 53-8 win Saturday night at Scruggs Field.
Benavides (15-157) and Spalding (12-111) were both comfortably in the 100-yard club before Smith’s 18-yard run on the game’s final play pushed him to 104 yards on 13 carries as Hamlin continued its rebound from a disappointing 2021 season by picking up its third consecutive win.
The Pied Pipers have allowed just 10 points over the last three weeks with one more game remaining before the start of district play.
FEATURE: Evans, Hamlin finding surprising success out of ashes of 0-10 campaign
When you score all of 28 points during an entire season and win none of 10 games in the process, there’s a tendency for your fans to figure that whatever happens the next year is bound to be better than what happened last.
But even the most ardent among the Hamlin Pied Piper faithful have been pleasantly surprised by how the team’s 2022 campaign has begun.
Take last week, for instance. Hamlin blanked Crosbyton 33-0 to run its record to 2-1. Coupling that triumph with a 6-2 victory over Water Valley the week before, the Pied Pipers have now put together a win streak. Even more importantly, they’ve shown that coach Chris Evans, who can find a silver lining among even the darkest of clouds, might have something in that mantra of his.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Brownwood entertains red hot Glen Rose (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)
LAST WEEK: 51-10, .836
SEASON TOTAL: 131-42, .757
Football picks are something I take pride in and it irritates me to no end when I stink it up. So let’s just say, I burned some midnight oil to get that situation corrected last week.
As a result, the column recovered with a solid .836 percentage in Week 3, salvaging my bruised ego after a disastrous Week 2 tally. In all, 51 of 61 area picks hit the mark last week, elevating my season’s record above 75 percent.
That’s more like it.
Week 4 in the meantime, presents a lineup of some of the most difficult area picks we’ve had this season — including an explosive Glen Rose team facing Brownwood in our BCP Game of the Week. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Here’s this week’s forecast:
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Quarterbacks
After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.
To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Running Backs
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends earlier today, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2022. Don’t forget to check in Thursday when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.
After starting the offensive portion of our series Tuesday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.
For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters
After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.
We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top eight kickers and top eight punters to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2022 season.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Backs
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Linebackers
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Saturday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2022.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2022.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
2022 DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Daniel make their picks
Without further ado, it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it.
So dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road.
HAMLIN FEATURE: With year of experience under its belt, Pipers offensive line expects improvement
Last year, a young and injury plagued line took its lumps for Hamlin, resulting in an 0-10 campaign during which the Pied Pipers scored just 28 points all season.
With everyone back this year, including the senior trio of Nick Walker, Samuel McNeely and Isaac Flores, coach Chris Evans has much higher hopes for that unit in 2022.
Led by those three veterans, the HHS O-line is both deeper and more experienced than it was a year ago. And with a full year now in Evans’ schemes, it’s also expected bring a higher level of aggression and confidence to the field this fall.
2022 HAMLIN FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Pipers looking for progress in Evans’ second year
Taking over a team that had graduated almost all of its talent from an 11-win squad in 2020, Chris Evans knew his first year at Hamlin would be spent re-laying the program’s foundation.
While he inherited a Pied Pipers program that was coming off a stellar 13-year run under former coach Russell Lucas, Evans was essentially starting from scratch with a young, numbers-challenged group that saw injuries exacerbate both issues during a winless campaign last fall.
Despite last year’s struggles, however, Evans is much more optimistic about his team’s chances to compete in Year 2. And he’s looking forward to watching his players tackle that challenge head-on.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin, Santo and Winters football scrimmage (75 images)
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COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Hamlin Pied Pipers
Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.
We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Wednesday, Aug. 17. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.
Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on Aug. 1, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2022 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We continue in Class 2A Division II with the Hamlin Pied Pipers. On Friday we will take a look at the Cross Plains Buffaloes, followed by the Roscoe Plowboys on Saturday.
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Evan Ren’s 2022 BCP Baseball/Softball All-Hustle Team: The hardest-working players in the area!
OTHER 2022 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
- All-Big Country Preps Baseball Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps First-Team Baseball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Second-Team Baseball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Softball Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps First-Team Softball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Second-Team Softball Selections (plus honorable mention)
- Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team (area’s top Sophomores and Freshmen!)
Character, grit and work ethic aren’t seen in a box score. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players (male and female) who exemplify those qualities.
The All-Hustle team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were. It honors the best teammates.
It is here where effort, discipline and coachability — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built — are honored.
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 Big Country had to offer during the 2022 baseball and softball seasons.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Hamlin softball region championship game (53 images)
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GAME STORY: Gutierrez no-hits Hamlin to send Stamford softball back to state
Despite all she’s accomplished during her standout high school career, Stamford ace Citlaly Gutierrez admitted to being nervous heading into Wednesday’s one-game Region I-2A championship matchup with district rival Hamlin.
And playing in front of a packed, standing-room-only crowd at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field, it showed for an inning.
But after seeing her only two walks of the game result in a pair of unearned runs, the flame-throwing right-hander settled in to dominate Hamlin the rest of the way, collecting 16 strikeouts and no-hitting the Lady Pipers in a 10-2 victory that earned the defending Class 2A champion Lady Bulldogs their second consecutive trip to the state tournament.
EVAN REN: Hamlin’s decision to turn regional championship into a one-gamer is the correct move
Everybody loves a three-game series and everyone loves a second chance. But for those in charge, logic must intercede.
This week, the upstart Hamlin Lady Pipers will take on the defending Class 2A state champion Stamford Lady Bulldogs for the Region I championship at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Abilene Christian University. The matchup is huge and so is the excitement surrounding it. So why wouldn’t someone be geared up for a best-of-three?
It’s only natural, right? It’s what we should all expect … right?
Wrong.
After winning the pre-series coin flip, Hamlin coach Jason Botos elected to turn the regional championship into a winner-take-all, one-game crapshoot. And frankly, I agree with the move for several reasons.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin-Colorado City regional semifinal Game 1 (37 images)
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CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Stephenville pole vaulter Kirbo wins final award of 21-22 school year
As one of the defensive leaders for Stephenville’s state championship football team, Ben Kirbo was ensured a memorable senior year regardless of what happened at the Class 4A state track meet.
But the SHS standout and future TCU pole vaulter wanted a little icing on his cake … and got it.
Kirbo vaulted 16 feet in Austin last week to win the Class 4A pole vault competition by a full foot over Pleasanton’s Preston Pilgrim and Argyle’s Mitchell Thompson. And in doing so, he earned our final Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week award for the 2021-22 school year.
PHOTO GALLERY: Albany-Hamlin regional quarterfinal softball (58 images)
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GAME STORY: Lady Lions lose big lead, then rally to capture Game 1 from Hamlin, 10-7
While it may not have been a must-win situation for either team, both Albany and Hamlin put a good deal of importance in Game 1 of their Region I-2A quarterfinal series on Thursday, knowing a win would give them two shots to advance on Saturday.
The Lady Lions earned the checkmark but had to rally to do it, topping Hamlin 10-7 at McMurry University to take a one-game lead in the best-of-three matchup.
Carisa Barrera was 2 for 4 with a double and earned a save in the circle to lead Albany (15-13-1), which can close out the series with a win in Game 2 at 1 p.m. on Saturday at McMurry. Game 3, if needed, will begin 30 minutes after Game 2.
FEATURE: Lady Pipers thrilled to advance, now bracing for new challenge vs. Albany
HAMLIN — In a year that has seen much of the Hamlin athletic program in rebuilding mode, green-clad fans have found a rally point around an unexpected source.
For 15 years, Hamlin softball had struggled in vain to earn a playoff win. But with last week’s 6-2 area-round victory over Miles, which came despite a lengthy gap between games due to a first-round bye, the Lady Pipers ended a frustrating drought that dated back to the George W. Bush Administration.
“The girls were fired up to get an opportunity to play,” Hamlin coach Jason Botos said. “When we got there, you could just see the nerves. But they were chomping at the bit. We had 10 days off without a game and that concerned me as a coach.
“But the girls were ready. They were fired up to play.”
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP Player of the Week: Haskell’s Roewe hits for the cycle to claim award
Four hits in one day is a great day for any hitter. But to get one hit of each kind – single, double, triple and a home run – is one of softball and baseball’s genuine rarities.
Yet that is exactly what Haskell senior Emma Roewe pulled off last week when she hit for the cycle in a 17-7 area round win over McCamey.
But there was an added bonus: Nearly all of her hits had huge impact, beginning with an RBI triple to bring in the first run of the game.
She later broke a 7-7 tie with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and brought down the curtain with a walk-off double to score Olivia Camacho to bring the mercy rule into play.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP Player of the Week: O’Malley overcomes injury to punch regional ticket
Merkel’s Alyssa O’Malley is no stranger to our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column.
If she’s not in the weekly mix during the basketball season as one of the area’s top players, she’s competing for our top spot during the spring in track and field.
Her latest exploit: How about four area championships in solo events, despite having a painful foot injury?
PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin-Haskell softball (58 images)
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GAME STORY: Upstart Lady Pipers stop Haskell 13-6
HASKELL — Coming off a 10-0 district loss to defending state champion Stamford last week, the upstart Hamlin Lady Pipers faced a difficult situation on Tuesday with a road date against an established program at Haskell.
To the winner: a spot behind Stamford and an inside track for a high playoff seed. To the loser: A pressure-filled climb to make up lost ground.
Score one for the Lady Pipers (14-3, 2-1 District 7-2A), who notched a 13-6 win over Haskell — a result some in the area may find surprising, given Hamlin’s struggles in recent years.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: C-City pitcher Kaci Rivera takes the top spot
It’s difficult to top back-to-back shutouts when searching for a Player of the Week, especially when one of the vanquished is a solid team from a higher classification.
That was the case last week for Colorado City softball pitcher Kaci Rivera, who held both Big Spring (7-0) and Borden County (6-0) to a goose egg, with 23 strikeouts in 14 innings of work.
Our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week allowed only five total hits in the two games, to go with two walks.
“Kaci has really started to show her dominance on the mound,” coach Krysten Marr said. “She is a fierce competitor on both sides of the ball and we are excited to see how she does going into district play.”
Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5:
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Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders (Final)
Below are the final regular season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball in 2022.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)
Here are the updated Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5
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Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders (through Feb. 3)
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
UIL REALIGNMENT: Big Country football landscape will change dramatically
While icy road conditions may have changed the UIL’s method of delivering the news, the results of its biennial realignment still offered the usual mix of surprises on Thursday.
Held via live feed over the internet, area coaches learned their fate on the web.
Topping the list of stunners for area teams would be the shift of Brownwood from its centralized home in District 5-4A DI to the far west in District 2. There, the Lions will join Big Spring, Lubbock Estacado, San Angelo Lake View and Andrews — the last of which will produce a 480-mile round trip.