Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 30. This will be our final baseball stat leaders post for the 2026 season.
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.
COAHOMA — One great game deserves another.
Only 24 hours after Cisco had edged Forsan 2-1 in Game 1 of their 2A DI area round series, the Lady Buffaloes evened things up by taking Game 2 in a 7-6 nailbiter in eight innings on Wednesday.
Madi Roach doubled home Elyssa Amaro with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the eighth — the latter of whom was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to lead Forsan (20-10). The decisive third game of the series is currently slated for 8 p.m. on Saturday in Clyde.
Forsan, which saw leads of 4-1 and 6-4 evaporate by the seventh inning, took the disappointments in stride — retaining a lighthearted demeanor that saw them dancing together as a team during warmups.
It eventually paid off.
“If they’re not doing some sort of dance routine before the game I know they’re nervous,” Forsan coach Jason Phillips said. “We want them relaxed, because believe it or not, they’re as dialed in as you could ever believe.”
ABILENE — Defense and pitching were at the forefront in Game 1 of a Region I-2A DI area round series between Cisco and Forsan on Tuesday at Cooper High School.
Cisco’s Aubrey Corpus outdueled Forsan’s Makayla Garza in a 2-1 win for Lady Loboes, who can close the series with a Game 2 victory on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Coahoma. If needed, Game 3 of the series will be on Saturday in Clyde at 8 p.m.
AJ Pevey was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and Corpus was 1-for-3 with the game-winning RBI to lead Cisco (20-8-2), which broke a 1-1 tie when Pevey singled and scored on a Corpus triple in the bottom of the sixth.
Forsan dropped to 19-10 with the loss.
“Both teams are coached well and both showed up to play today,” Cisco coach Vanessa Longoria said. “(The win) was very important. It gives us the momentum, but we can’t get too calm and take it easy tomorrow.”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brock-Levelland softball bi-district playoff (60 images)”
ABILENE — In a rematch of last year’s thrilling Class 4A DII bi-district series, the Brock Lady Eagles posted a workmanlike 5-1 win over Levelland on Friday at McMurry University’s Edwards Field.
It scarcely resembled what occurred a year ago, when Brock escaped with a pair of one-run victories — 2-1 in Game 1 and 7-6 in 13 innings in Game 2. This time around, the Lady Eagles (25-9) took control of Game 1 early and never relinquished it behind the pitching of Alison Coleman.
Kayden Blue was 4-for-4 with four singles and one run scored and Sloan Booth was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to lead Brock, which coasted behind a one-hitter from Coleman. The Lady Eagles can end the series with a win in Game 2 on Saturday at noon at McMurry.
Game 3 (if needed) will follow 30 minutes after Game 2.
“I thought our girls came out and (played) hard with a lot of first-game jitters,” Brock coach Gregory Connors said. “We have six freshman starting and it was their first time in a playoff atmosphere. But we started off in that first inning with our bats the way we needed to and it carried us throughout the game.”
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 23.
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.
Here are the standings for all baseball districts involving Big Country schools (through April 20):
Continue reading “Big Country Baseball Standings (through April 20)”
ANSON — For Stamford it was a game that solidified its position in the District 8-2A standings. For Anson, it became one of those games that a team would just as soon forget about.
For the record, Stamford took Tuesday’s contest at AHS, 13-3 via the mercy rule in five innings. What relegated it to Anson’s spam file, however, was the fact that the Bulldogs achieved this with only six hits. The gaps between those hits were filled with multiple Tiger miscues (eight in all), along with five walks and two hit batsmen.
It made the job of Stamford southpaw knuckleballer Carlos Vega much easier than one may have expected. Vega worked all five innings to get the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He also helped himself at the plate with a 2-for-4 effort that included a three-run homer.
Stamford improved to 14-6 overall and 6-3 in district play. Anson fell to 8-8 and 4-5.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 2.
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.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 2.
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 or her email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.
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.
As impressive as the 2025 Stephenville Yellow Jackets were on the football field – winning the Class 4A Division I state championship with a 16-0 record – they were even more impressive in the classroom.
Stephenville was the undefeated state champion on the football field. The Yellow Jackes were national champions in the classroom.
The Irving-based National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame recently announced Stephenville High School as the national winner of the 2025-26 NFF Hatchell Cup, the highest academic team honor in high school football.
SNYDER — With Nazareth leading Gordon 16-5 after one quarter and seeing that lead expand to 28-13 late in the second, it wasn’t difficult to think that the Swiftettes were on the verge of dominating Monday’s Class 1A DII girls state semifinal.
Nazareth coach Eric Schilling, however, knew better. He fully expected the top-ranked, unbeaten Lady Longhorns to make a run and that’s exactly what happened as the Swiftettes escaped the Western Texas College Coliseum with a 48-46 win.
Kambri Cleavinger scored 20 points and Lexi Ramaekers added 14 more to lead Nazareth (32-6), which advances to the state championship game where it will meet either Saltillo or Nueces Canyon on Thursday at 1 p.m. in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
Gordon finished its campaign at 34-1, led by Faith Garnett with a game-high 23 points. Marley Jackson and Stoney Bauer added nine and eight points respectively.
In most years, the Big Country is too big and too deep in talent for it not to compete for state championships across the spectrum of sports. And the calendar year of 2025 was no different, with multiple state titles taken at various levels.
So many, in fact, that most of our Top 10 area sports stories for 2025 involved an area team taking a state title.
Here, we take a look at those stories in descending order, counting down to No. 1.
STEPHENVILLE — Despite suffering from a groin injury, Aubrey’s Mya Cherry walked away from a Class 4A DII State Semifinal series with Snyder as the star of the show.
After tossing a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 win in Game 1 on Wednesday, the senior righthander returned on Thursday to throw a four-hit complete game in a series-clinching 3-1 win at Stephenville High School.
The Lady Chaparrals (33-3) will now advance to the state championship game where they will meet either Waco Robinson or Ingleside for title.
Despite playing well in both games, Snyder saw its season come to a close at 27-10, with Lea Aviles, Micaela Martinez, Jenna Rodriguez and Ella Aviles all producing a single each to lead the Lady Tiger offense.
ABILENE — Two streaks were kept alive at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field on Saturday in the Region I-3A Division II championship series — both of which belong to the Coahoma Bulldoggettes.
In winning Game 2 over Jacksboro, 8-2, Coahoma extended its current streak of regional titles to four and also pushed its current unbeaten streak to 89 straight games.
Hannah Wells threw a complete game four-hitter with nine strikeouts and Baylor Wright was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs to lead Coahoma (32-0-1) which now advances to face Sadler S&S in the state semifinals.
COLORADO CITY — After winning the flip a few days prior to the Region I-4A DI semifinal series with Canyon West Plains, Mineral Wells elected to go with a one-game, winner-take-all format and rely on Texas Tech-bound righthander Holden Hering.
It paid off with a thrilling 3-1 win for the Rams — but not exactly as it was planned. The normally efficient Hering reached his pitch count of 110 in the top of the sixth and was switched to the outfield.
He did, however, continue his heroic effort with a massive two-run homer to dead center in the bottom of the sixth to supply the winning runs.
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: Stamford-Sundown softball region semifinal playoff (65 images)”
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 24.
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.
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: Evan Ren’s top 100 basketball photos for 2024-25”
AZLE — Fueled by sophomore point guard Court Gaylor and junior post Darius Steed, who combined for 46 points on the night, the Lipan boys basketball team locked up its 16th trip to the state semifinals Friday with a 71-52 win over Lindsay in the Region II-2A Division II title game at the Azle High School Competition Gym.
Gaylor poured in a game-high 28 points while Steed ruled the paint with 18 of his own to lead the Indians, who closed the first quarter on a 15-6 run and opened the second with a 19-5 spurt to turn an early one-point deficit into a 42-18 lead by the two minute mark of the first half.
From there, it was academic as LHS cruised to its fifth consecutive state appearance and seventh since 2017 — a stretch that has seen the Indians claim four state championships, including each of the past two in Class 2A.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 20.
This database will be 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.
BROCK — A hot shooting second half and a nasty case of the flu were enough to help Brock secure a District 6-4A sweep of Brownwood in the Brock High School Gym on Friday.
The Brock girls opened the twin bill with a 64-41 win that saw the Lady Eagles close with a 41-21 second half. The Brock boys took the nightcap, overpowering a Brownwood club that had nearly half of its roster returning from and one player still missing with the flu. The Lions were simply no match for Brock on Friday, falling 82-38.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man matchups, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
Here are the final predictions of the season, covering all 12 state championship games:
Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 17)”
Landon York hit 17 of 24 passes for 348 yards and five scores and Wall rushed for 162 yards via committee as the Hawks routed Canadian 49-3 to take the Region I-3A DII title.
After Canadian opened the scoring with an early field goal, the Hawks reeled off 49 unanswered points to improve to 13-1. They led 28-3 at the break and continued to dominate throughout the second half.
“We just played really sharp in all phases from the outset,” Wall coach Craigh Slaughter said. “The past two years we had really fallen behind early (against Canadian) and right away we were playing catch up.
“This year, they did go out and get three points, but we went right down the field and scored. And from that moment, I thought the kids played with the perfect amount of confidence and moxie. It was an impressive performance for sure and they really played lights-out.”
Continue reading “GAME REPORT: Wall destroys Canadian to advance to 3A DII state semifinals”
Gracie Caperton scored 18 points and Madeline Underwood added 12 over her own to lead the Clyde girls basketball team to a 58-18 win over Cooper in a nondistrict matchup Tuesday at Cougar Gym.
In all, eight Lady Bulldogs scored as the visitors dominated the Lady Cougars on both ends of the floor.
Fueled by that balanced attack that saw five players score at least five points and an active zone on defense, Clyde raced out to a 13-2 first-quarter lead and only added to its advantage the rest of the way in improving to 7-3 on the season.
Continue reading “GAME STORY: Clyde girls dominant on both ends of court in 58-18 win over Cooper”
GRAHAM – No. 2 Albany has a likely date circled with No. 1 Muenster next week.
But Denney Faith’s Lions weren’t going to overlook Archer City Thursday night at Newton Field.
Four touchdowns in an eight-minute span during the second quarter put the Lions in complete control as they eliminated the Wildcats 48-14.
Albany (10-2) will either face Muenster or Wheeler next week in the Region II-2A Division II semifinals, while Archer City finishes its season at 8-4.
“We weren’t going to look past Archer City. We needed to make sure we took care of this one,” Faith said. “They’re a little beat up, but so are we. We told our kids all week long, there’s no excuses now.”
LAST WEEK: 46-9, .836
SEASON TOTAL: 510-131, .796
I’ll be the first to admit that there’s some merit to having four teams per district making the playoffs each year. First, gives allows teams riddled with injuries a chance to come back late in the year. And secondly, it gives strong teams stuck in very tough districts a chance to show what they can do regionally.
There is, however, an annual downside to our generosity and it manifests itself each year in the first round — blowouts. And when I say blowouts, I mean blowouts on the order of 50 or 60 points and sometimes worse when a very weak No. 4 seed faces a very strong No. 1.
It just goes with the turf and this year will be no different, so brace yourselves for it.
In the meantime, it’s my task to pick the winners among all of the playoff games involving teams in our coverage area, highlighting the top games of interest. There is no Game of the Week beyond this point. From now on, there all the Game of the Week.
With that, let’s dive in to our Week 12 Playoff Forecast.
I’ll see you on the road.
Here are the final district standings for all Class 2A-5A volleyball districts involving Big Country schools:
LAST WEEK: 52-6 .897
SEASON TOTAL: 419-114, .786
With two Friday nights left in the regular season, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week moves north for a game that was circled on our calendars back in August.
Unbeaten, second-ranked Brock will pay a visit to No. 5 Graham this Friday, with the winner locking down the District 4-4A DII championship.
Tonight, Big Country Preps publishes our final area volleyball statistical leaders for the 2024 regular season.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
LAST WEEK: 41-10 .803
SEASON TOTAL: 367-108, .772
Football season doesn’t feel complete without at least one visit to Chesley Field in Cisco. And Friday night, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week will stop by for a crucial District 4-2A DI matchup between the Loboes (5-2, 1-1) and Hawley (7-0, 2-0).
For Hawley, a win here will keep open the possibility of an unbeaten regular season. For Cisco, a victory would signal the beginning of a climb back into area prominence.
Hamilton 40, San Saba 21
The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 by blowing open a 26-21 game with two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Luke Tharp led the Armadillos (3-2) with 110 yards rushing, 56 yards passing and two scores.
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: Brady-Ballinger football (20 images)”
Albany 62, Merkel 21 — The Lions amassed 321 yards rushing, including 87 yards and five scores from Branson Beal to level their record 2-2.
Merkel (0-4) was led by Bronson Lloyd, who threw for 172 yards and two scores.
Waco Robinson 49, Glen Rose 42 — Evan Moreno rushed for 294 yards and five TDs as Robinson handed Glen Rose its first loss of the year.
Canyon Evans led Glen Rose with 269 yards passing and four scores. Keltyn Raymond led the Tigers (3-1) on the ground with 102 yards rushing on only five carries.
Robinson improved to 3-1 with the win.
Waco La Vega 43, Brownwood 0
Bryson Roland rushed for 142 yards and three scores as La Vega took down Brownwood in Gordon Wood Stadium.
The Pirates outgained the Lions 436-139 to improve to 2-2 on the year.
Glen Rose 44, Brownwood 16
For a complete report on this game, please read Evan Ren’s game story here.
Glen Rose improved to 3-0 on the year. Brownwood slipped to 1-1.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
The Yellow Jackets raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead before putting it into cruise control.
Sawyer Wilkerson led the Yellow Jackets’ (3-0) on the ground with 80 yards rushing and three scores.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 4-4A DIV. I WEEK 3 REPORT: Stephenville dominates Godley to improve 3-0”
Mason 47, Brady 19 —Coming off a lopsided loss to Wall in its season opener, Mason used a dominating defensive effort to level its record off at 1-1.
In dropping Brady to 1-1, the Punchers limited Brady to only 177 total yards.
Glen Rose 28, Gatesville 12 — Normally explosive Glen Rose is also playing some serious defense, allowing only 26 points to date and limiting Gatesville to 12 in Friday’s road win.
Lineman Keltyn Raymond led the effort on Friday with 10 tackles, including six solos. Caden Marrs wasn’t far behind, finishing with nine total stops.
Hawley 21, Albany 0 — Both clubs had 58 plays with possession times of 24 minutes. But the similarities ended there.
Keagan Ables threw for 314 yards and one TD and Allyn Barker rushed for 39 yards and another score to keep Hawley (2-0) unbeaten.
Photos courtesy of Kael Duncan
ARCHER CITY – Anson’s start was definitely rough Friday night against Archer City.
The Tigers allowed two touchdowns in less than four minutes and were about to be punting from deep inside their territory.
That’s when Anson quarterback Corey Layne made a play, scrambling out of the Wildcats’ pass rush to convert a third-and-27.