ABILENE — Day 2 of the Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival was a lot more about fellowship than anything else. 

With Abilene Christian University hosting the FCA Girls and Boys All-Star Basketball Games at Moody Coliseum on Friday, neither game provided a great deal of drama. 

In fact, the Red and Blue teams exchanged a pair of blowouts, with the Red Girls defeating the Blue 72-39 in the opening game of the doubleheader. The Blue Boys returned the favor in the night cap, defeating the Red team 91-54. 

As is the custom at the FCA All-Star Festival, both teams joined hands in prayer following each game, and the fact that neither contest was close hardly seemed to matter. 

“It was a lot of fun said San Angelo Central boys coach Arsenio Geter, who guided the boys blue team. “Everybody had a smile on their face the whole time. And that’s what we wanted. We wanted everyone to have a chance to play one more game and have fun doing it.” 

ABILENE — They didn’t have much time to shake off the ring rust, but both teams involved in the Bev Ball All-Star Volleyball Classic at Wylie High School. 

Part of the Day 1 lineup of this year’s Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival, the Bev Ball Classic saw the Blue All-Stars rally to top the Red 17-25, 29-27, 15-8 to take this year’s title. This, after splitting a pair of warm-up games with Blue winning 25-20 and Red taking Game 2 25-21.

Wall’s Emery Harper had 10 kills and an ace and Abilene High’s Olivia Weatherford had six kills, three blocks and an ace to lead the Blue team, which rallied from a 6-5 deficit with a 10-2 run to win Game 3. 

The Red team was led by Match MVP Aniah Hines, who nearly took over the contest with 17 kills, four blocks and five aces. 

“I don’t even have the words,” said Abilene High’s Emily Gravitt, who coached the blue team. “The girls were such a blessing, the atmosphere was such a blessing and the FCA is an incredible organization.” 

AUSTIN — Liberty (founded in 1831) is in fact, one of the oldest communities in the state of Texas. But its status as a softball powerhouse is relatively new. 

With seven state tournament appearances (all since 2018), the Lady Panthers added their fourth state championship in less than a decade on Friday by defeating Brock, 12-0 in six innings at McCombs Field.  

Game MVP Bayleigh Taylor tossed a two-hit shutout and was 3-for-5 with a double, triple and five RBIs to lead Liberty (39-6), which dominated the Region I champions from start to finish. 

Brock was led by Jayci Smith (1-for-3) and Trinity Franklin (1-for-2 with a double). The Lady Eagles closed their season at 32-11 while making their ninth state tournament appearance.

“We ran into a good team today,” Brock coach Gregory Connors said. “They were hitting on all cylinders and it showed. But we know what it takes to get here and how to overcome that.” 

AUSTIN — In an attempt to become the first Texas high school softball team to win four straight state championships, the Coahoma Bulldogettes fell one victory short of that goal with an 8-1 loss to Santa Gertrudis Academy in the 3A DII state championship game on Thursday at McCombs Field.        

Game MVP K’Lee Bazan was 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Hailey Ortega was 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs to lead SGA (40-4), which captured its first state title since 2018 and second overall in six state tournament appearances. 

Coahoma, which was limited to three hits on the day, was led by Mia Clemmer (1-for-2), Emery Doporo (1-3, one RBI) and Bentli Wright (1-for-3).  The Bulldogettes were making their fifth consecutive state tournament appearance with a string of three straight state titles to their credit coming in.  

“It’s a tall mountain to climb, whether you’ve done it one time or five times,” said Coahoma coach Alex Orosco, whose team finished the season at 27-5. “It doesn’t get any easier if you’ve done it before.” 

COLORADO CITY — The Hamlin baseball team takes great pride in its approach to hitting with two strikes and that approach paid off in droves on Saturday in Game 2 of the Pied Pipers’ Region I-1A series at AW Phillips Field against O’Donnell.

Nine different batters reached base safely on Saturday when facing a pitch with two strikes as the Pied Pipers beat the Eagles 6-0 to earn a state semifinal matchup with Gordon next week.

Hamlin coach Lynn Turner and Saturday’s starting pitcher Isaiah Hutchings both heaped praise on the offense, which chased O’Donnell starter Willie Luera in the fifth inning after he reached the 110-pitch count limit. Hamlin had six batters work a full count on Saturday with four of them reaching base via a walk.

ABILENE — There was no postgame dogpile following Brock’s series-clinching 4-0 win over Lubbock-Cooper Liberty at Crutcher Scott Field on Saturday. 

The Eagles, having just secured the Region I-4A DII championship, had a moderate celebration, knowing that they still must defeat Frisco Panther Creek in the state semifinals in order to reach their goal of playing for a state championship. 

It was a fitting reaction to a workmanlike victory over the Patriots that saw Brock scratch home four runs in support of a four-hit shutout from southpaw Evan O’Connor. 

“I’m just proud of our boys, to be honest with you,” Brock coach Kobe Page said. “We don’t play a lot of day games starting at (noon) and after a late night, it’s a quick turnaround and it kind of throws you off schedule a little bit.

“But I love our fight, I love our guys and what they bring every single day to the table. … Anyone who sees Brock on the other side knows they’re in for a dogfight, whether we have our best stuff or not. They know we’ll grind it out — every pitch, every out.” 

ABILENE — To say Brock is in a good position to win the Region I-4A DII championship might be an understatement. That’s based on the fact that the Eagles defeated Lubbock-Cooper Liberty 9-0 in Game 1 on Friday without their top pitcher, Evan O’Conner, throwing so much as an inning at Crutcher Scott Field.

Instead, Game 1 saw a gutsy effort from Brock starter Weston Pickard and nine runs of combined offense in the first two innings to lead the Eagles (29-6), who can clinch the series with a win in Game 2, slated for noon on Saturday at the same venue. 

Pickard escaped bases-loaded jams in the first and fourth innings and left with a shutout intact when he was relieved by Austin Gallogly in the top of the fifth. Pickard allowed four hits and four walks, but six strikeouts helped him strand eight baserunners in four frames. 

Liberty fell to 31-11 with the loss. 

STEPHENVILLE — The single greatest season in Cisco softball history has officially come to a close. 

Having reached the 2A DI state semifinals (its first-ever state semi) Cisco fell to in two straight games to Bosqueville on Wednesday, 4-3 and 10-2 at the Stephenville Softball Complex. 

The losses brought the curtain down on a 26-9-2 campaign that saw the Lady Loboes finish 8-3 in postseason play with the deepest playoff run in its history.

“We’ve had an outstanding year,” Cisco coach Vanessa Longoria said. “At the very beginning we scheduled some tough teams to help get us here.

“Getting them this far was fantastic and a lot of fun.” 

Do you know what’s more annoying than facing a lefty slap hitter leading off a lineup?

How about facing two lefty slap hitters right off the bat who are quick with the bat.

That’s the reality for anyone facing Brock this season as sophomore Kayden Blue and freshman Jayci Smith have helped set the tone offensively for the Lady Eagles’ state semifinal run.

Brock (32-10) enters its best-of-three 4A series against Van Alstyne on a seven-game win streak where it’s averaged 9.3 runs. The Lady Eagles are two victories away from playing for the 4A Division II title next week in Austin.

Here are the FINAL boys area track bests through May 17 (top 15 in each event): 

Here are the FINAL girls area track bests through May 17 (top 15 in each event): 

STEPHENVILLE — After guiding Wylie to one of its best seasons ever, WHS softball coach Shelby Elkins had the unenviable task of speaking to her heartbroken players following an 11-7 Game 3 loss to Fort Worth Brewer in the Region I-5A DII title game on Saturday.

Brewer had just eliminated Wylie behind five homers at the Stephenville High School Softball Field. But Elkins quickly reminded a group of tearful players that there were several important achievements they should remember years from now.

“You just highlight the positives,” said Elkins, whose team had reached the program’s first regional title series since 2006 and its first ever in Class 5A. “For us to make it this far, they’ve done some great things this year. 

“Every single one of them shattered their own records. … And that’s what we looked at from the very beginning of the season. The number of hits they had, the number of defensive plays  — I wanted to give all of them goals to set and every one of them did a phenomenal job. 
“I’m very proud of them.”