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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Christoval baseball area round playoff series (154 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Gorman-Ira baseball region semifinal playoff (84 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Colorado City-Hamilton baseball playoff (56 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jim Ned-Holliday baseball area round playoff (76 images)”
The Abilene High and Wylie baseball teams advanced again in the Region I-5A playoffs, winning their area round series against El Paso Ysleta and El Paso Del Valle, respectively.
The Eagles defeated the Indians in three games, following a 6-1 win in Game 1 on Friday with a split Saturday. After dropping Game 2 by a 5-2 margin, AHS bounced back to clinch the series with a 6-1 victory in Game 3.
The Bulldogs took care of business a little quicker, downing the Conquistadores 7-5 in Game 1 on Thursday, before securing the sweep with a 6-1 win in Friday’s Game 2.
With the series victories, Abilene High and Wylie will both advance to the Region I-5A quarterfinals, where they’ll each face off with District 4-5A rivals. The Eagles will play Lubbock Cooper, which routed Clint Horizon in a one-game playoff, while the Bulldogs will take on Lubbock Monterey, which defeated El Paso Hanks in three games.
ABILENE — Two days removed from suffering a walk-off 3-2 loss to Cisco in Game 1 of a Region I-2A quarterfinal in Brownwood, the Stamford Lady Bulldogs turned the tables on CHS by following a very similar script.
Overcoming an early 2-0 deficit just has Cisco had on Thursday, Stamford (22-6) rallied for a 3-2 victory at Abilene High School, winning in walk-off fashion with a bases-loaded walk by Emma Follis to knot the series at a game apiece.
Follis also went the distance in the circle, tossing a three-hitter at the Lady Loboes (19-9) with one walk and four strikeouts.
Originally scheduled for Early High School, Game 2 was bumped to Abilene High and its turf infield due to heavy thunderstorm activity in the area.
The Stamford baseball team wasted little time taking control against Ozona on Saturday, using a seven-run bottom of the first to set the tone for a 21-5 victory in Game 2 of its Region I-2A area round series at Abilene Christian High School.
Coming off a 7-0 win in Game 1 on Thursday, the Bulldogs scored at least three runs in each of their four trips to the plate, abusing Lions pitchers for 17 total hits — seven of which went for extra bases.
The thorough victory earned SHS a trip to the regional quarterfinals, where they’ll face off with District 8-2A rival Hawley next week.
This time last year, the Gorman baseball team was licking its wounds from a pair of thorough drubbings at the hands of Ira in the Region I-1A quarterfinals.
What a difference a year makes.
After splitting a pair of games with the Bulldogs on Thursday at McMurry University, winning Game 1 by a 3-2 margin before falling 13-1 in Game 2, the Panthers dominated the rubber match Saturday at Abilene Christian High School, scoring an 11-1 run-rule win to earn a regional semifinals date with May next week.
The series victory — considered an upset by many — avenged last year’s sweep, which had been on the minds of the Gorman players and coaches ever since.
AUSTIN — The rain that hit most of Texas from Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday morning also affected the schedule at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas for the final day of the UIL State Track & Field meet.
A delayed start to the day was met with no breaks between events, which caused a heavy day for area Class 1A participants to become even busier with less time for rest and recovery.
Entering the meet, the Big Country had 23 athletes that had posted qualifying marks that were in the top three of their respective events. Saturday’s action then netted the area 25 medals (2 gold, 15 silver, 8 bronze) and a state team championship for the second consecutive day as Roby claimed the girls title with 47 points.
ABILENE — It isn’t every day that a softball coach faces the decision of replacing a pitcher who is in the midst of throwing a no-hitter.
But Coahoma skipper Alex Orosco made that move in Game 2 of a Region I-3A quarterfinal with Henrietta on Saturday and it paid off in a 5-0 series-clinching win.
Makayla Calvio delivered four no-hit innings and Hannah Wells slammed the door shut with three more hitless frames as the Bulldoggettes (31-3) swept the best-of-three series and advanced to the regional semifinals. There, the Bulldoggettes will face Bushland on Friday at 7 p.m. at Wolfforth Frenship in a one-game, winner-take-all semi.
At 8:15 on Saturday morning, Hawley baseball coach Jamie Seago thought there was no way that his squad would be able to finish its Region I-2A series with Christoval at Cooper’s Cougar Field, which was saturated by overnight rainfall.
Then he struck out with Coahoma, Lamesa and Abilene Christian and circled back to Cougar Field.
By that point, the outfield had dried out enough to where getting a lunchtime start was a feasible option. All of this happened without his squad knowing how hard Seago was working behind the scenes.
Seago’s hard work paid off as the Bearcats beat Christoval 14-4 in six innings to sweep the Cougars and advance to a regional semifinal showdown with district rival Stamford. The two teams split their season series with Stamford winning 13-2 at Hawley before the Bearcats took a 10-5 win a few weeks later.
MONAHANS — The Wylie softball team had its season come to a close Friday with a 7-5 loss to El Paso Hanks in Game 2 of a Region I-5A quarterfinal series that began Thursday with a 6-0 Lady Knights win in Game 1.
The sweep ended the Lady Bulldogs’ campaign at 30-8, one round short of the Wylie’s 2019 and 2022 runs to the region semifinals.
The losses ended the high school careers of eight seniors — Rylee Moore, Kat Martinez, Kadance Gilcrease, Reese Farrar, Hanna Hood, Kylee Rodriguez, Nylah Alvarado and Jadyn Fernandez — who were an instrumental part of the Lady Bulldogs’ success the past several seasons.
Photo/video contributed by Gordon coach Mike Reed
The picture of Gordon’s Stryker Reed crossing the finish line in the 110-meter hurdles two weeks ago at regionals says it all.
As soon as Reed steps across the white stripe, he turns to his right to celebrate teammate Kaden Crowe also locking up his state berth with a second-place finish.
The two Longhorn freshmen are great friends away from the track and fierce competitors between the lines. Now they’ll get to race together one more time this season Saturday night at the Class 1A track meet in Austin.
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.
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A rocky fourth inning in the field and a number of missed opportunities at the plate were enough to do in Jim Ned in a 9-5 loss to Holliday on Thursday in Game 1 of a best-of-three Region I-3A area-round series at Abilene Christian High School.
Trailing 7-0 after the Eagles broke open a close game with a five-run fourth, the Indians rallied for four runs in the home half of that inning and another in the sixth to pull within two at 7-5. But that was as close as coach Mario Estrada’s team would get due in large part to leaving nine runners on base and having another thrown out at the plate.
With the loss, the Indians (25-6) will now have to take a pair from Holliday (30-4) when the series resumes at 5 p.m. Friday at Iowa Park.
For the second week in a row, the Hawley Bearcats used big-inning baseball to take control of a tight game in a playoff series opener, pulling within a win of the Region I-2A quarterfinals with 6-3 triumph over Christoval in Game 1 of a best-of-three area-round series Thursday at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field.
HHS, which rode back-to-back five-run innings to a 11-1 series-opening win over Coleman last week, used a five-run sixth Thursday to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 6-2 lead that would never be threatened the rest of the way.
The victory improved coach Jamie Seago’s squad to 20-9 on the year and put the Bearcats in the driver’s seat heading into Game 2 at noon Saturday back at Cougar Field.
Cover photo courtesy of Stephenville coach Kolt Kittley
AUSTIN —The UIL State Track and Field meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and the Big Country had a fairly strong showing.
The closest finish determining who would be on and off the podium came in the Class 3A girls 800 meter run where Ballinger’s Addison Martin ran the race in 2 minutes, 17.522 seconds, edging Holliday freshman Kenli Atwood by a microscopic 0.007 seconds after diving through the finish line in her final event of a storied career.
Martin’s podium finish, where she was just one-tenth of a second off what had been the top qualification mark, was one of 14 medal-worthy performances for area athletes.
BROWNWOOD — It took seven innings and a lot of patience, but the Cisco Lady Loboes managed to do what few would have predicted on Thursday at Brownwood High School.
Trailing 2-0 to Stamford early on, Cisco rallied to win Game 1 of a Region I-2A quarterfinal series, 3-2, defeating a team that is coming off back-to-back trips to the state tournament.
Hannah Rogers tossed a complete game five-hitter and Angie Espinoza was 3 for 4 with two RBIs to lead Cisco (19-8), which can close out the series if it defeats Stamford in Game 2, slated for 4 p.m. Saturday at Early High School.
Game 3, if needed, will follow 30 minutes after Game 2.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: May-Westbrook baseball regional quarterfinal (109 images)”
SWEETWATER — This baseball season has been full of historic moments for the May Tigers.
It started with the first district championship in school history, and the Tigers added to that resume by sweeping Westbrook 12-1 and 15-5 in a Region I-1A quarterfinal Wednesday night at Sportsmans Park.
The best-of-three series win sends May to the regional semifinals for the first time in program history. There, the Tigers will be waiting for the winner of the Ira-Gorman series that begins on Friday at McMurry University.
BCP WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Stephenville’s Justin Swenson visits; Cisco/McCamey incident examined.
CROSS PLAINS TEAM PHOTO LEFT TO RIGHT: Theron Albrecht, Gray Albrecht, Asher Moses, Noah Moses, Ryan Reed and Ryder Reed.
CROSS PLAINS — While his relay teams were getting their photos taken following the Region II-1A track meet, Cross Plains boys track coach Daniel Purvis noticed an oddity that he had never before realized.
The entirety of his three relay teams consisted of three sets of brothers: Theron and Gray Albrecht, Asher and Noah Moses, along with Ryan and Ryder Reed. Six athletes, all with one sibling to call a teammate and all six qualifying for this week’s state track meet in Austin.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Coleman vs. Hawley bi-district baseball games 1, 2 and 3”
Coming off a bi-district sweep of Plainview in which Reese Farrar and Rylee Moore both pitched five-inning one-hitters, it was going to be difficult for Wylie’s co-aces to repeat that performance against El Paso Parkland in the area round.
And yet, they did.
Farrar pitched her second one-hitter of the playoffs while Moore tossed a five-inning no-hitter to fuel the Lady Bulldogs past the Lady Matadors 20-1 and 10-0 and into the Region I-4A quarterfinals, where WHS (30-6) will face off with 36-1 El Paso Hanks this week.
In the process, coach Heather Collier’s dynamic pitching duo claimed our penultimate Big Country Preps Player of the Year award of the 2022-23 school year.
Here is a consolidated look at all of the Big Country softball area playoff action:
Continue reading “SOFTBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: 11 Big Country teams still alive after two weeks”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Levelland baseball bi-district playoff (55 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Anson-Hamilton baseball bi-district playoff (109 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wall-Brady baseball bi-district playoff (95 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hamlin-Bangs softball area-round playoff (64 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jim Ned-Ingram Moore baseball bi-district playoff (62 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Plainview-Wylie baseball bi-district playoff (84 images)”
The Hawley baseball team wasn’t going to make short work of Coleman. Both Mother Nature and the Coleman Bluecats saw to that on Saturday at Drigger’s Field at McMurry University.
Leading their best-of-three 2A bi-district series by a game, Hawley fell 5-3 in rain-delayed Game 2, but recovered with a 10-7 win in Game 3, which ended just short of 1 a.m on Sunday morning.
“It was a great job by both teams, playing this late into the night,” Hawley coach Jamie Seago said. “Both teams fought, but for our guys to pull out a win here is very big for us.”
The Abilene High and Wylie baseball teams closed out bi-district sweeps on Saturday, with the Eagles cruising past Amarillo High 13-4 in Game 2 at Lubbock Cooper while the Bulldogs routed Plainview 12-2 in Plainview.
The victories earned AHS and Wylie spots in the Region I-5A area round, where they will matchup with El Paso Ysleta and El Paso Del Valle, respectively.
Saturday played out the same way Friday did for Abilene’s local softball teams, which was a good thing for Wylie and a bad thing for Abilene High.
The Lady Bulldogs extended their season into the Region I-5A quarterfinals with a 10-0 win over El Paso Parkland in Game 2, while the Lady Eagles saw a successful campaign end with a 7-1 loss to El Paso Hanks.
Wylie will advance now to face Hanks next week in a best-of-three series in Monahans, beginning with Game 1 at 6 p.m. Friday. Abilene High, meanwhile, closed its season at 27-7.
After losing the opening game of their best-of-three Region I-2A bi-district baseball series with Hamilton in extra innings, Anson knew it needed a big day from Nick Miller on Saturday at Hudson Wade Memorial Field on the campus of Abilene Christian High School.
The senior answered with a special performance in Game 2 as he both started and closed out the Tigers’ 9-5 win that forced a winner-take-all Game 3.
In the deciding game, Hamilton scored all of its runs in the top of the first and took a 17-0 win to take the series and advance to the next round against Colorado City.
The Stephenville baseball team continued its run of hot play Saturday, closing out its Region I-4A bi-district series against Levelland with its 10th consecutive win and fourth run-rule victory in its lats five games.
The Yellow Jackets trailed 2-0 after the first-half inning, but they responded immediately with seven runs in the home half of the first and cruised from there to a 13-2 win at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field.
The victory followed a 12-0 win over the Lobos in Friday’s Game 1, capping a series sweep and earning SHS an area-round date next week with Krum, which downed Sanger two games to one in its bi-district series.
It took the Wall bats a couple of innings to get going Friday in Game 2 of its Region I-3A bi-district series against Brady, but once the Hawks finally got airborne, they soared.
Down 1-0 after two innings, WHS exploded for eight runs in the third and six in the fourth and fifth to pull away for a 20-4 win and a series sweep of the Bulldogs.
The lopsided affair, which followed a tight 5-4 win over the Bulldogs in Game 1, improved coach Jason Schniers team to 27-5-1 on the year and earned the Hawks an area-round matchup next week with the winner between Bowie and Peaster.
The Jim Ned baseball team rallied from an early 2-0 hole with 12 unanswered runs Friday to score a 12-2 victory over Ingram Moore and complete a sweep of its Region I-3A bi-district series at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field.
The Indians got a six-inning three-hitter from Troy Doran and took advantage of six walks and six Warrior errors to close out Moore a day after claiming a 9-4 win in Game 1.
The victory improved Jim Ned to 25-5 and earned coach Mario Estrada’s squad an area-round date next week with District 7-3A champion Holliday, which defeated Breckenridge 8-1 and 7-6 in its bi-district series.
SAN ANGELO — The Bangs Lady Dragons demonstrated two distinct ways to win in Friday’s area round series with Hamlin — a come-from-behind 3-1 victory in Game 1, followed by a harrowing 10-9 escape in Game 2.
By night’s end, Bangs had clinched a spot in the Region I-2A quarterfinals where it will face Hawley next week at a site and time to be determined.
Abby Wolf earned two complete game wins in the circle and was a combined 3 for 8 with three RBIs to lead Bangs (26-4), which is now enjoying one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history.
For 3½ innings, the Coleman and Hawley baseball teams were locked in a pitcher’s duel Friday at McMurry University’s Walt Driggers Field.
But after going to the home half of the fourth tied 1-all, the Bearcats broke loose for five runs in that inning and five more in the next to pull away for an 11-1 run-rule victory in Game1 of a Region I-2A bi-district series.
Hawley collected 10 hits and took advantage of seven Coleman errors to provide far more offense than needed for starter Westyn Balch, who limited the Bluecats to two hits in a complete-game gem to outduel CHS starter Ryland Gentry.
What looked like it would be a banner day for the Abilene High and Wylie softball teams in the Permian Basin on Friday quickly evaporated in the span of just three outs for the Lady Eagles.
AHS saw El Paso Hanks score five runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn a 7-6 comeback win.
Wylie also had a three-out swing in its game, but the Lady Bulldogs were on the other end as they walloped El Paso Parkland 20-1.
Both best-of-three series will resume on Saturday.
WOODROW — Jake Breckenridge’s first-pitch single in the bottom of the sixth inning scored Beckham Paul from second base and the Abilene High baseball team upset District 3-5A champion Amarillo High 6-5 in the opening game of their Region I-5A bi-district series Friday afternoon at Lubbock Cooper.
The hit was part of a key frame in which Trey Simpson drove in Saul Vazquez with a single to tie the game immediately before Breckenridge delivered, as the Eagles started the sixth with two walks sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt.
With the offense breaking through late, it made a winner out of Brady Bennett on the mound. Bennett threw a complete game, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits. He walked four and struck out five.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Coahoma-Holliday softball area round playoff (40 images)”