Two Jacksboro Tigers were named Class 3A All-State by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Monday.
Luke Dixon was a second-team selection at shortstop by the group while fellow senior Clay Botello was a third-team pick at third base.
Both were members of the squad that finished second in District 8-3A and went three rounds deep in the postseason.
COPPELL – Tiger Baseball Club out of Jacksboro sent their 12U team to Coppell, Texas to compete in the Triple Crown State Tournament. The young Tigers did nothing short of dominating the competition, going 7-0 in the tournament and outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 87-15. Jacksboro ended the tournament with staggering numbers such as a team batting average of .517, 15 doubles, two triples, and six home runs. These small town sluggers defeated teams from McKinney, Coppell, Lewisville, Highland Village, Granbury, Southlake, and Austin.
Sports camps are a rite of passage throughout the summer in many cities and towns, kids in elementary and middle school getting the opportunity to hone their skills in different activities and perhaps learn some things that will help them once they get into high school.
Jacksboro opened the camp season earlier this week with its annual Baseball Camp, which had one of its highest attendances ever with nearly 80 kids taking part on the Twin Lakes Baseball Fields. Campers were broken up into age group divisions to ensure fair competition and to make sure everyone had fun.
Game Two
Peaster 5, Jacksboro 1 (9 innings)
In a hard-fought battle throughout the 2:28 game time, a grand slam homer from Devin Alvey proved to be the difference and ended the Tiger season at 18-16-1.
Walks to three Greyhounds set the stage for Alvey who took a pitch over the wall in left field to end the game. Jacksboro Coach Blake Belcher said he couldn’t have been prouder of his troops, who may have started a new tradition of Tiger baseball.
GRAHAM – Errors, hit batters and walks oh my.
A combination of all three things enabled Peaster to come from behind Thursday night in Game one of the best-of-three Region I-3A series and post a harder than it looked 14-4, six-inning victory at Steer Field.
Jacksboro falls to 18-15-1 with the setback while Peaster goes to 29-10. Four Tiger errors, 10 walks, and five hit batters enabled Peaster to make the most of its eight hits, the same number of base hits Jacksboro had.
BRYSON – There are naysayers that say those high school players that play six-man football will never make it on the collegiate stage.
Brayden Houser hopes to prove them wrong.
Bryson’s three-year starter at quarterback and a two-time All-State selection signed a national letter of intent Thursday afternoon to play football at Wayland Baptist University, an NAIA school in Plainview in the Panhandle. Houser, the son of Bubba Houser and Misty Lewis, came to town with Coach Jason Briles, also in his third year with the Cowboys, and says he is ready.
GRAFORD – Bryson and Avalon did battle last weekend in an area round series for the second straight year. The No.1 in Class A Eagles were able to hold the Cowboys in check again, knocking the squad from the playoffs with a pair of 11-1 mercy rule wins to end Bryson’s campaign.
The Cowboys (10-7) had just five hits combined in the series compared to 24 for Avalon. The Eagles sent a convincing message early in game one, scoring eight runs in the top of the first frame before Bryson came to bat.
After a school record-breaking number of overall wins in 2018, a number of Jacksboro softball players were named to the All-District 8-3A Team which was released earlier this week.
Named to the first team were freshman Hadlee Richardson and outfielder Trinity Tisdale, a three-year starter for the Tigerettes. The squad went 14-14 overall and for the second straight year, finished 6-8 in District 8-3A after a 5-2 first round of play.
Named to the second team was senior Hanah Drennan at a pitcher spot and freshman Alex Holman, also in the circle.
GRAFORD – Jacksboro’s baseball team was down to its final nine outs of the year and staring at a pretty big hill to climb during Saturday’s game 3 of the Tigers’ Class 3A area-round matchup with Clyde.
The Bulldogs had won game 2 of the best-of-three series earlier in the day at Abilene Christian’s Crutcher Scott Field 11-0 and were leading 6-1 after four frames of game 3 before Jacksboro began to turn the corner. When all was said and done less than an hour later, the Tigers were celebrating a 7-6 win in game 3 and an area round win.
Baylee Thompson is just trying to get all the puzzle pieces together right now.
The Jacksboro High sophomore qualified for this weekend’s State Track and Field Meet at the Mike Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus in both the discus and shot put, which both take place Friday. Thompson says at this stage she’s doing the same things but just fixing the things that need fixing.
“It’s just a question of putting all the pieces together right now,” Thompson said with a laugh. “Coach Hood said if I can do that, I’ll be just fine.”
