Sports

CRAIG’S LIST - HHS golfers have been posting impressive numbers over the past couple of weeks. In their first golf tournament of the season held at Par Country Club in Comanche on Monday, Feb. 24, the Lady Bulldogs placed sixth out of nine teams, and the Bulldog golf squad finished fifth out of 13 in Comanche on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Karsyn Smyth led the Lady Dogs in Comanche with an 18-hole score of 111, followed by Trinity Craig with a 124. Seeing their first golf tournament action ever, Kenedy Craig chalked a score of 127, and Emiley Hale penciled a 131. For the Bulldogs in Comanche, Matt Zschiesche and Tyner Haile each posted a team-leading score of 84, trailed by Mason Guinn with a 99, Hudson Haile with a 102 and Darby Craig with a 107. Also participating in his first ever golf tournament, Cody Tawater splashed a score of 132. Last week, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Brownwood and placed sixth overall. Smyth broke 100 with a score of 94, followed by golfing newcomer Kenedy Craig with a tally of 128. Hale chalked a 132 for the Lady Dogs, and Trinity Craig shot a 137 for a team total of 491. The Lady Bulldogs finished ahead of district foe Comanche by four strokes. Two other district opponents competed in Brownwood. Eastland won the tournament with a team score of 406, and Cisco was just six strokes ahead of Hamilton in fifth with a team score of 485. The Bulldogs were again led by Zschiesche in Brownwood, who replicated his previous week’s 18-hole tally of 84. Tyner Haile trailed Zschiesche by just two strokes with an 86, followed by Guinn with a 103, Hudson Haile with a 108, John Ceresini with a 109 and Darby Craig with a 115. District competition finishing ahead of Hamilton’s team tally of 381 were the tournament champion Comanche Indians with a score of 316 and the tournament runners-up Eastland Mavericks with a team score of 330. Hamilton finished ahead of Dublin’s seventh place score of 423 and eighth place finisher Coleman with a team sum of 433 strokes. Head golfing coach O.J. Kemp said after the two tournaments, “I’m very proud of our golfers and their efforts thus far. We played a very challenging course in Brownwood last week, and we’ll see it again during the first round of district competition on March 23rd.” Kemp added, “As the great golfer Ben Hogan said, ‘The most important shot in golf is the next one.’” The next shot for Hamilton golfers will come on Monday, March 16 in Glen Rose when they play at the picturesque Squaw Valley Golf Course. It will be the final outing before the first round of the district tournament to be played in Brownwood. Pictured, Kenedy Craig, Trinity Craig and Darby Craig tee off for Hamilton at The Hideout in Brownwood last week.

Rains failed to put a damper on the Louis Lowe IV Invitational last week as the Bulldogs hosted their annual eight team baseball tournament. Though games were canceled last Thursday, games were squeezed in on Friday and Saturday, and the host Bulldogs chalked three straight victories to improve to 4-4 on the young season. Tyner Haile and Denver Poe combined for a no-hitter in a 14-0 route over San Saba. In Hamilton’s game two, Colby Bailey toed the mound and no-hit the visiting Hico Tigers, walking only two batters and striking out 12 of the 15 recorded outs through five innings of work. Freshman Chase Weaver went yard with a towering blast over right-center in the fourth to clinch the 9-0 victory over Hico in a game that was called due to time constraints after five. Behind another strong performance by Weaver on the mound, the Bulldogs toppled Rio Vista in a back-and-forth 7-6 struggle to conclude the tournament. The varsity Bulldogs are scheduled to play in Rio Vista at 4 pm this Friday, and will begin district competition in Eastland next Tuesday with the JV set to start at 4 pm followed by the varsity at 7. Pictured, Bailey unleashes a fast ball from the mound, and Weaver displays his homerun ball surrounded by his coaches, Hayden Lewis (left) and Brandon Pierce (right).