Sports

Photo by Chelsi Hall

ON THE BUMP: Senior Izaac Wood (20) closed out the final four outs from the mound on Tuesday of last week in Valley Mills. Despite falling to the state-ranked Eagles 149, the Bulldogs overcame a four-run deficit to carry an 8-7 advantage into the fifth inning. Valley Mills rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth frame, and Hamilton answered with just one score in the top of the sixth. Nathan Hall was two-for-two at the plate and knotted the score at seven apiece in the fourth with a two-run double. Hall ended the day with a team-leading three runs batted in. Bret Bauman was two-for-three with a double, and Grant Bauman blasted a pair of singles in three atbats. Another kindred duo batted in two runs for the Bulldogs. Laken Lasater recorded an RBI single, and Ridge Lasater drove in a run on a fly out to right field in the top of the second, scoring Hall. Wood reached base on balls a team-leading three times and scored twice. Starting pitcher Bret Bauman retired five batters by strikeout in the opening four frames, and Laken Lasater sat one in middle relief before Wood closed out the final four outs from the bump. The Bulldogs returned home to host Valley Mills last Friday and fell to the Eagles 10-1. Zeb Murphree batted in Hamilton’s only run, scoring Grant Bauman on a ground out to third in the bottom of the sixth inning. Grant Bauman was a smooth two-for-three with a double in the batter’s box, and Wood chopped a hard ground ball double to right field in the fourth and was one-for-three at the plate. Ridge Lasater lassoed a single in three at-bats, and Hall was a perfect one-for-one with a base hit. Grant Bauman commanded the mound for six innings, striking out one, and Ridge Lasater recorded a strikeout in one inning of relief. Entering the week at 6-8 on the year and 1-4 in district, the Bulldogs were scheduled to host Moody on Tuesday of this week before taking a road trip to Moody this Friday for a junior varsity game at 5 p.m., followed by a varsity game at 7. Next Tuesday, the Dogs will travel to Bosqueville with the first varsity pitch scheduled for 7 p.m., directly following a JV game at 5.

The Hamilton Bulldog baseball team split a home and away series with district foe Bruceville-Eddy last week, moving to 1-2 in district and 6-6 on the year. On Tuesday of last week in Bruceville-Eddy, the Dogs overcame a five runs to one deficit by planting three scores on the board in each of the fifth and sixth innings and capping the victory with an additional six prior to the seventh inning stretch. Bruceville- Eddy manufactured just one run in the bottom of the seventh as the Dogs held on for a 13-6 district win.

Senior powerlifters Nik Adams and Izaac Wood both brought home medals from the Texas High School Powerlifting Division 4 State Championships held at the Taylor County Expo Center in Abilene on Saturday. Adams entered the state meet ranked third out of the state’s top 13 contenders in the 308-pound weight class, and the strong Dog defended last year’s state bronze medalist performance by again placing third in state on Saturday. Adams began the day with a 740-pound squat, which was 10 pounds shy of his personal best. He made up for it by bettering his personal best on the bench press by 10 pounds with a successful lift of 450 pounds. Adams proceeded to match his personal record of 580 pounds in the deadlift competition, equaling his personal best combined total of 1770 pounds lifted in the three events. Wood qualified for state as the fifth-ranked competitor in the 181-pound weight class and ended the day in Abilene as the fourth-placed state medalist out of the division’s strongest 13 lifters in the state. The senior squatted 585 pounds, bettering his personal record in the event by 25 pounds. Wood matched his best on the bench with a press of 415 and secured the fourth-place finish with a deadlift of 450, which was just 10 pounds less than his personal best. Overall, Wood muscled up a total of 1450 pounds, improving his personal record by a combined 15 pounds. Pictured (l-r) on Saturday in Abilene, Head Coach Zach Wood, fourth-place state medalist Izaac Wood, back-to-back state bronze medalist Nik Adams and Coach Howard Cox. Photo by Tanya Guinn

Thinclads deposit gold at Extraco

HITTING THEIR MARKS

District meet Friday in Hico

LAID BACK: Dixon Kellner

Hamilton’s Lady Bulldogs have batted through the order of first-round district opponents and were slated to begin round two on the road in Valley Mills on Tuesday before coming home to host Moody this Friday at 6 p.m. Next Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs will welcome Jonesboro to Horton Park at 6 p.m.