Sports

AIR DIXON

Seniors Morgan Henkes (left) and Ryder Coker (right), pictured executing masterful backhand returns, will pursue regional tournament bids this coming Monday through Wednesday as Hamilton’s tennis program competes in the District 11-2A Tennis Championships at Weatherford High School. Match-play is set to begin each day at 8:30 a.m. During their final pre-district tuneup on Wednesday of last week in Waco, the pair of Bulldog seniors met in a competitive varsity singles’ match for third place, and Coker prevailed 8-6. Harper Lengefeld, who placed third at the regional tournament two years ago as a freshman in varsity girls’ singles and was sidelined last season due to injury, also had a successful final pre-district outing at the Waco Tennis Center. Fresh off a tournament victory the week before, Lengefeld cruised past her first two opponents and earned an opportunity to face rival Mackenzie Lee of Frost in the final. The friendly foes have split matches throughout their careers, and last week’s championship did not disappoint. After falling behind 7-1, Lengefeld bounced back and forced extra sets before finally ceding the match 9-8 (7) to Lee. In mixed doubles, the dynamic duo of Tyler Bloomcamp and Cate Hooper overcame a first-round loss to a pairing from Frost to skunk their second-round opponent, and the varsity boys’ doubles team of Thomas Gruetzner and Elijah Looke rebounded from a first-round loss to a pairing from Blooming Grove to defeat a team from Bremond, 6-1. Continuing their winning ways in junior varsity girls’ doubles, cousins Berlin Bolton and Tayte Haile won four straight matches to earn another tournament championship, and the pairing of Hadley Sills and Maisyn Norton came back from a first-round loss to defeat their final opponent of the day from Bruceville-Eddy, 6-0. Photos by Grant Lengefeld

A week after spring break the Hamilton Bulldog baseball team returned to the victory column with a 3-1 week to kick off their playoff push.

FIREWORKS- Hamilton’s bats were sizzling on Friday as the Lady Bulldogs and Bruceville-Eddy Lady Eagles combined for a fireworks show at Horton Park. Though the Diamond Dogs overcame an early 5-1 deficit with six runs scored in the bottom of the third, Bruceville-Eddy scored nine in the following three innings and held off a threerun rally by Hamilton in the bottom of the seventh and final frame for a 14-13 victory. Hamilton scattered eight hits, including a pair of doubles apiece by Aria Fry (pictured) and Aleena Ramirez. Fry drove in a team-leading three runs. Reese Kelley also stroked a double, and Emery Parrott and Lila Lozano each recorded RBI singles. Landry Gardner, who registered Hamilton’s only hit the previous Tuesday in a 15-0 road-loss to state-ranked Crawford, also tagged a base knock on Friday. Bethany Thompson faced 32 batters and commanded the mound for 5.1 innings, chalking two strikeouts and allowing just one walk and 10 hits. Though the Lady Eagles scored seven runs during those innings, only one was earned. Gardner retired three batters by strikeout in an inning of work, and Kelley closed out the final two outs from the circle. In all, Bruceville-Eddy rallied for as many hits as the number of runs they posted on the scoreboard. The Lady Bulldogs fell to 7-15 on the season and 0-6 in district with the loss and were slated to begin round two of district competition on Tuesday of this week at home versus Valley Mills followed by a 5 p.m. first pitch in Moody on Friday. Hamilton fell to Valley Mills, 8-1, in the district opener and dropped their first-round contest versus Moody, 14-3.

Bulldog Baseball falls to 4-7-1 as they suffer a 11-6 defeat to the Llano Jackets. Hamilton found themselves in a 3-0 hole after three innings before Llano stung the Dogs with five runs at the top of the fourth inning from an inside the park homerun hit off Lawson Yates. Two more runs were batted in before the end of the fourth. Hamilton gained some ground on the scoreboard when Brazos McGregor hit a double, bringing in a run from Bret Bauman. Two batters later, Yates grounded a hit that made the Llano shortstop choose getting a second out that allowed Carson Roberts and McGregor to score. Hamilton scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth from a double by Grant Bauman and a triple from Mc-Gregor. The Jackets scored in Photo by Grant Lengefeld

While school was out for spring break, Lady Dog softball was playing. Last Monday’s affair in Rio Vista marked a low scoring battle where the Lady Eagles defeated Hamilton 2-0 despite recording just one hit to Hamilton’s five. Though Landry Gardner, Aria Fry, Emery Parrott, Aleena Ramirez and Halle Wood each singled, the Lady Dogs were unable to capitalize in scoring positions.

REGIONAL REPS- Five Lady Bulldog powerlifters qualified for and competed on Saturday in the Region 2 Powerlifting Championships held in Dublin. Hamilton’s “fab five” joined 128 individual competitors representing 35 Class 1A and 2A programs, and placed 15th overall as a team. With the top two finishers in each weight division earning a trip to state, senior Emily Najera narrowly missed a trip after earning an individual bronze medal and three points for the Lady Bulldogs. Najera powered up a total of 750 pounds in three events, including a squat press of 290, a 150-pound bench press and an additional 310 pounds in the deadlift competition. Classmate Amalia Knutson earned two points for the Lady Bulldogs with a fourth-place individual finish in her division. The strong senior squatted 315 pounds, benched 175 and deadlifted 290 for a total of 780 pounds. Regional qualifying veteran Jessi Harris, a junior, placed sixth in her division after hoisting a combined total of 800 pounds. Senior Alianne Downs placed eighth out of the top 12 regional competitors in her weight class, lifting a combined total of 665 pounds, and junior Jayden Foster fostered a 10th-place individual finish out of the top 12 in her class by tallying 565 pounds lifted in three events. Pictured standing, l-r, on Saturday at the regional powerlifting meet in Dublin, Coach Howard Cox, Harris, Downs, Knutson, Najera, Milagros Moncada, Leah Newton and Foster. Kneeling on the front row, Kara Baker and Alexa Van ce. Courtesy photo

BULLDOG Sports