Sports

Voluntary summer workouts began Monday at Kooken Field and on the hill for incoming seventh through 12th grade student athletes. Top, coach Brandun Massingill leads Lady Bulldog athletes through drills. Above, Halston Haile blazes a trail through the speed ladder as Trint Jeschke waits his turn, and left, Madison Henkes smiles as she flexes doing curls in the weight room. Staff photos

All-state academic: Head Bulldog basketball coach Ryan Marwitz announced this week that Hamilton seniors, Shane Catoe, top, and Matt Zschiesche, below, were recently named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches academic all-state team. Staff Photos

Following 13 years of coaching and teaching on all three Hamilton ISD campuses, Howard Cox will be making the jump to administration next fall in Evant.

Senior Matt Zschiesche (#11) and junior Colby Bailey (#3) were recently named to the District 6-3A basketball second team. As a senior, Shane Catoe (#4) received honorable mention all-district honors along with junior Denver Poe (#12). Zschiesche, Catoe and Poe were joined by Cody Mitchell, Cade Kneuper, Caleb Lengefeld, Keegan Votaw and Mason Guinn in being named to the District 6-3A academic all-district team for maintaining a 90 or above grade-point average. Staff Photos

The Bulldog and Lady Bulldog tennis teams competed again last week in Waco and will return to the court in Waco following Spring break on Thursday, March 26. It will be the final warm-up prior to the district tournament to be hosted by Tarleton State University in Stephenville on March 30-31. Pictured, Taylor Collett serves the ball during the WRTC Tournament in Waco on Thursday of 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).

Due to rain in the area, the Dublin Lion Relays last Thursday were condensed to just include running events. Hamilton’s runners proved effective in taking left-hand turns, racing to second overall team finishes in both the varsity boys’ and junior varsity girls’ divisions. The Lady Bulldog varsity squad sprinted to a third-place finish, and the JV Dogs ended the day with the fourth most points out of nine competitive teams. In capping the exciting races in Dublin, the Bulldog quartet of Taylor Long, Caleb Lengefeld, Hudson Haile and Jakob Walton earned a gold medal for Hamilton in the final race of the day, the 4x400 meter relay. Walton (pictured) posted a blazing sub-50 quarter-mile time to bring home the gold. Hamilton’s track teams will return following their Spring break to host the annual Extraco Relays. The junior high Extraco Relays will be held on Monday, March 16, followed by the high school Extraco Relays on Thursday, March 19. Scoring points for Hamilton in Dublin were as follows.

The Hamilton Lady Bulldog softball team fell at home versus Goldthwaite 23-8 on Monday of last week in their final pre-district contest to move to 5-4-2 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs were set to play in Comanche on Monday before hosting district foe Comanche on Tuesday of this week. Hamilton’s third district opponent, the Eastland Lady Mavericks, will host the Lady Dogs next Tuesday, March 17, with game time scheduled for 5 p.m. Pictured, Robbey Beineman stares down a Goldthwaite batter after releasing a fast ball for a strike.