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.

Five basketball teams represented Hamilton in games played last Tuesday through Saturday during the Zephyr youth league basketball tournament. Hamilton’s young hardcourt ballers walked away with championship hardware in every division. Following up a title win in the Goldthwaite tournament, Hamilton’s third and fourth grade Lady Bulldogs defeated Comanche in the title game in Zephyr to claim their second consecutive tournament championship. The third and fourth grade Bulldog basketball team knocked off Zephyr in a hotly contested 12-11 championship ballgame on Saturday, and the fifth and sixth grade Bulldogs defeated Early to claim team gold. After falling to May earlier in the day, Hamilton’s fifth grade Lady Bulldogs rebounded on Saturday to defeat a select team from Brownwood to earn a third-place finish in the fifth and sixth grade girls’ division. Hamilton’s sixth grade Lady Bulldogs exacted retribution by downing May in the final for Hamilton’s fourth title victory of the tournament.

The Hamilton High School and Hamilton Junior High track teams stampeded and trampled over their competition in the Rattler Relays as the starting gun fired last week in Tolar, marking the start of a new track season.

ALL DISTRICT- The bi-district qualifying Lady Bulldog basketball team snagged nine all-district nods. Pictured battling Jim Ned in a first-round playoff game, freshman Averi Poe, District 6-3A Newcomer of the Year, junior Morgan Mehaffey, first team, junior Emiley Hale, second team, junior Karsyn Smyth, honorable mention, sophomore Skylar Carr, honorable mention, and junior Sydney Thedford, honorable mention. They were joined by Macie Parrish, Cortland Mehaffey and Alissta Thedford in receiving academic all-district.

For the third consecutive year, junior Lorraine Herd (pictured) has qualified for the regional powerlifting meet and will represent the Lady Bulldogs at the Region II, Division III meet this Saturday in Academy. Herd will enter the competition as the fourth-ranked athlete in the region, qualifying with a 340 lbs. squat, 200 lbs. bench press and 315 lbs. dead lift for a total of 855 lbs. lifted in the three qualifying events. For the Bulldogs, Jose Najera also qualified for regionals in the 242 lbs. weight class and will compete at the boys’ regional meet to be held in West on Saturday, March 14. Najera qualified by lifting a total of 1220 lbs., including 500 lbs. in the squat, 290 lbs. in the bench press and 430 lbs. in the dead lift. Two weeks ago in Hamilton, Herd placed fourth overall in her division competing against larger school competition, including lifters from 22 different school districts. As the only other Lady Bulldog participating in the local event, Chasiti Ranaghan placed ninth overall in her weight class. Aiden Baker placed second for the Bulldogs in the 114 lbs. weight division, and Jason Rainbolt claimed a silver medal in the 123 lbs. weight class. All competing at 148 lbs., Davin Crouch and Alex Thiele earned seventh and eighth place finishes respectfully, and Ben Bruce placed 12th. In the 165 lbs. weight class, CJ DeLeon placed 15th followed by Jacob Young in 16th position. Ron Ramirez placed ninth in the 220 lbs. division, and regional qualifier Najera earned a bronze medal in the 242 lbs. weight class. Photo by HHS Yearbook Staff

Tyner Haile elevates to snag the ball at first base for an out in Hamilton’s home opener versus Millsap.

BIRDIE PUTT- Sophomore Tyner Haile, pictured, putting for birdie in San Saba, and freshman Darby Craig represented Hamilton High School last Monday in the San Saba Invitational to tee off the 2020 golf season. Haile shot an 18-hole round of 96 to tie for second, and Craig placed eighth out of 18 medalists, recording a score of 108. The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to tee off in Comanche Monday at Par Country Club, and the Bulldogs were set to play in Comanche Tuesday. Coached by O.J. Kemp, the Lady Dogs will compete again March 2 and the Bulldogs March 3, in Brownwood.

HIGH HEAT- After getting off to a perfect 2-0 start with home victories over San Saba and Meridian, the Lady Bulldog softball team trekked to Rio Vista for tournament competition on Thursday and Saturday of last week. The Diamond Dogs fell to the host Rio Vista Lady Eagles in the opener, and rallied to defeat Dawson 7-2 in game two. In returning to the field for their first softball action of the year after leading the Lady Bulldog basketball team to a bi-district qualifying season, junior Morgan Mehaffey smashed a four-run grand slam and sophomore Skylar Carr went yard for a solo homerun in propelling the Lady Dogs over Dawson. On Saturday, Hamilton tied Waxahachie 5-5 in Rio Vista before falling to the eventual tournament champion Keene Lady Chargers in a competitive 3-1 contest. The Lady Bulldogs were scheduled to play in Cross Plains on Tuesday of this week and will compete in another tournament this Thursday through Saturday in Llano. Hamilton will return home to host Goldthwaite at 5:30 pm next Tuesday. Pictured, Robbey Beinemen delivers a high fastball from the mound as Isabel Flores covers the third base line in a recent 21-6 home win over Meridian. Staff photo

SAFE- Denver Poe slides safely back to first after an attempted pick off by Millsap’s lefty on the mound. Poe eventually rounded the bases and crossed home plate for Hamilton’s only run scored versus Millsap in the Bulldog’s home opener on Monday. After digging a 3-0 deficit in the first, freshman Chase Weaver took command of the mound in the middle innings for the Bulldogs and stifled Millsap’s offense. Weaver was relieved from pitching duties in the top of the sixth, and Millsap’s bats warmed up again as the visiting Bulldogs posted three additional runs. Caleb Lengefeld hit a hard grounder to the shortstop and reached base by error to advance Poe from third as Hamilton answered with one run scored in the bottom of the sixth. Following a scoreless seventh and final inning, the Dogs fell to Millsap in their season opener, 6-1. Hamilton’s junior varsity dropped a competitive 6-3 contest to Millsap following the varsity ballgame. The Bulldogs were scheduled to compete in the Rio Vista Tournament on Thursday through Saturday and will travel to Glen Rose next Tuesday. The JV is scheduled to play at 4 pm in Glen Rose, trailed by the varsity at 6. Staff photo