Sports

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

Hamilton FFA competed in multiple competitions this past week and brought home a few awards.

Banner Day