Sports

The Wills Point Lady Tigers fell victim to a dominant pitching performance in their final game of the season, getting one-hit by two Brownsboro pitchers in an 11-0 road loss April 21.

Play between the two teams was originally scheduled for April 18 but inclement weather forced multiple delays, eventually leading to the Friday night matchup between the Lady Tigers and Bearettes.

Wills Point opened play on a positive note with leadoff hitter Jeslyn Martinez reaching scoring position with a double to right field. Martinez was stranded at second base after a fly out, strikeout and line out to end the inning.

The Lady Tigers looked to be well on their way to getting out of the first inning in a tie, but a two-out fielding error on a groundball helped the Bearettes score three runs for a 3-0 lead.

Jacob Rowland, a member of the Wills Point High School Class of 2015, signed autographs for the next generation of student-athletes at the annual Texas State University Maroon and Gold Spring Game April 15. Rowland, a redshirt sophomore this season, was named a Class 4A All-State Honorable Mention performer by the Associated Press Sports Editors his senior season at Wills Point, played in 10 games along the offensive line for the Bobcats in the 2016 season. A construction science and management major, Rowland was named to the Sun Belt Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2015-'16 school year. 

The Wills Point Lady Tigers were in action twice over the past week, taking on both Mabank and Van in District 13-4A action.

Wills Point, coming off a win over Canton, put together another impressive showing against Mabank April 12, ripping off four multi-run innings in a 16-4 demolition of the Lady Panthers.

Play against the Lady Panthers was originally scheduled to take place a night earlier, but inclement weather resulted in the game being pushed back 24 hours.

Wills Point scored first against Mabank, but trailed 4-1 to the Lady Panthers after two innings of play. The turning point for the Lady Tigers occurred in the top of the third as Wills Point's offense caught fire, plating two in the inning, seven more runs in the fourth, and three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to pull away for the easy win.

Track and field teams from Canton, Van and Wills Point all faced their biggest tests of the season April 12-13, traveling to Rains High School to compete in this year’s District 13-4A Meet. Outside of the three county schools in the field, other competitors included athletes from Brownsboro, Emory Rains and Mabank.

Canton performed exceptionally well at the meet, pacing the field by winning first place overall in both the varsity boys and varsity girls division. Canton’s varsity boys athletes totaled 124 points for the two-day event, topping Emory Rains with 112, Mabank with 72, Wills Point with 64, Brownsboro with 47 and Van with 29.

Individual varsity boys results included:

-100: Cooper Bledsoe, Van, second; Brandon Smith, WP, third; Dalton Williams, Canton, fifth; Kyle Rose-Peterson, Canton, eighth

-200: Dylan Cox, Canton, first; Bray Doring, Van, sixth; Jacob Moore, WP, seventh; Brandon Smith, WP, eighth

-400: Bryce Wilkens, Canton, first

Virtually every track team from Van Zandt County, including Fruitvale, Grand Saline, Martins Mill and Wills Point sent teams to Grand Saline April 6 for the annual Salt Capital Relays.

Wills Point would place second overall in the varsity boys division of the meet with 150 total points, behind Commerce with 168 and ahead of Alba, Grand Saline, Oakwood, Martins Mill, Fruitvale and Miller Grove. 

Top individual finishers in the varsity boys division included:

-100: Chris Wilson, GS, fifth; Ethan Clark, GS, sixth

-200: Shushan Bradley, WP, fourth; Trevor Harrell, WP, fifth; Jordan Smith, GS, sixth

-300: Brandon Smith, WP, first; Montana Martin, GS, second; Jaxson Taylor, GS, fourth

-400: Aidan Phillips, WP, first; Christopher Delacruz, WP, second; Will Green, WP, sixth

-800: Eric Grant, GS, first; Cade Davis, WP, second; Aidan Phillips, WP, third; Adam Shorter, WP, sixth

The Wills Point Tiger tennis team marked off two more items from their list of season goals last week, capturing the District 13-4A championships in both the varsity boys and girls divisions while also qualifying 10 players for the Regional Tournament.

Regional qualifiers for Wills Point include Cassidy Wilcoxson in girls singles, Jack Johns in boys singles, Chase Daniell and Kelsey James in mixed doubles, Maddie Booth and Claire Hiler in girls doubles, Hope Turner and Maddie Baker in girls doubles, and Mikey McCormack and Kash Adams in boys doubles.

Impressively, Joshua Schreffler, and the mixed doubles team of Justin McGough and Hannah Gern finished third in their respective brackets to serve as alternates at the Regional Tournament.

Individual match results included:

Canton and Wills Point squared off once before during the 2017 season, going down to the wire in a 5-4 Eaglette victory back on March 15.

The Lady Tigers exacted a measure of revenge on Canton on Friday night, equalizing the season series behind a stellar pitching performance and timely hitting in a 5-2 win over the Eaglettes.

Canton jumped in front 1-0 in the bottom of the first after a Lady Tiger fielding error allowed Eaglette leadoff hitter Kylie Floyd come home.

The Eaglettes doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the top of the third as Brooke Arnold tripled deep to left, coming home to score on a passed ball just four pitches later.

Wills Point would bounce back quickly, taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth with a Kamree Clark RBI single to right, and Olivia McMath sacrifice that was misplayed in the field and an Alexis Mosley groundball that was also mishandled.

The Wills Point Tigers put a bow on the first round of district play on Friday night, making their way to Canton for a meeting with the district-leading Eagles.

Aided by a strong pitching performance from Johnnie Krawietz, Canton kept Wills Point bats in check for a 4-1 win over the Tigers.

Detailed game information of the Canton-Wills Point game were not immediately available as of press time.

With the first round of District 13-4A play officially in the books, Canton is in first place overall with a perfect 5-0 record. The Eagles are followed by Mabank and Brownsboro, tied for second at 3-2 overall, Wills Point and Rains, tied at 2-3, and Van at 0-5.

The Wills Point Tigers continued District 13-4A play last week, tangling with Brownsboro and Rains for the first time this season. The Tigers earned a split in those two contests, keeping their overall district record at 2-2 overall through four games.

Wills Point persevered to outduel Brownsboro 6-5 in a game highlighted by major shifts in momentum March 31.

The Tigers held the advantage early, countering a first inning run by the Bears with three in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the third for a 5-1 lead.

Not to be outdone, Brownsboro came roaring back late with three runs in the top of the fifth and a game-tying run in the top of the seventh to force Wills Point into extra innings.

Relief pitcher Mason Cox got three quick outs against the Bears in the top of the eight, setting up a walk-off situation for the Tiger offense.

The Wills Point Lady Tigers officially reached the halfway point of District 13-4A play on this week, turning their season to its home stretch after games against Brownsboro March 31 and Emory Rains April 4. 

Wills Point began their week at home on a down note, dropping a 10-1 decision in a battle of teams looking to reach this year's UIL State Softball Playoffs.

Brownsboro plated a run in the first and three more in the top of the second to take a 4-0 lead on the Lady Tigers.

After a scoreless third by both teams, the Bearettes methodically added to their lead with another run in the fourth, one in the sixth and four more in the seventh for a 10-0 lead.

Wills Point got its lone run of the game in the bottom of the seventh, as Kamree Clark opened the frame with one of her two doubles on the night, advanced via a groundout and came home to score on an Alexis Mosley sacrifice fly to center.