Sports

The Clarendon Broncos took on Canute, Oklahoma over spring break and came up short in a 6-16 loss on the road.

The Broncos mustered out-hit their opponent, but four errors hindered them defensively. Canute was able to turn seven hits into 16 runs to end the game in four. The Broncos worked through four pitchers trying to find the right combination to stay alive. Harrison Howard threw the first inning allowing zero hits and only one run. He turned in one strike-out and two walks before Wilson Ward, Easton Frausto, and Levi Gates took a turn on the mound in relief.

Offensively, Frausto nailed a homerun in the fourth and Jared Musick and Lyric Smith connected on two doubles each their turn at bat and the team posted six RBIs.

The Broncos are currently 7-3-1 for the year.

They will play Kress at home on March 24 at 4:00 p.m. and host Wellington March 28 in a big district game also beginning at 4 p.m.

The Lady Broncos were ready for their district play to begin after a solid pre-district season. They slammed Sunray March 7 11-1 before a hometown crowd. Sophomore Kennedie Cummins went the distance pitching all five innings and posting the lone homerun for the Lady Broncos in the first inning. Cummins only allowed three hits, had zero walks, and struck out seven hitters.

The ladies were consistent at the plate, but a big six-run fourth inning sealed the win. Hadyen Elam, Cummins, and Tandy Blacksher each nabbed an RBI to put points on the board. Elam had three RBIs, K. Cummins, Blacksher, and Tandie Cummins had two each.

The Lady Broncos were error free in the game and T. Cummins, K. Cummins, Elam, and Baylee Gabel grabbed several stolen bases.

The Lady Broncos took part in the Randall Tournament held March 9-10. They went up against Canyon, Tulia, River Road, and Randall JV.

The ladies defeated Canyon 7-1 on Thursday. A huge opening inning gave the Lady Broncos the edge they needed for the remainder of the game.

K. Cummins was on the mound for six innings and only allowed two hits and gave up only one run. Fifty-six of her 70 pitches were strikes as she dismissed 11 hitters from the plate.

Offensively, the Lady Broncos found their mojo at the plate and gathered nine hits as a team with Gabel leading the way with three hits. Gabel also stormed the bases and finished the game with three steals. Frausto and Elam had two each, and Wilkins and Mya Edwards had one each.

The Lady Broncos also played Tulia and held on for a six inning win at 7-5. This time it was T. Cummins on the mound for the duration with seven strikeouts. The ladies had a scoring frenzy in the fourth putting six points on the board. RBIs by Elam, Gabel, and T. Cummins gave Clarendon the power they needed to finish the big inning with six runs to Tulia’s five.

Wilkins led the way at the plate hitting two for three. Base running made a big difference as five runners posted stolen bases in the game.

The last matchup with River Road finished up the tournament for the Lady Broncos. The ladies topped off a great tournament with a 15-0 shut out over the Lady Cats in only three innings. T. Cummins took the helm and only allowed one hit, no walks, and three six strikeouts.

Everything went the Lady Broncos’ way as they were able to score runs at will. They posted four hits, six RBIs, and seven walks. Elam led the way with three at bats, two runs, one hit, and one RBI.

The Lady Broncos will travel to Gruver March 17 for another district game beginning at 1:00 p.m. and be on the road at Amarillo High on Saturday, March 18, also beginning at 1:00 p.m.

The Clarendon Broncos took their A game to Amarillo March 7 and defeated the Caprock Longhorn JV 15-1. The Broncos only posted eight hits in the game, but they were able to capitalize on big hits.

Levi Gates earned the win pitching two innings and allowed only one hit and no runs. Gates was able to strike out two hitters before Tyler Harper and Lyric Smith came in as relief.

Early in the game, Easton Frausto knocked a runner in with a single and the team was able to mark three runs in the first inning. They added runs in the second, third and fifth innings, while only allowing Caprock one run in the third.

Several players swung for the fence with Smith leading the way with two doubles and Jared Musick with one.

The Broncos were on their game around the bases as well and stole nine bases all together. Smith led the way with four.

Defensively, the Broncos were sharp and played solid in the field committing zero errors in the win.

On March 9, the Broncos traveled to Oklahoma to participate in the Hollis Tournament. They met up with Sayre in the first round and breezed to a 15-1 win in three innings.

With hot bats, they were able to post 12 hits in the game, tacked on 12 RBIs, and added four stolen bases.

Musick was on the mound for two innings and recorded only one hit, no errors, and two strike outs. Mason Sims came in and had two strike outs in his 14 pitches.

Several players had multiple hits and Ward, Howard, Sims, and Frausto nabbed stolen bases.

Next up for the Broncos was Shattuck and struggled at the plate in their 0-11 loss posting four errors in the game. Ward was able to slam a triple in the fourth inning but could not cross home plate for a run.

Ward was on the mound for four innings and gave up six hits and five runs. Gates pitched the final inning and gave up six runs on three hits.

The Broncos took on Granite in the final game and fell behind in the third inning after both teams went scoreless in the first. The Broncos scored another run in the fifth and one in the seventh but could not catch up. They ended the game at 3-6.

Howard and Frausto split the duties on the mound as Frausto came in after the third innings. Howard allowed three hits, four runs, and four errors, while Frausto allowed four hits, two runs with two errors.

The Broncos outhit Granite in the seven innings at bat but fell short bringing runners home with only one RBI by Caudle.

The Broncos left nine runners on base in the game.

The Broncos will host Claude on March 17 beginning at 1:00 p.m. On March 21, the Broncos will travel to Canute, Okla., before returning to take on Kress at home on March 24.

The Lady Bronco junior varsity team went 5-0 in the Pampa Tournament to claim the championship according to head coach Brad Elam. The ladies defeated Booker JV, Borger JV, Canadian JV, and Palo Duro JV. Their fifth win was a forfeit from Amarillo High JV.

The varsity team took second place in the tournament by tying Caprock JV, defeating Borger JV, Amarillo High JV, Claude and Bushland JV.

The ladies blasted Claude by the score of 14-1. No other stats for the games were available at press time.

On February 25, the Lady Bronco varsity team played Lubbock Christian in the Tulia Tournament and earned a big win at 7-3. The ladies had eight hits on the day, had three strike outs, and only committed one error. Tandie Cummins was on the mound and got the win.

Hayden Elam and Kennadie Cummins went to the plate three times with each of the players recording two runs. Baylee Gabel, T. Cummins, and Gracie Wilkins were responsible for the other three runs for the Lady Broncos. K. Cummins, Gabel, T. Cummins, Aleyah Weatherton, and Chelsea Wright. Wilkins was responsible for two RBI’s.

The Lady Broncos posted triples by Elam, T. Cummins, and Wilkins and Elam had four stolen bases and K. Cummins had two.

They also defeated New Deal 10-0 and Booker 12-1 but lost to Lubbock Cooper JV 6-10.

The Lady Broncos will be participating in the Randall High School Tournament March 9-10. They will play Amarillo High JV, Tulia, Randall JV, and Bushland.

The Clarendon College men’s rodeo team got off to a good start for the second semester by picking up right where they left off, winning the Odessa College rodeo this past weekend.

Five of the ten saddle bronc riders in the championship round were from Clarendon College.
Will Pollock won the event average by scoring 83 points to win the final round and placing 3rd in the first round with a 79 point ride. Dylan Hancock was 2nd overall with his 79.5 and 81 point rides.

Weston Patterson was the All-Around Champion by winning 6th place in the saddle bronc riding average and 4th place in the bareback riding.

Cauy Masters and Slade Keith finished 7th and 8th with their rides. Clarendon College alum and Sul Ross University cowboy Cole Franks won both rounds and the average to claim the championship in the bareback riding. The Bulldogs will have a month off before the season picks back up at the Ranger College rodeo in Sweetwater March 23-25.

Local teams will head to the playoffs this week with Clarendon and Hedley high schools both seeking to keep their seasons alive.

The Clarendon Broncos will face the Fritch Eagles in the Bi-District Championship game Monday night at 6 p.m. in Pampa. Tickets are online here: https://gofan.co/app/school/TX12112

And the Hedley Owls will face Follett in Wheeler on Tuesday night for a Bi-District title at 6 p.m. and those tickets are available here: https://bit.ly/3lQjo6f

With all the District basketball games behind them, the Clarendon Broncos are preparing for the playoffs once again. At press time the Broncos are currently tied for the District Championship with Wellington at 8-1.

The Broncos traveled to Wellington last week and suffered their first loss in 27 district games and broke their 30 plus winning streak. The Broncos struggled to put points on the board in their 43-57 loss.

The game was back and forth for the first two quarters, but the Skyrockets gained the positive momentum after the break and led the Broncos by 13 points after three. Wellington was able to stay solid in the remainder of the game to get the upset.

Senior Jmaury Davis put in 18 points going four for four from the bonus line. As a team, the Broncos made eight of eleven free throws compared to 10 out of 12 for Wellington. Anthony Ceniceros hit two three-pointers and finished with eight, and Lyric Smith added seven. Kaleb Bolin had six, and Tyler Harper helped with four.

The Broncos then took on Wheeler and earned the 54-43 win. The Broncos struggled in the first half of play, but never stopped fighting and came back to defeat the Mustangs in an exciting fourth quarter. Davis and Smith had 23 combined points in the final period, and Harrison Howard hit two huge three-pointers to steal the momentum away from Wheeler.

Davis finished with 23 and Smith added 22. Howard had six, Harper put in two, and Levi Gates added one.