Sports

By Sandy Anderberg

In an unprecedented feat, the Lady Broncos hit two grand slam home runs in the game with Dimmit in the same inning. Allyson Hogan and Emily Johnson took their at-bat seriously and were responsible for adding eight runs to their team total in the Lady Broncos’ 25-12 romp.

Before the behemoth inning for the ladies, Clarendon led 12-8 in the contest. Briley Chadwick pitched a good game according to head coach Gary Jack and Sterling King did a good job of finishing it out.

“We were controlling the game and had a nice lead until the fifth inning when Allyson and Emily each hit a grand slam,” Jack said. “We all hit the ball well in the game.”

On Saturday, the Lady Broncos hosted Memphis in a district game and defeated them 4-0 to put them at 7-4 and 1-1 for the year.

“Memphis is a first year softball team, but they are very athletic and scrappy,” Jack said. “Allyson (Hogan) pitched for us and did a good job, and Sterling King and Shelby Baxter played good defense.”

All four of Clarendon’s runs came in the fourth quarter. Jack credited Karlee Adams, Brooke Martin, Brianna Butler, and Hogan for hitting the ball well in the game.

Adams, Butler, and Hogan each had doubles that inning and Martin made good on a single.

The Lady Broncos will play Booker at home on Friday, March 18, and play their annual Alumni game on Saturday with both games beginning at 1:00 p.m.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos rolled over Dimmit in five innings shutting them out 16-0 in the first round of the Fritch Tournament.

Bronco pitcher Caleb Cobb pitched the shutout against Dimmit, who could only muster two hits in the game. Cobb also struck out six hitters in his time on the mound.

The Bronco offense was on their game and easily handled everything Dimmit threw at them. In their big inning, the Broncos scored on a two-run error by their opponent. Payton Havens slammed a three run double, and Preston Elam and Nick Shadle each had an RBI triple. Caleb Cobb had an RBI single and Kade Hunsaker slammed an RBI double. In the game, they racked up eight hits by six hitters and had eight RBIs and 11 runs. After the Dimmit win, the Broncos went up against Dalhart and after jumping on them early, shut them out at 15-0. They scored six of those runs in the first three innings.

Chance Lockhart was on the mound and did a good job against the Wolves. He only allowed one hit, no earned runs, no walks, and struck out six hitters during his four innings. Offensively, the Broncos were strong early as Andy Davis was able to steal home in the first, and Bryce Hatley slammed an RBI double. Dalhart could not throw anything to stop the Broncos, and they turned eight hits and six RBIs.

On Tuesday, the Broncos defeated a good Quanah team 2-0. Head coach Brad Elam felt his pitching staff made the difference in the game.

“I thought our pitchers were fantastic,” Elam said. “Kade Hunsaker, Caleb Cobb, and Chance Lockhart combined on a one hitter over seven innings. They struck out 14 and only walked two, and I was very impressed with those three.”

But the Broncos’ offense attack lacked a little in the win.

“Offensively, I was disappointed,” Elam said. “We didn’t hit the ball very well managing only four hits. We got away from the game plan.”

Preston Elam scored the first run on an Andy Davis bunt, and Hunsaker scored the second run when he stole home.

The Broncos will travel to San Jacinto on Thursday, March 17, at 4:00 p.m. They will host River Road on March 22 also at 4:00 p.m.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Bronco baseball team is playing hard and making great advancements in their play, but coach Brad Elam feels they could do more.

“We need to have a better game plan coming up to the plate,” he said. The Broncos were not able to turn hits into runs in their 0-9 loss to River Road last Tuesday.

Nick Shadle was able to make good on his two at bats with big hits, but the Broncos could never bring anybody back to home plate. Defensively, the Broncos struggled despite the players pitching well.

“I thought Kade Hunsaker and Caleb Cobb pitched well,” Elam said. “We make a few plays behind them and it’s a 1-0 game. In the field we didn’t make enough plays and we struggled with our hitting.”

Elam thought River Road’s pitchers did a good job in the game.

“Give their pitchers credit, they are very good,” he said. “But we need to have a better game plan coming up to the plate.”

The Broncos were able to regroup after the loss and finish in second place in the Childress Tournament over the weekend. They went 3-1 over the weekend as they romped over Wellington 12-7 and defeated a good Borger team 4-2. They also earned a huge win over Quanah at 16-4, before losing to Borger 0-13.

“I was very pleased with our tournament performance,” Elam said. “We got to look at a lot of players and got to stretch our pitching out. The Borger victory was a big win. We fought them the whole game and were able to hold them off.”

Elam noted that Kade Hunsaker pitched his best game of the year for the win and Nathan Shadle saved the game finishing the last two innings. The Broncos were also better at the plate.

“Our hitting came alive as a team and we hit well,” he said. “We ran out of steam in the last game, but overall a very good tournament.”

Caleb Cobb, Hunsaker, and Bryce Hatley were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Broncos will participate in the Fritch Tournament Friday and Saturday, March 10-11. They will travel to San Jacinto on Thursday, March 17.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos were well under control of West Texas last Saturday at home in their first district game until the sixth inning when WT began to hit the ball and put runs on the board. The Lady Broncos took a 9-13 loss. Allyson Hogan was on the mound and Brianna Butler was behind the plate. According to head coach Gary Jack; the duo was doing a good job of holding WT from making any huge plays.

“We played well until the sixth,” Jack said. “We had a 7-2 lead up until that point. They started hitting the ball well and we made a couple of mistakes.”

Sterling King came into finish the game the end of the sixth and into the seventh for the Lady Broncos.

“We just could never get that third out,” Jack said. “They outhit us. And our defense played well behind the pitchers, but we let it slip away. We’ve got to get a little better.”

Jack noted that several Lady Broncos hit the ball well despite the loss. “Butler, Hogan, Hannah Hommel, and Jensen Hatley all hit the ball well,” Jack said. “We left the bases loaded three different times. We were close to busting it wide open.”

The Lady Broncos are 0-1 in district play, but will have the opportunity to improve on that next Saturday, March 10, when they take on Memphis at home beginning at 12:00 p.m. They will travel to McLean on Tuesday, March 14, and play at 4:00 p.m.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Bronco baseball team took advantage of big second and sixth innings to oust the Fritch Eagles at 9-1 last Saturday at home.

The scoring in the second period began when Preston Elam stole home plate. Nathan Shadle and Bryce Hatley earned walks to get on base, and Caleb Cobb knocked down a sacrifice fly.

Elam went 2-4 from the plate to lead the Broncos and he drove in one run and scored one run. He also RBI singled in the sixth inning. Nick Shadle also had an RBI single in the sixth.

The Broncos will play in the Childress Tournament March 3-5 and take on Quanah at home on Thursday, March 8. March 10-11 they will compete in the Fritch Tournament.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos began their 2016 season in a big way as they participated in a 14-team tournament held in Fritch and Stinnett last week.

The ladies took on Perryton in the first round and defeated them 6-5 in a close game.

“It was a close game, but we were able to hang on and win,” said head coach Gary Jack. The Lady Broncos then defeated a good Childress team 9-1 in the second round. “We really played well,” he said.

Since the ladies won the first two games, they did not play until Saturday morning when they took on Memphis.

“Memphis is new to softball,” Jack said. “But I told the girls they would be decent. We were able to survive that game and won, 8-7.”

The Lady Broncos went up against River Road, who eventually became the tournament champions, and were defeated 4-6.

“Our girls really came out and played and it was a close game,” Jack said. “Briana Butler hit a home run for us.”

After the loss to River Road, the Lady Broncos had to turn right around and take on Fritch for third place. Jack felt they did not play as well as they should have, but also felt a break would have benefited them.

“We sure needed a break before that last game,” he said. “We could have finished third, but it didn’t work out in our favor.”

Jack noted that the girls did a good job pitching and also did well behind the plate.

“We saw some good signs,” Jack said. “Our pitchers did a good job and our catchers did as well. We seemed to hit the ball pretty well against Perryton and Childress. We got a lot of playing time. That will help us get ready for our district game on Saturday against West Texas High.”

The Lady Broncos will play against West Texas High at home on Saturday, March 5, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos have advanced to the playoffs and will play Panhandle this Friday at 4 p.m. in Littlefield for the Area title.

The boys beat Gruver, 71-47, for the bi-district championship Tuesday night.

Last week, they finished second in district behind an undefeated Shamrock team.

The Broncos finished their regular season play with a big win over Wheeler at home last Tuesday night at 68-57.

The game was close throughout, but the Broncos were determined to get the win over the Mustangs. Clarendon held the edge in the opening quarter and increased their lead going into the break. But Wheeler came roaring back in the third quarter to outscore the Broncos hitting two three-pointers to gain the momentum. The Broncos did not waiver; however; and answered with two three’s from Junior Ceniceros and Colt Wood to retake the lead and get the win. Ceniceros led with 22 and Chance Lockhart had 17. Wood and Chesson Sims each had nine, Bryce Grahn had seven, Marshal Johnson put in three, and Keandre Cortez added a free throw.

Grahn grabbed eight rebounds and Wood and Sims each had four. Grahn also had five assists and Ceniceros had four. Lockhart was focused on defense with three steals and Wood and Grahn each nabbed two.

“We shot the ball well,” head coach Brandt Lockhart said. “We played good defense in the fourth quarter.”

The Broncos played a warm up game against Nazareth Friday night and defeated them 54-35. They are currently sitting on a 24-6 overall record.

According to Lockhart, the Broncos played fairly well, but had too many turnovers in the contest. They were only able to hold a four-point lead at the break, but came back out and handled the Swifts easily to get the win.

“We came out and played really well on defense in the second half,” Lockhart said. “We held Nazareth to 13 points in the second half. We have to cut down on our turnovers.”

Ceniceros led the team with 18 and Lockhart added nine. Grahn and Wood each had eight, K. Cortez five, Johnson four, and Sims two.

 

The Clarendon Bronco baseball season is well under way and the guys were able to start off with a shut out over Dumas JV at 9-0.

Coach Brad Elam spoke highly of the Bronco pitching staff in the win.

“I was very pleased with our performance on Saturday,” Elam said. “I thought our defense played well and our pitching was outstanding.”

Elam used several pitchers in the win and thought Nathan Shadle, Kade Hunsaker, Caleb Cobb, Bryce Hatley, and Andy Davis combined to pitch nine shutout innings.

“They only gave up six hits and four walks, while striking out nine,” Elam said. “Our defense, led by Josh Cobb, continued to make play after play.”

Elam felt their hitting was off somewhat, but they were able to push through.

“Our hitting struggled at times, but were able to push across nine runs,” he said. “Josh Cobb and Hunsaker each had two hits as everyone reached base at least once.”

The Broncos have a full schedule and will host Fritch next Saturday, February 27, at 1:00 p.m. They will travel to River Road March 1 and participate in the Childress Tournament March 3-5.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos posted two big wins last week and will be participating in post-season play beginning next week.

Last Tuesday, the Broncos used a great defensive game to defeat the Wellington Rockets, 44-24. The Broncos really dominated on both ends of the court and stopped everything the Rockets tried. They were able to limit the Rockets’ scoring as their high scorer only posted five points.

After a fairly even first quarter, the Broncos came alive offensively in the next eight minutes to take a slight advantage into the break. They were able to explode after the break and put enough distance between them and the Rockets to secure their win. Senior Junior Ceniceros hit two three-pointers in the game, and Chance Lockhart and Keandre Cortez each hit one.

The Broncos shot 57 percent from the bonus line with Chance Lockhart going two for two and Bryce Grahn nailing three out of four. Ceniceros racked up 11 points in the win, and Lockhart and Cortez each posted nine.

Bryce Grahn put in seven points and grabbed 12 rebounds; five assists and had two steals. Colt Wood put in four, and Marshal Johnson and Chesson Sims each helped with two points. Johnson also had five rebounds in the game with three of them coming on the defensive boards.

Out of Grahn’s 12 rebounds, nine of them came from defensive grabs, which allowed the Broncos to control Wellington keeping them away from the ball.

“We played good defense and were able to hold them to 24 points,” coach Brandt Lockhart said. “We shot the ball well in the second half. It was a big win for us and I was very proud of the way the kids came out and played.”

On Friday, the Broncos traveled to Quanah and had little opposition in their 69-25 win.

The Broncos hit the floor running and racked up a 23-point lead at the break. The Indians were really helpless to stop anything the Broncos threw at them.

Several Broncos were on their game in the contest, and Wood led the pack with 20 points. He also posted eight assists; four steals, and hit four out of six three-pointers. The Broncos were deadly from the three-point line as well as Wood hit four and Lockhart and Cortez each hit one.

Ceniceros finished with 17 points and four assists, and Lockhart and Cortez helped with nine points each. Grahn had seven points with five rebounds and three steals. Sims had four points and five rebounds, and Johnson put in three points in the win. The 21-7 Broncos were able to shoot 64 percent from the bonus line against the Indians.

“This makes back to back games that we have held our opponent to 25 points or less,” Lockhart said. “We shot 6 for 13 from behind the arch.”

The Broncos will have finished regular season play by press time and are looking to post season play.

 

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos ended regular season play in Wellington last Tuesday night with a loss to Wellington at 9-61. The ladies struggled against the Lady Rockets and could never establish their offensive attack on them. Wellington jumped out to the early lead and the Lady Broncos could never recover. Hannah Hommel was the top scorer with four.

“The girl’s season came to an end at Wellington,” coach Kalen Grahn said. “We ran into a top 15 team in state, and they showed that their ranking is well deserved.”

The Lady Broncos have faced adversity throughout the season and the loss of a few key players was crucial.

“We lost several players down the stretch with injuries which allowed other girls to gain some more valuable playing time,” Grahn said.

However, the Lady Broncos will have the chance to regroup this summer as they look to the next basketball season.

“I am looking forward to a strong off season and summer to develop our team,” Grahn said. “We will be returning everyone from this year and will be gaining some incoming freshmen. The girls know and are prepared to keep working to turn this program back into the winning tradition that Clarendon is used to.”