Sports

The Weimar Ladycats got their postseason run started the right way with a complete effort against the Falls City Lady Beavers. Weimar finished their playoff opener with relative ease as they won two straight games by double-digit margins and forcing mercy-rule finishes in both games. The offense and defense combined for a dominant performance that saw the Ladycats move on to the next round to compete against the La Villa Lady Cards for another threegame series. Game one will be played in Beeville on Thursday, May 4 at 6:30 pm with Game two to be played on Friday at Kenedy High School at 5 pm. If necessary, Game three will be played directly following Game two.

WEIMAR - The Weimar Wildcats’ varsity baseball team got the end to the season they were hoping for as they approach postseason play and vie for a deep UIL state playoff run. They were able to find a quality mix of good hitting as well as strong defense to keep a definitive advantage over the Bloomington Bobcats, a team Weimar has had success against this season. They continued their successful run against Bloomington by adding another big, double-digit win over their district opponents. On a night when the Wildcats celebrated their seniors and parents, they also celebrated a season finale victory as Weimar claimed a 10-0 win over Bloomington.

KINGSVILLE - The Weimar Wildcats had several athletes qualify for and compete in the regional track meet with a chance at making it to state. Many Wildcat athletes had top performances at the area meet, taking top four placements to qualify for Regionals hoping to repeat their success against heightened competition. Despite not sending any competitors in to the state meet, the Wildcats had several quality performances as they had several athletes reach the finals for their respective events after strong outings in the prelims.

COLUMBUS – The Columbus Lady Cardinals have gotten an ideal start to their postseason run after completing a blowout victory against their first-round opponents. Columbus had no issues staying effective offensively as they reached double-digit runs to start their postseason run. The Marion Lady Bulldogs had no answer for the Lady Cards’ potent hitting as Columbus went on to take a resounding 10-0 victory in a one-game elimination in the playoff opener.

Postseason play is officially here for the Columbus varsity baseball team as their first-round matchup against Randolph is set up for Friday, May 5 in Flatonia as the teams vie for the Bi-district Championship. Before the Cards could shift their focus to the first round of the playoffs, they took on a pair of quality opponents last week as they looked to get a final tune-up before the postseason. The Cards started off with a loss to Hallettsville that conceded the tiebreaker in the district standings as both teams finished the season with a tied district record. They followed with a playoff warmup game against the Comanches of Shiner that ended in victory for Columbus.

Last week, a pair of Lady Cards signed their collegiate commitments to play their respective sports at the next level. Jordyn Templeton, a member of the state-qualifying Columbus golf team, will continue her golf career in collegiate competition after signing with Centenary College of Louisiana.

Head Coach for the Columbus Lady Cards’ varsity basketball team, Mike Albers, received state-wide honors after claiming the 3A Regional Coach of the Year Award in Region five. Albers claimed his spot in history as one of the first coaches to receive this award in the inaugural year of its existence.

The Rice Raiders’ varsity baseball team has had a combination of traits that have made it difficult to pick up wins against a difficult district schedule. For one, their defense and pitching has not been able to frustrate the strong offenses from other teams in the district. On the offensive side, the Raiders show flashes of potency but also have difficulties in sustaining stretches of quality at-bats or high-scoring innings. Both of these issues appeared yet again as the Raiders suffered two big district losses last week, first against Industrial and then later in the week against their county rivals the Columbus Cardinals.

Rice’s Lady Raider softball team has officially finished their season with the hope that they will be able to turn around their success in future seasons. The Lady Raiders dealt with different struggles all season, many of which were simultaneously present in nearly every game this season. Whether it was difficulties reaching base, or preventing their opponents from doing so, the Lady Raiders did not find much success in general as they faced off against a potent set of district teams. After last week’s loss to Industrial and then to the district-leading Lady Cards, the Lady Raiders completed their season without picking up a win in district play.

SEGUIN – The varsity track and field team for the Rice Raiders had a few high-quality performances as they had several athletes compete in the Area competition last week. The Raiders ran into some high-tier competition as they faced off against several of the top athletes in the area. By the end of the competition, the Raiders had collected a lone medal in a field event, one other regional qualifier, and a number of athletes who just missed out on taking a top four spot and qualifying for the regional meet this week.

The Weimar Ladycats have been one of the top 2A teams in Texas this season, ending a regular season with one of their strongest seasons and a high placement in the TGCA state softball poll. The third ranked team in the state proved why they were in the top five for a large part of the season by finishing the regular season with a 14-game win streak that led the Ladycats to their top state ranking as well as the district title. With just one loss in district play, Weimar held on for the first-place spot in the standings after outlasting both Shiner and Ganado who finished in second and third place respectively. After a huge 19-0 blowout over Flatonia, the Ladycats played a postseason warmup against the Columbus Lady Cardinals who are also ranked in the TGCA poll to get ready for their first-round, playoff matchup against Falls City on Thursday, April 27.

POST SIGNS WITH COLLEGE TEAM

WILDCATS FALL TO SHINER IN 3-7 DEFEAT

The Weimar High School golfers have a number of players who will participate in the State Championship Meet in the coming weeks. The boys won first place as a team with Hudson Ervin winning the individual Regional Championship. Taylor Smith qualified to state for the second year in a row for the Ladycats. Smith is pictured with her state qualifier certificate, while Regional Champion Ervin is pictured with the two first-place medals for individual and team championships. The Champion Wildcats pictured from left to right are Coach Cody Morrison, Hudson Ervin, Camden Morrison, Brady Henke, Weston Pavlik and Dillon Stech.

The Columbus High School baseball team is attempting to finish the regular season out strong as they ride a five-game winning streak into their rematch with Hallettsville that could function as the clincher for the District Championship. The Cards were in the midst of a twoman race with the Brahmas for the top spot in the standings, but Hallettsville suffered an unexpected loss to the Industrial Cobras last week to take their third district defeat of the season. Since Columbus has just two losses in the district season, their only job is to find a win against the Brahmas and extend their winning streak to six. If the Cards can recreate some of the success they had in big wins against Edna and Rice last week, they have a strong opportunity to potentially claim the district title outright.

SEGUIN – The Columbus boys’ and girls’ track teams came into the Area Championship Meet after a strong overall performance in the district meet that qualified several athletes to compete at the next level. Despite some more solid performances at Area, Columbus had a limited number of competitors reach the next level to compete in the Regional Championship Meet. Columbus had several near misses as several Cardinal athletes fell just outside of a top four spot that would allow them to qualify for the next level.

COLUMBUS GOLF TEAMS MAKE IT TO STATE

The Lady Cards’ varsity softball team worked all season to reach this point as the postseason approaches. The 20th ranked 3A team on TGCA’s final state softball poll of the regular season had a district season that checked nearly all of the boxes in their chase of a district championship and a high seeding to enter the playoffs. There were just a few things they needed to finish in first place in their district standings. The first, limiting their district losses, was accomplished by the Lady Cards taking just one loss in their second game of the district season. They went on to have a 12-game winning streak to finish the season and accomplished their second check on the list, beating Hallettsville to overtake their spot in first place. After their win against Hallettsville, their final goal was to win out the rest of the season to claim the district title. They officially claimed that ultimate goal after finishing the season with big wins against Edna and Rice last week. The Lady Cards took their share of the district championship after finishing at the top of the standings with a lone district loss in a tie with the one-loss Lady Brahmas. After a postseason warm up game against the stellar Ladycats from Weimar, the Lady Cards will prepare for their first round of the playoffs against Marion on Friday, April 28 in Columbus.

The Rice Raiders’ varsity baseball team had some quality hitting over the last week of competition. The Raiders found several hits and even played some at-bats with bases loaded with potential to score. However, despite a week of effective hitting at the plate, the Raiders could not get the big swings to bring in scores for the offense. Many runners were left on board as the Raiders struggled to bring runs home from the base path. Even in a game where the Raiders outhit their opponents, they still suffered two-straight blowout losses as they failed to keep pace with their opponents’ scoring.

Rice’s varsity track team will have a number of athletes competing in the upcoming Area track meet after a solid overall team performance. Many individuals stepped up as the Raiders claimed many top four sports to qualify for the Area Championship Meet. The girls picked up a lone area meet qualifier while finishing with one of their highest team totals of the season. On the other side of the tournament for the boys, they found plenty of success in long-distance runs as well as in field events as they took fourth place as a team.

The Weimar Ladycat varsity softball team had just one game left in their regular season following a big win against Louise. While they will still need to take care of business in the finale against Flatonia, the Ladycats have done just about everything they needed to do to claim the District Championship for themselves. Weimar, a team the TGCA has ranked as the fifth best 2A team in the state, put themselves in the pole position in the district standings after beating fellow top-five team Ganado. The Ladycats matched up with the Lady Indians and handed the no. 3 ranked team their second district loss, both of which came at the hands of Weimar. Ganado went on to lose a third district game to Shiner, another team in Weimar’s stacked district that stands in the top 20 of the state poll. With a path to victory in place, the Ladycats got one step closer to achieving their mission of sweeping the end of district season and claiming their second district championship in three years after defeating Louise in a 15-run shutout.