Sports

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.

All season, the Lady Raiders’ varsity softball team has had some struggles with scoring runs as well as preventing their opponents from responding with their own runs. The month of April came with some more difficulties for the Lady Raiders in that regard as to this point, they have allowed three of their four opponents to score into double digits. While they could not keep many of the games close, the Lady Raiders battled to prevent shutouts with just one so far in April. Their lone shutout loss came at the hands of the Tidehaven Lady Tigers to begin last week’s competition. Rice followed that defeat with a trip away from home to Hallettsville where they suffered another blowout defeat.

CARTER TAKES TOP-3 AT REGIONALS

The varsity track and field team for Weimar can boast several athletes who qualified to compete in the regional competition after notching some top finishes and quality performances in the district meet. Weimar qualified in a few separate events, but they have many athletes who will be present at the Kingsville-hosted regional meet from April 28 to April 29. Some of these athletes who qualified will be reaching Regionals for the second season in a row.

The Weimar varsity baseball team had one of their best offensive performances of the season against a Louise team that finds itself near the bottom of the district standings. With the Wildcats still shooting for a postseason spot in the standings, they knew they had to handle business against the Hornets and not allow any mistakes that would slow their progress. With that in mind, the Wildcats went on to put on a complete performance, shutting out the Hornets while putting up nearly 30 runs in a huge 28-0 win.

Weimar senior Abigail Hilley received recognition by the Texas High School Coaches Association for her academic achievements during this tennis season. She was selected as an honorable mention for the Academic All-State Team.

SMITH COMPETES IN GOLF REGIONALS

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.

The Turtle Wing Foundation has been a consistent advocate for children with special needs since their inception in Schulenburg in 2011. Since then, they have partnered with several local area schools to increase the opportunities for these students as well as increasing awareness and acceptance of the different challenges these special needs children face. Columbus was one of the most recent teams to partner with the foundation, playing part in one of the many “Autism Acceptance Games” around the area.

“Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.” –Proverbs 22:15 Registration for the 2023-24 school year is now open to our entire community. Please stop by the school office for the necessary paperwork or with any questions! We’d love to have you as part of our school family!

RAIDER OF THE WEEK

COLUMBUS UIL ACADEMIC TEAMS HAVE REGIONAL QUALIFIERS

DISTRICT CHAMPION CARDINALS TAKE ON REGIONALS

The Columbus varsity baseball team has turned things around offensively since scoring just two runs against Hallettsville in just their second district loss of the season. The Cards have won four-straight games following the defeat, scoring into double digits in three of their four matchups. Not only have the Cards been able to outhit their recent opponents by a significant margin, but their work on the basepaths has also been at a high level as they brought in plenty of runs last week in a big win against Palacios to start and a shutout victory against Yoakum at the end of the week.

The Columbus varsity track and field team had a number of performances they can be satisfied with after an impressive performance as a team in the district meet. They came away with several individual medals, and they also claimed the district championship in a couple events. Columbus finished with 13 total medals and even more athletes who qualified to compete in the upcoming Area Championship Meet on April, 19 in Seguin.

The Columbus Lady Cardinals have pushed their way to the #20 spot in the TGCA state rankings after a stretch of some of their best ball this season. Following last week’s competitions, the Lady Cards pushed their win streak to 10-straight games with an average margin of victory of just over eight runs. The offense has been a major factor for their victories as they have matched their season- high 15 runs on four separate occasions during the streak. They matched that high point run total once again in a big win against Yoakum following a shutout victory against Palacios earlier in the week.

The Columbus varsity tennis team had a few players reach Regionals after their solid performances in the district meet. Camdon Pitchford and Jesus Mendoza qualified for the regional meet in the boys’ doubles tournament. For the girls, Madyson Carter repeated as the district champion and won two matches on the first day of the regional tournament to move on to the semifinals. Results from the second day of Regionals were not available by the press deadline.

The Columbus baseball team is moving right along after taking care of a couple district opponents despite a rain postponement at the end of the week. After beating Industrial by a big margin last Tuesday, the Cards were forced to wait until Monday, April 10 to compete in the postponed game against Tidehaven. Columbus handled things against the Tigers and strengthened their grip on second place in the district standings. The win against third-place Industrial moved the Cards ahead two games in the loss column after giving the Cobras their fourth district loss.

The golfers of Columbus High School will be moving on to Regionals after their performance in the in the district meet last week. There were several top performances individually as both the boys’ and the girls’ teams claimed first place for their respective sides of the tournament. The girls were led by Thea Schobel and Jordyn Templeton to reach their district title. Schobel finished in second place while Templeton finished in third place overall as the Lady Cards took up two of the top-3 spots in the standings.