By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions opened the District 8-2A softball schedule Monday, March 14 with an 18-2 victory over Cross Plains at Webb Park.

After taking the rest of the week off for spring break, the Lady Lions will host May at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 in their second district outing.

“I thought we played well overall against Cross Plains,” coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “We hit the ball well. We’ve been facing some pretty stout pitching, and that got us ready to hit the ball strong in our first district game and score a lot of runs.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions and Lady Lions track and field teams dealt with weather and injury issues in addition to competition from larger schools last week at Jim Ned’s Tribe Relays.

The varsity boys placed fifth in the team standings with 77 points, while the girls were sixth with 45¼ points. The JV boys scored 19 points to finish seventh.

Albany was the only Class 2A school entered in the meet on Thursday, March 10, with the rest of the field made up of Class 3A entries.

By Sam Waller

Three members of the Moran Bulldogs boys basketball team earned spots on the All-District 13-1A team, which was selected by vote of district coaches.

Senior Arren Hawley was named to the second team, while sophomore Caleb York and freshman Ellis Hise received honorable mention.

Moran finished the season 2-16 overall and 1-9 in district.

Hawley, the Bulldogs’ lone senior, led the team in scoring.

Track Results

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions baseball team went 1-2 last week at the Eastland tournament in the first varsity action of the season.

Albany will host its own tournament this weekend, weather permitting.

The Lions are scheduled to face Clyde at 12:00 noon on Thursday, March 10, then host Dodd City at the same time on Friday. Saturday’s game is at 10:00 a.m. against Eastland. Those times may be adjusted for weather concerns.

By Sam Waller

Albany graduate Joshua Dyer made his first home run with the McMurry Warhawks one to remember, hitting his first college grand slam in a recent home game.

Dyer connected in the eighth inning of 14-12 loss to University of the Ozarks on Monday, Feb. 28 at McMurry’s Walt Driggers Field.

Dyer finished 3 for 5 in the game as the designated hitter. McMurry trailed 14-2 in the seventh inning before rallying with five runs in the seventh and five in the eighth.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions golf team won the team title with two of the top three individual scores Wednesday, March 2, at the Hawley tournament.

Albany followed up by finishing eighth at the Eula tournament, played Monday, March 7, at Shady Oaks Golf Course.

The ­Lions carded a team score of 373 at Hawley’s Twisted Oaks Golf Course, finishing five strokes ahead of Hawley, playing on its home course.

Ty Richards shot 87 to claim medalist honors with Houston Heatly finishing third at 90.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions tennis team competed in two events last week with 11 players making up seven entries in an Albany tennis meet on Wednesday, March 3, while the bulk of the lineup spent the weekend at the Brock team tournament.

“The most important thing is finding the kids some playing time,” coach M.J. Reneau said. “The ones I couldn’t take to Brock got two or three matches apiece here. It worked out really well.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions took on seven opponents from larger schools last week, winning once and playing well in a string of close losses.

On Tuesday, March 8, the Lady Lions began their final week of nondistrict play with a 11-6 loss to Breckenridge at Webb Park. Albany takes on the Abilene Cooper JV at 5:00 p.m. Friday, March 11 at home before opening District 8-2A against Cross Plains at noon Monday, March 14 at home.

On Tuesday, March 1 Albany lost 5-2 to Stephenville at home.

By Sam Waller

Albany track and field athletes combined for 10 first place finishes last week at meets at Anson and Eastland.

Both meets were held Thursday, March 3. The start of  the season was delayed a week after weather forced the cancellation of the first meet at Breckenridge.

“We usually get a late start anyway because of basketball,” boys coach Rod Britting said. “We don’t really get to spend a lot of time on the track before the season. We’re just now starting to run, so we’ll usually peak a little later.”

By Sam Waller

Twelve Albany basketball players were recognized for their efforts this season with inclusion on the All-District 10-2A teams, which were selected by a vote of district coaches.

For the boys, junior Cole Chapman was selected the district’s Offensive Player of the Year, while junior Coy Lefevre and sophomore Adam Hill were named to the first team.

Senior Luke Ivy and junior London Fuentes were voted to the second team, with sophomores Luke Marshall, Lanxton Viertel, Houston Heatly, and Lute Wheeler receiving honorable mention.