Sports

It was your classic softball battle: a pitcher’s duel--a dandy display by a dazzling duo with deliveries of defiance. Kailyn Miller of Devine was just that, and her two-hitter was a stitch-on-the-ball better than Cierra Thompson, who also allowed a pair of Arabians to hit safely.

The Llano baseball Yellow Jackets can score runs as fast as the Dallas Mavericks can make vacation plans, so the Jackets will continue their playoff march following the destruction of the Luling Eagles in the bidistrict round, May 2 and May 3. Llano won the best of three series, 17-6 and 18-8. Oh, mercy.

The Llano Boys and Girls Golf Teams advanced to Regional competition on April 21 and 22 in Corpus Christi. The boys played 36 holes at the OSO Golf course, while the girls played at the Gabe Lozano course.

He runs as fast as gas prices go up; he’s as elusive as Darren McFadden and Jeremiah Wright; opponents have as much chance to get a piece of the wind as a souvenir as they do of flirting with his shadow. He’s Llano High School’s Cole Hoffman, and he chases two state gold medals on Friday, May 9, at Mike Myers Stadium on the UT campus.

Saturday, the Jackets watched a 4-0 lead turn into a 6-4 loss at the hands of Lorena in Killeen. The playoff tuneup game was a chance for the Jackets to work out some pitchers in anticipation to a best of three series this weekend against Luling.

Llano High School senior, Cole Hoffman, ran around the Javelina Stadium track in Kingsville a dozen times, April 25 and April 26, but his foes were the ones truly “running in circles,” as Hoffman raced off with a pair of gold medals at the Class-3A, Region IV track meet. The fastest young men from close to 40 schools had marvelous views of the back of Cole’s orange jersey.

There is something remarkably pure and perfect about the sound of cleats--and nothing else--in a dugout following a game, although calling such a painful loss a “game” seems almost unfair to the young men who truly battled for victory. The meeting of athletic shoe and concrete got no opposition from voices as the Llano baseball Jackets reflected for the first time--of many times to come--on a 10-9 anguish at Bandera, April 22.

U-6 the Green team played the Orange team at 9 a. m. and the Red team played the Blue team at 10 a.

Elections for officers of the Llano Athletic Booster Club will be held on Tuesday, May 13 at 5: 30 p. m.

Perfect defense, including some outstanding catches; near-excellent pitching; and just enough hitting combined to give the Llano Lady Jackets a 2-1 win over Luling in the bidistrict round of the softball playoffs. “I think we were more determined than nervous,” head coach Brian Cottle said, “because seven seniors and a bunch of younger girls want to stay in there and fight, and that’s what they did.