Sports

The baseball season ended last Saturday in the area round of the playoffs for the Graham Steers. The Steers were a young team that developed and grew exponentially as the season progressed. The bi-district championship capped off a fun season of baseball for Graham.

Steers baseball coach Jim Bob Williams sat down for a one-on-one interview with The Graham Leader on Thursday afternoon to reflect upon his first season back in Graham as the Steers head baseball coach. 

The adult men’s and women’s adult soccer finals were held at the GSA soccer fields on Saturday and Sunday. The attendance was strong, and the season finished with large performances from the best of the adult leagues.

The semi finals were held on Saturday. The final two teams for the men and the final two teams for the women squared off on Sunday in the adult soccer finals. 

Local track athletes had strong showings at the UIL State Track Meet in Austin over the weekend.

The meet was held Thursday through Saturday at the Mike Myers Track Complex at the University of Texas. 

Connor Smith took the silver in the discus for Graham, Bradlee Little finished third in the pole vault, Grady Shields won two bronze medals for Newcastle, and Caleigh Forbus took the bronze home for Bryson in the long jump.

The Steers continued the area round of the playoffs on Saturday with games two and three against the Midlothian Heritage Jaguars. Saturday’s games were played at Chisholm Trail High School in Fort Worth. 

The Steers were three outs away in game two from closing out the series in two games. The Jaguars then mounted a come from behind victory, 8-7, in game two. Midlothian Heritage forced a winner-take-all game three and won that game 8-3.

Graham hosted Midlothian Heritage Thursday night in game one of the area round of the playoffs and captured game one of the best-of-three series with a 4-2 victory against the Jaguars. The Steers had a four run third inning that was the big difference maker. 

The Steers brought all of their offense to the third inning. Graham was able to capitalize against Midlothian Heritage and then hold on to take the series lead. The Steers were aggressive at the plate and on the base paths during the third inning outburst of offense.

Former Graham High School basketball coach Lonnie Gaylor will be inducted into the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. The induction will be at 6 p.m. on May 21, at the El Tropicana Hotel in San Antonio. 

Gaylor had a long career playing and coaching basketball. He graduated from Jacksonville (TX) High School and went on to play at Jacksonville College. From there, he played basketball at Stephen F. Austin State University. He attained his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Stephen F. Austin.

The Graham Soccer Association’s All-Stars were in action for the final official tournament of the spring postseason. The Big Country Spring Fling was last Saturday in Abilene.

The Big Country Soccer Association hosted the tournament and over 50 teams showed up. The GSA sent six teams to the event. Those teams include two U8 girls teams that played 4-versus-4 and two U8 boys teams that played 4v4. One U11 coed team competed in 11v11 and one U14 coed team played in 11v11, as well.

The Graham High School Booster Club held the annual Spring Sports Banquet at the Young County Arena on Monday. Athletes from winter and spring sports were honored for their accomplishments on and off the field.

The Brandon Bailey 3-on-3 Basketball Shootout has become a big deal in the region. The name attached to the tournament, the family and the people behind the scenes are what make the tournament the success it is.

Bailey passed away on July 5, 2012, from a fireworks accident. He graduated from Newcastle  High School in 2011.

Bailey was a graduate of Newcastle, but more importantly he was  a part of the community. He was largely involved and was known around the community for his large personality. 

The bi-district round of the playoffs was exciting for the Steers baseball team. The Steers lost game one of the series in Iowa Park, but battled back on Saturday with two come-from-behind wins in games two and three to win the series and advance to the area round of the playoffs.

The Steers had a never-die attitude and overcame tons of adversity Saturday in Graham to win the bi-district championship.