Just when they needed it most, the Clifton Cub baseball team came up with its biggest win of the season. Shaking off back-to-back lopsided losses to the 16thranked West Trojans, the Cubs shocked the 10thranked Maypearl Panthers, 5-3, on the road last Friday night to seize control of their postseason destiny.

Oh, so close. But with each heartbreaking loss during the current fourgame skid, the Clifton Lady Cub softball squad has seen its postseason hopes slip slide a little further away.

Competing in the District 17/18-3A Area Championships last Thursday at Whitney High School, the Clifton Lady Cubs finished as the area runner-up overall as a team with 111 points behind Area champion West with 146 points. In the process, the Lady Cubs qualified nine athletes to compete in 10 events at the Class 3A, Region 3 Track & Field Championships held this Friday-Saturday at Midway High School in Hewitt.

Putting the team concept first over individual goals and performances, the Meridian boys outscored the seven-team field to repeat as overall team champions at the District 20-1A Track and Field Championship last Wednesday at Jacket Stadium in Meridian. Advancing 17 athletes to compete in 11 events at the District 19-20 Area Championships Wednesday in Dublin, the Jackets ran away from the field for the team title with 172 points, easily outscoring runner-up Iredell with 117 points and third place Covington with 109.

With the first round of District 12-1A competition behind them, the Meridian Lady Jacket softball team turned its attention to facing a round of playing the district’s four Class 2A teams. While the first two games against three games against the Hamilton Lady Bulldogs, the Hico Lady Tigers and the Itasca Lady Wampus Cats has produced mixed results, the Lady Jackets will wrap up their Class 2A tour this week before resuming the second round of District 12-1A play.

After posting three consecutive run-rule victories in the first round of District 171A competition, the Meridian Yellowjackets appeared on the verge of rolling unchallenged to their first outright district championship since 2010. But then, the unexpected happened.

Losing back-to-back games as they made the turn down the home stretch of the 2024 Texas high school softball season, the Clifton Lady Cubs face three crucial games in their quest for a second straight trip to the playoffs to wrap up the regular season. Hosting the District 173A runner-up West last Friday, Clifton could not hang on to an early lead as the Lady Trojans capitalized on scoring opportunities to run away with a 7-1 victory as the Lady Cubs struck out 13 times.

With the highly-competitive District 17-3A becoming a rollercoaster ride, the young and surprising Clifton Cubs experienced both the peak and the valley of the 2024 Texas high school baseball season last week. Coming off the high of a dramatic walkoff win over arch-rival Whitney last Tuesday, the Cubs stumbled against the 17thranked West Trojans, 14-2, at home last Friday to fall into a tie for third place.

Battling among the highly- competitive field of six schools, the Clifton boys and girls rose to the occasion at the District 17-3A Track and Field Championships held last Wednesday and Thursday at Keene High School. Qualifying 12 athletes in 14 events for the District 17-18 Area Championships this Thursday at Whitney High School, the Lady Cubs finished as the district runner-up overall as a team with 158 points behind district champion West with 191 points.

In an early battle for sole possession of first place in District 17-3A, the first showdown between the Clifton Cubs and arch-rival Whitney Wildcats went down to the final out. But in the end, the Cubs hit their first speed bump on the road to returning to the Texas high school baseball playoffs for the first time since 2019.