Sports

sports@vanzandtnews.com The Grand Saline Lady Indians were forced to dig deep during their first series of this year’s postseason, outdueling Bells in a thrilling best-of-three series April 29 and May 1 to punch their ticket to the Area round.

The Van Vandals were forced to put in some extra time on the diamond before the start of this year’s postseason last week, meeting up with Brownsboro for the third time this season to determine final seeding for this year’s playoffs.

sports@vanzandtnews.com The Grand Saline Indians wrapped up the regular season in a complete team effort on their way to a 6-0 shutout win over the visiting Malakoff Tigers. Luke Metcalf played a starring role in the win, limiting Malakoff batters to just three hits in a complete game effort.

sports@vanzandtnews.com The Van Lady Vandals opened their postseason run by delivering a virtuoso performance against Liberty-Eylau last week, blitzing the Lady Leopards at every turn to earn an easy two game sweep and spot in this year’sArea round.

Two of Van Zandt County’s most consistent and best softball programs met on the diamond in Grand Saline April 21 as the Lady Indians played host to the Van Lady Vandals in a playoff tune-up for both teams.

sports@vanzandtnews.com The Edgewood Bulldogs entered this week with a golden opportunity, needing to sweep longtime rivals Emory Rains to secure the top spot in District 12--the first matchup April 25, rallying back from an early 1-0 deficit to double up the Wildcats 8-4.

The Edgewood Lady Dogs hit the field one final time during the regular season April 21, playing host to the Commerce Lady Tigers in a District 12-3A matchup. Edgewood last met Commerce back on March 28, scoring a 9-4 win in a game they led wire-to-wire.

Following a closed executive session at the end of their regular monthly meeting April 17, the Van School Board announced the hiring of Austin Fleming as the new Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at Van High School.

The Wills Point Lady Tigers reached the finish line of their 2023 season last week, traveling to Quinlan to take on the District 14-4A game of each team’s respective season. Wills Point and Ford had met once before with the Lady Panthers capturing an 8-1 win over the Lady Tigers back on March 31.

The Grand Saline Indians kept their foot firmly pressed on the accelerator with the start of this year’s playoffs looming just over the horizon, opening up their final district series of the year with a dom-