The Lion baseball team pulled together an epic comeback effort to defeat New Deal in the Region I final series, advancing for the second time in three seasons to the state baseball tournament in Round Rock.

Even as this edition of the News is being printed, Albany (23-7) is squaring off against defending Class 2A champions Big Sandy (34-4) in the semifinal round of the tournament that was set for 7:00 p.m. Wednesday at Dell Diamond.

With two weeks of the summer vacation and a couple of summer sports camps already in the past, local youth still have the opportunity to participate in additional camps coming up in both June and July.

The boys all-sports camp and basketball camps drew large numbers of participants over the last two weeks, but students out for the summer still have more camps to look forward to.

Volleyball Camp

The 2019 version of the Albany Volleyball Camp is set for June 10-12, with coach M.J. Vickers Reneau heading up the instruction.

The Albany Golf Club is once again hosting the annual Father’s Day golf tournament, which will take place on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16.

Tee times for the event on Saturday include a morning slot at 8:30 a.m. and an afternoon slot at 1:30 p.m.

The tournament will have an entry fee of $240 per team and will follow a three-person scramble format.

The tournament entry fee includes one mulligan per person on each day.

While heavy rainfall had previously put the status of the tournament in question, it is now scheduled to proceed as planned.

Summer conditioning programs for both boys and girls entering grades 7-12 in the fall are set to start on Monday at the high school campus.

Albany’s 7on7 football team went 1-2 in their first games of the season, as they prepare to enter tournament play. 

The local team played three games at the Lee School Complex in Abilene on Thursday, May 30 to start their season.

Eight players made the trip to Abilene, where they competed against Haskell, Merkel, and Merkel JV.

The team lost to Haskell 35-21, lost to Merkel 14-7, and then beat Merkel JV 49-6.

Albany was shorthanded because many local players are still involved in baseball playoffs.

Beth Roysdon was elected president of the Albany Softball Association at the organization’s annual officer election meeting last Tuesday.

Amy McDaniel will remain vice president.

“Due to a light turnout, elections of other officers were tabled until our next meeting,” McDaniel said.

The Softball Association will meet again at the Shackelford County library at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18.

Two local Little League 10 and under teams worked through the competition in the county bracket of the District 5 tournament last week, with the Albany Reds beating the Albany Indians to advance to the overall district championship against city bracket winner Wylie Hooks on Monday.

The Reds lost to the Hooks in the championship game, 10-5, according to coach Clint Chapman. Wylie was the winner of the city bracket of the tournament against other Wylie and Abilene teams.

Four Albany seniors will be competing in the annual Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star games this weekend.

Cameron Dacus and Cutter Edgar were both selected to play in the FCA All-Star football game. Dacus and Edgar will be playing against each other, since the football teams are not determined by geography.

Dacus will be a member of the Red team, coached by Jeff Cordell of Sonora.

Edgar will play for the Blue team, coached by Ben McGehee of Sweetwater.

Moran families certified eligible for monthly commodity distributions should receive cold items beginning this month.

The Moran City Hall is now equipped with a freezer, and according to Melissa Hobbs at the Shackelford County Justice of the Peace office, the county commissioners have approved the additional items.

“They are going to get cold commodities in June,” said Hobbs. “Sometimes it is hamburger meat, sometimes chicken or pork. It depends on what is available at the food bank.”

The Albany Little League will once again be hosting one of the Little League District 5 machine pitch tournaments to compete against teams in the Big Country area.

“Sixteen teams will play in Albany on June 8,” said local little league president Paul Hamilton. “If we are the best of four, we will play in the Big Country final four on the following Monday night, June 10.”

The tournament is for teams made up of eight to nine year olds from around the Big Country area and will start at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 8.