By Sam Waller

Albany Junior/Senior High athletes begin preparations for 2023 fall sports as the school’s summer conditioning program gets underway on Monday, June 12.

The program is open to all incoming seventh through 12th graders who plan to participate in interscholastic sports.

Summer workouts are subject to UIL regulations.

Boys sessions will be held Monday through Thursday each week through July 20. Workouts will be from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. each day and include weight lifting, agility drills and conditioning.

By Sam Waller

Several openings are available for the Albany Golf Club’s Father’s Day Tournament.

The three-person scramble will be played Saturday-Sunday, June 17-18 at Albany Golf Course. Entry fee is $300 per team, which includes one mulligan per person each day.

Tee times for the first round are 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Most available spots are in the morning flight with a few openings remaining in the afternoon. Teams will be flighted after the first round.

The field will be capped at 42 teams.

A limited number of rental carts are available.

By Sam Waller

Three Albany teams advanced to the semifinals of the Texas West District 5 tournament County Bracket before being eliminated.

Four Albany teams hosted games on Tuesday, May 23, but thunderstorms in the area forced two games to be suspended and completed the next night.

In the Majors division, the Oilers were the first local team to be eliminated, losing 5-4 to Clyde 2.

By Sam Waller

Nine recent Shackelford County graduates will put the finishing touches on their high school careers next week by participating in the 2023 Big Country FCA All-Star Festival.

The festival, scheduled for June 4-10, features 350 of the area’s top student-athletes competing in seven sports held in four cities.

By Sam Waller

Depth and quality were two hallmarks of the Albany Lions pitching staff this spring.

An ill-timed injury cut into the depth, and the inability to escape trouble with minimal damage eventually led to the end of Albany’s season.

The Lions (24-5) were eliminated from the Class 2A playoffs, losing 2 out of 3 to fifth-ranked New Home in the regional semifinal series, played Thursday, May 25 and Saturday, May 27. It was the second year in a row the Leopards ousted Albany from the playoffs, following a sweep in the 2022 regional final.

By Sam Waller

Albany coaches are offering two sports camps over the next two weeks for students entering kindergarten through ninth grade for the 2023-24 school year.

The Albany Lions & Lady Lions All-Sports Camp will run Tuesday-Thursday, May 30-June 1, offering instruction by David Fairchild and Ryder Peacock in baseball, football, and basketball.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Rebels 12U softball team finished third last weekend at the USA District 11 tournament, played Friday-Sunday, May 19-21 at Abilene.

The Rebels went 6-2 for the weekend, coming within a game of playing for the championship in the 22-team field.

“Everything those girls had, they left it on the field,” Rebels coach Beth Roysdon said. “Tate Thompson and I are both extremely proud of them. They worked their tails off and deserved every bit of it.”

By Sam Waller

The Feed Store’s second annual Powder Puff flag football game took some juggling of schedules to get in after being delayed because of wet grounds earlier this month, but eventually accomplished its task.

Senior Briley Tabor was involved in four touchdowns as the Pink team (seniors and freshmen) defeated the Purple (juniors and sophomores) 42-31 on Wednesday, May 17 at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

By Sam Waller

For the second year in a row, the Indians won the Albany Little League’s Majors title as the youth baseball program begins wrapping up its season.

League organizer Paul Hamilton said there are still three rainouts to be made up if scheduling conflicts can be addressed.

“The district tournament was moved up a week earlier,” Hamilton said. “We’re trying to make the games up at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.”

By Sam Waller

Six members of the Albany Lady Lions softball team were honored for the on-field performance this season with inclusion on the All-District 8-2A team.

The Lady Lions, who battled low numbers all spring, finished with a 15-15-1 record and a berth in the bi-district round of the playoffs after placing behind Cisco in the district standings.