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Amarillo College baseball prepares for 2026 season with local talent.(KFDA)Season opens at Globe Life Field<\/p>\nAMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – The Amarillo College Badgers are gearing up for their 2026 baseball season<\/p>\n
The team has 20 home contests scheduled at HODGETOWN for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n
Four players from the NewsChannel 10 coverage area are on AC\u2019s roster, including former Randall High School pitcher Duncan Bowles, who was instrumental in the Raiders\u2019 run to the 4A state semifinals in 2023.<\/p>\n
Bowles returns from injury<\/p>\n
Bowles, an Amarillo native, is set to take the mound again after missing the 2025 season due to a shoulder injury that ended his campaign before it began. <\/p>\n
In 2024 as a freshman, Bowles matched the program\u2019s single-season wins record with eight victories and recorded the second-best WHIP in team history at 1.55.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super pumped,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be back with a great group of guys. So extremely excited to get this rolling this year. We\u2019ve dealt with some tough stuff this fall… but it\u2019s definitely brought us together in the end, so I definitely feel like we\u2019ve grown tighter as a team and we\u2019re all bought into the same philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowles emphasized the benefits of competing in the Texas Panhandle at HODGETOWN.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s a great venue,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d say the best venue in junior college baseball, compared to some people who have regular dirt fields.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge privilege to play here. It\u2019s great having my family nearby. It\u2019s a big thing to me, so that was one of the big things I picked when I chose to stay here in Amarillo, was thinking about family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local freshmen join roster<\/p>\n
The other area players include Randall outfielder Dylan Ray, Hereford infielder Tell Bryant, and Canyon pitcher Colt Cruth.<\/p>\n
Bryant earned all-state recognition in both baseball and football at the Class 4A level. <\/p>\n
Ray accumulated more than 3,000 rushing yards during his career at Randall while earning all-district honors three times, and he also received all-district recognition as an outfielder for the Raiders.<\/p>\n
Ray expressed enthusiasm about becoming part of the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really excited,\u201d Ray said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a blessing by God just to come out here and play with this great group of guys. I\u2019ve learned a lot from them, we have a lot of good team chemistry and we\u2019re really excited to get to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Randall player credited older teammates with helping him transition to college baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys that are older than me, so they know how to show me the way,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know how to guide me when times get rough. That\u2019s just the game of baseball, it\u2019s a game of failure, but with this group I\u2019m just really excited because they\u2019re really good at picking one another up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray described the significance of competing at HODGETOWN as a local player.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a huge blessing,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m from here, a lot of my family\u2019s from here. I grew up playing here a couple of times, and it\u2019s going to be a really good blessing to come out here and play in front of a home crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray outlined his approach to contributing to the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne personal goal is just to find a role that fits me and to do it the best that I can for the team to help us succeed in any way, shape, or form,\u201d he said. \u201cSo just finding a role, whether it be running, whether it be playing in the outfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant discussed the team\u2019s preparation during the fall season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked really hard all fall, and it\u2019s just been fun working every day with the guys and seeing the team come along. I really enjoyed getting in the weight room with everybody, just everybody pushing each other working towards one goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just excited for the season, I love this group of guys. We all gel together really well and just seeing all these guys come together from different places and just get along so well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Hereford player highlighted the advantages of playing at HODGETOWN.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so cool that we get the opportunity playing college baseball in a minor league field like this in such a great venue like this,\u201d he said. \u201cMy parents and everybody [are] going to enjoy it being right down the road, easy drive to come watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant shared his development objectives for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see myself just get better, just keep working in the weight room, and just see everything improve in the weight room, especially,\u201d he said. \u201cBetter approach at the plate, adjusting to college pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruth is positioned as one of the top freshman pitching prospects for the Badgers. During fall scrimmages in 2025, he posted the second-lowest ERA with a 0.764 mark across 18 1\/3 innings of work.<\/p>\n
The former Canyon player conveyed the team\u2019s anticipation for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, I\u2019m excited,\u201d Cruth said. \u201cWe got a taste of it in the fall, and it\u2019s spring. Spring is what counts, what matters, and so I think everyone\u2019s biting at the bit to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruth discussed the importance of developing team relationships.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst year here, a lot of freshmen,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one really knows each other, maybe through competition, but just getting bonds with the teammates and growing closer, trying to become a family. It\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The freshman pitcher praised HODGETOWN\u2019S atmosphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest [Junior College] stadium in the nation,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve worked here at concession stands, and so I got to see the games and it\u2019s just a crazy environment. I can\u2019t wait, it\u2019s going to be a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruth noted the advantages of remaining close to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an advantage,\u201d he said. \u201cI still live at my house so I get those home-cooked meals, sleep in my own bed, it\u2019s super nice. We kind of adapted to the weather, the West Texas wind and whatnot. I\u2019m excited to stay here and see what AC has to offer for the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pitcher outlined his development plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to mature and grow as a player,\u201d Cruth said. \u201cDefinitely want to up my velocity and throw harder. We have guys that have been here for three years and they definitely know a thing or two, so try to learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amarillo College baseball prepares for 2026 season with local talent.(KFDA)Season opens at Globe Life Field<\/p>\n
Before their HODEGTOWN home opener, the Badgers will begin the season at Globe Life Field, the home stadium of the Texas Rangers. <\/p>\n
Following their return to Amarillo for the Johnson County series, the team will travel to face Blinn College.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to play at a Major League Baseball stadium and plus one of the best minor league stadiums in the country, our kids love it and our opponents come and they come ready to play too,\u201d Badgers head coach Brandon Rains said.<\/p>\n
Rains emphasized the program\u2019s consistent objectives.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal never changes at Amarillo College,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to win a conference championship every year and we want to leave this program better than we all found it, from a coaching standpoint and from a player standpoint. We want all our players to come in and be better than they were when they got here and go on to the Division I level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KFDA. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – The Amarillo College Badgers are gearing up for their 2026 baseball season The team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2289],"tags":[5,5965,5961,648,5967,5964,5963,1694,2341,5966,5968,5962],"class_list":["post-522328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-college-baseball","tag-baseball","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-college-baseball","tag-live-speeches","tag-live-updates","tag-live-video","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-baseball","tag-press-conference","tag-real-time-coverage","tag-video-updates"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115901297796053199","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}