Local Sports Headlines – Texas Tech Fans Mourn Loss of Spike Dykes

The one thing everyone agreed about when it came to former Texas Tech football coach Spike Dykes is that he was unique.

Texas Tech spokesman Matt Dowdy said Dykes died Monday in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, near Austin at the age of 79. There was no immediate word on a cause of death.

Dykes gave Texas Tech coaching stability after the Red Raiders had been spurned by David McWilliams, who left Texas as an assistant to become Tech's head coach in 1986 only to return to Austin a year later when Fred Akers was fired.

Texas Tech promoted Dykes, who had joined the staff in 1984, and when he retired, he was the school's winningest coach with a record of 82-67-1 over 13 seasons.

Memorial services for Dykes will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Lubbock and then 2 p.m. Friday in Horseshoe Bay.

- Canyon ISD has a new Athletic Director. Longtime Randall High principle Steve Williams has been hired to replace Bryan Wood, who left to get back into coaching at Shallowater. Williams, a former coach and athletic director himself at Friona, was also an assistant coach at Randall, before moving into administration.

- The battle of Bell Street in baseball gets underway today as Randall plays at Amarillo High. The Sandies lead District 3-5A with a 7-1 record while the Raiders are 5-3. The teams will also play on Friday at Randall.

Other games today include Caprock is at Plainview, Canyon hosts Dumas, Palo Duro is at Hereford, Tascosa hosts Frenship, and Bushland is home against Pampa.

- In 3-5A softball, state-ranked Canyon has already clinched a playoff berth and is steaming toward the district title as the Lady Eagles host Palo Duro today. Randall and Hereford are tied for second as they meet today in Hereford. Amarillo High and Caprock are tied for the fourth and final playoff berth. The Lady Sandies are at Plainview and Caprock hosts Dumas.

District golf meets continue today in 2-6A and 3-5A and the district tennis tournament starts today in 3-5A.

The 2-6A track and field meet gets underway in San Angelo. The 3-5A meet begins tomorrow at Randall.

- The Los Angeles Clippers routed the Houston Rockets 125-96 last night to remain tied with Utah in the race for the No. 4 playoff seed.

- The Portland Trail Blazers beat the San Antonio Spurs 99-98 last night.

- James Paxton shut down Houston for the second time in a week, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball and leading the Seattle Mariners to a 6-0 win over the Astros in Seattle’s home opener yesterday.

-  After a day off, the Texas Rangers open a series at the Angels tonight.

-  Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara is the first American League Player of the Week for the 2017 season.

Mazara ended the first week of the season the Major League leader in RBIs, with nine. His 10 hits ranked tied for second in the AL and his .417 batting average tied for third in the league.