Grisham homers in opener; Dogs win 10-0

Last we reported in error that the season began with a win over Melissa, however, it turned out to the be final scrimmage Howe actually did open their regular season with North Hopkins on Tuesday at home and walked away with a 10-0 win thanks in part to Tyler Grisham's 2-run homer in the bottom of the second inning Grisham would later drive in a run with a single in the third.

Sophomore Mason Riggs got the win by throwing three scoreless frames, allowing one hit and striking out seven while walking four Bryce Krantz threw two nohit innings in relief, fanning three and walking a pair

Multi-hit games were had by Brennan Ross, Peyton Reagan, Matt Griffin, Jaden Matthews and Grisham Riggs and Ross drove in

Tidwell

continued from page 1 preacher has helped those on Davis Street and throughout the community to love the Lord and love to smile

Tidwell came to Howe from Elroy, Texas outside of Austin where he was preaching at a church and wasn't sure if he'd get paid every week Seeking a church with a steady income to support his wife and two daughters (5-year-old and a fifth grader), he looked at North Texas due to family ties in Whitewright He found out through another church that he was interested in that FBC Howe was seeking a pastor After preaching an "audition" sermon at a couple of runs each

Howe played in the Weimer tournament this past weekend

Howe lost the first game to Weimer, 7-2, but rebounded in walk-off fashion to come from behind to beat Smithville, 8-7 Howe finished the tourney to beat Cedar Creek, 11-7

Cade Courtney doubled with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Mason Riggs for the winning run Riggs was also the winning pitcher, going three innings, striking out four Peyton Reagan led the team with three hits

Against Cedar Creek, Reagan also had three of the team's 18 hits He also got the win by going 3 1 innings though allowing five earned runs

Crutchfield Baptist in Sherman in November of 1991, members of the church went to Austin in January of '92 to hear another sermon He was then contacted by Harold Finney, the committee chair and was in Howe in February of '92

"I didn't really think Howe would take a look at me, coming from a little town " said Tidwell

With the average stay for a pastor ranging from two to five years, Tidwell jokingly said that he has been here for 25 years because no other church would have him But he recognized that North Texas, in particular the Grayson County area has a reputation of sticking with pastors He pointed out Houston Garner, who has been at Hebron Baptist in Bells for over 50 years

Danny Woods has been at West Sherman Baptist for over 30 years

Bobby Fletcher was at Dorchester Baptist for nearly 20 years

Tidwell says he never had thoughts of moving on to a big city church

Growing up in inner-city Dallas as a minority, he was looking for a place to raise his kids in a small conservative town with values

"The only way to get to a bigger church is get to a bigger community and I just had no desire to do that " said Tidwell "It's not a trade I wanted to make "

Tidwell says he has initiated a plan called "Operation 2025" which would be steps to lead to finish his ministry at the age of 66

"The worry is, at what age do you become irrelevant, that you're an old pastor that can't reach young families? When I was younger, I always thought that a 58-year-old pastor was too old

The ability to plan out his retirement, unlike many other pastors is largely due to his ability to connect with the congregation by being himself

"The first thing is that they have let me be me " said Tidwell "I'm not much of the baptist pastor mold I wear overalls and tie-dye and typical things that pastors don't do The second thing is humor"

Not only humor, but selfdepreciating humor has allowed continued on page 8