By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO--Forrest City went into Tuesday's AAAAA-East Conference game at Jonesboro in search of a much-needed victory.
After losing to Jacksonville on Friday in a varsity doubleheader and falling to 1-4 in the league, a win over the Hurricane was imperative.
They got what they needed -- an 11-8 win over Jonesboro in 11 innings to improve to 5-8 overall and more importantly, 2-4 in the league with a varsity doubleheader set for Thursday at Little Rock Mills.
Jonesboro led 8-6 going into the seventh inning. Forrest City had two runners on -- Will Harris and Danny Flowers. With two outs, Jonesboro outfielder Matt Byrd misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Marcus Hancock that allowed both Forrest City runners to score, tying the game at 8-8.
Neither team was able to score in the eighth, ninth or 10th innings.
The top of the 11th was much kinder to the Mustangs, who roughed up Jonesboro reliever Jimmy Farley for three runs on four hits.
After Brad Taylor doubled to start the inning and was replaced by courtesy runner Logan Knight, Mark Lewis doubled to left to score Knight, giving the Mustangs a 9-8 lead with one out.
Milton Joyner and Brandon Cochran each flied out before Harris' RBI single scored Lewis and Dustin Gore's RBI double brought in Harris for an 11-8 cushion. Flowers was tagged out at third to end the inning.
Hancock, who took over for starting Forrest City pitcher Colby McKennon in the fourth inning, retired the Jonesboro side in the bottom of the 11th after a Forrest City error put the Hurricane leadoff hitter on base.
Hancock held Jonesboro hitless in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and allowed only one hit in the 10th.
Jonesboro falls to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the league.
The Mustangs scored twice in the top of the first when Lewis walked and Cochran singled. Jonesboro tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning. The Mustangs got two more in the second when Lewis and Devin McLaurin each scored. Jonesboro cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in their half of the second.
Harris singled and scored in the third for a 5-3 Forrest City lead before Jonesboro went ahead 6-5 with three runs in the fourth.
The Mustangs tied the game at 6-6 in the fifth with another run from Harris.
Jonesboro regained an 8-6 lead with two sixth-inning runs.
Harris scored four times and went 4-for-6 at the plate. Lewis scored three times and finished 2-for-5 with a walk.
The Mustangs banged out 14 hits while Jonesboro collected 12 hits.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CABOT--Forrest City track coach Jeff Hudson admitted Tuesday's effort at the Panther Relays in Cabot may not have been the Mustangs' best of the season, but it netted a third-place finish.
And it gave them a closer look at the competition level in the AAAAA-East with the conference meet just two weeks away.
"All of the conference teams were there except Blytheville," Hudson said. "We ran without some of our kids and we didn't pick up any points in the mile or two-mile events or in the shot, but we know where we stand and what's ahead for us."
The Mustangs are the three-time conference track defending champions. The conference meet is set for April 26, at West Memphis.
Conway won the meet while Cabot, the host school, finished second. The Mustangs were a distance third and Jacksonville held on for fourth. Little Rock McClellan finished fifth, North Little Rock was sixth and Sylvan Hills placed seventh.
Forrest City picked up a first-place finish in the 400-meter relay, using the combination of Floyd Shivers, Daniel Echols, Joseph Wilson and Evan Haggins.
The Mustangs were on their way to a first place finish in the 800-meter relay, but were disqualified for an infraction during one of the baton exchanges.
Echols won the 100-meter run in a time of 11 seconds and ran fourth in the 200-meter.
Wilson finished second in the 400-meter run and the 1,600-meter relay team finished second using Travis Hurst, Wilson, Terrance Wilson and Jesse Ballard.
Haggins was fourth in the long jump and was sixth in the 200-meter.
The Mustangs will run Thursday in the Yellowjacket Relays at Wynne.
In junior high track, the Blue Mustangs ran Monday at the Newport Junior Pup Relays.
Ten junior high teams took part in the competition.
The Blue Mustangs won the 400-meter relay, using the quartet of Kawon Deshon, Chavelle Wilson, Andrew Embry and Kenyatae Chism.
They placed fourth in the 3,200-meter relay with Dexter and Charles Freeman, Lee Bonner and Terrance Williams.
Deshon, Wilson, Leo Drone and Chism ran fifth in the 800-meter relay event.
Drone was a mild surprise finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles.
Marquee Erwin ran sixth in the 800-meter.
Forrest City finished fifth in the mile relay using Tremaine Collins, Bonner, Embry and Chism.
Chism leaped to a fourth-place finish in the long jump with an effort of 19 feet, eight inches.
The Blue Mustangs will compete today at the Junior Jacket Relays at Wynne.
The meet is set to start at 3:30 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
It wasn't pretty Tuesday afternoon, but it was a win for the Forrest City Lady Mustang softball team.
Facing a struggling Osceola team in their first year of organized softball, the Lady Mustangs took a 16-1 lead in the first inning with no outs and then offered to end the game -- mercifully -- after Osceola batted in the top of the second inning.
The conference win assured the Lady Mustangs of no worse than a tie for the league title. Forrest City has one conference game left on the schedule, a Thursday road game at West Helena. A win gives the Lady Mustangs the conference title.
The Lady Mustangs improve to 5-5 overall for the year and stand at 4-1 in the league, their only loss coming against Stuttgart.
Every Forrest City player in the lineup scored at least one run in the varsity game with Abby Townsend, Jessica Lewis, Kimberly Hoots, Tyeshia McDaniel and Krystal Weaver scoring two runs each.
Weaver and Lewis combined to drive in half of the 16 first inning runs. Weaver belted a two-RBI single and then unloaded for a two-run home run. Kanetra Pendleton hit a three-run home run and Lewis connected for a grand slam home run.
"I just wanted to make sure I got the win," Forrest City Coach Sue Jayroe said. "When we got the 15-run lead, which would have ended the game after three innings anyway, I knew there wasn't any reason to continue or to run up the score on them to embarrass them."
In the junior varsity game, Rachel Sims, Whitney Tracy, Caronica Randle and Kim Ursery scored two runs each to lead the Lady Mustangs to a 14-2 win over Osceola.
BARTON--Too many fly balls and pop ups to the infield.
Add in a couple of "questionable" calls and the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday -- a 4-3 set-back to Barton.
"I thought there were a couple of calls that hurt us during the game," said P-W Coach Beverly Bass, "But that's no excuse. We should have taken care of business, If we would have hit the ball like we are capable of hitting the ball, the outcome might have been different."
The Lady Patriots fall to 7-1 for the year.
Libby Martin, Jenny Loewer and Marla Gardner each scored one run for the Lady Patriots.
As a team, P-W was held to just seven hits. Andrea Cooper had two of those, a single and a double.
The Lady Patriots had a chance in the top of the seventh to win the game with Gardner at the plate and two out and two runners on. Gardner fouled out to end the game.
Palestine-Wheatley will host Clarendon on Thursday and will host Mccrory on Tuesday, April 17.