By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Tuesday's 11-8 win over the Jonesboro Hurricane spoke volumes for the Forrest City Mustang baseball team.
It opened a pathway that could help lead the Mustangs back to the state tournament.
But the path has several twists and turns the Mustangs must negotiate before they are out of the woods completely.
They begin today by taking on the Little Rock Mills Comets at Little Rock in a key AAAAA-East varsity doubleheader.
Forrest City stands at 2-4 in the league while Mills is 2-3.
"From here on out every game is big," said Mustang Coach Reggie Murphy. "We have to be ready to play mentally and physically. We haven't played very well this year, but that's not to say we can't put it together and get to postseason."
The Mustangs worked overtime for the win against Jonesboro -- going 11 innings.
"The kids never gave up and that is certainly a big confidence builder for us," Murphy said.
Pitching wise, the Mustangs are a little wounded going into today.
"We may have to circle the wagons today. We have some sore arms," Murphy said.
Murphy is excited that he is getting some solid production from the top of his lineup -- specifically from Mark Lewis, Brandon Cochran, Will Harris and Danny Flowers.
"That's the meat of our lineup," Murphy said. "If we can get those guys on base, our chances of putting runs on the board increases."
Our top four in the lineup are very important. Lewis is 16-for-16 in stolen bases for us this year."
Murphy said catching Mills today is a good time.
"They aren't the team they've been in the past and I feel like they might be looking for the old Forrest City team to come in there. This is a new ball club and a new era and we want to go in and make our own statement," Murphy added.
A sweep today would work wonders for the Mustangs, leaving the team at 4-4 going into the final two weeks.
"We always go into a doubleheader wanting a sweep," Murphy added. "And we never settle for anything less than a split. So two wins today would go a long way in getting us into the fourth playoff spot. I think a .500 finish in the league will get that place."
As of Wednesday, Cabot led the East standings with a 5-1 mark while Sylvan Hills was second at 4-1. Jacksonville is 3-3 while Jonesboro is 2-3 and West Memphis is 1-4.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WYNNE--The Osceola Junior Seminoles paid little attention to the gusting winds at Wednesday's Junior Jacket Relays held at Wynne.
Osceola picked up six, first place finishes and tallied 96 points to take home the overall championship trophy. Their closest competition, the Rivercrest Junior Colts ran second -- 26 points back at 70.
Jonesboro Annie Camp was third and Wynne ran fourth. The Forrest City Blue Mustangs finished sixth with 31 points.
The White Mustangs and the Blue and White girls' teams, did not run at the meet.
Osceola's Dustin Lewis scored 27 points to take high point honors.
The junior girls competition -- team and individual -- was as close as it has ever been at the relays.
Jonesboro MacArthur and Jonesboro Annie Camp finished in a tie for the championship. Both teams finished with 96 3/4 points. Osceola finished second while Rivercrest was third, Newport fourth and Wynne fifth.
In the battle for the individual girls' high point honor, it all came down to the final event, the mile relay.
MacArthur's Aquasha Anderson led Osceola's Tabitha Marshall by a half-point headed into the final event -- 39 1/2 to 39 points.
Anderson did not run the mile relay while Marshall did, needing at least a fourth place finish to win high point honors.
The Osceola team finished in fourth behind Newport, Rivercrest and Marion, giving Marshall a 40 to 39 1/2 victory over Anderson.
Marshall ran first in four events during the meet while Anderson picked up three first place finishes.
The Blue Mustangs got a second place finish from Leo Drone in the 110-meter intermediate hurdles. Drone finished the race in 18.59 behind Lewis who took first. drone was third in the event Monday at Newport.
Tremaine Collins finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet 7 1/2 inches while Hughes' Brian Hillis was sixth with a toss of 39 feet five inches.
Collins was also fifth in the 440-run in a time of 59.43.
In the high jump, Chavelle Wilson finished third (5 feet, 6 inches) and Marquee Earwin finished sixth.
Forrest City finished fifth in the 880-meter relay and fifth in the two-mile relay using Dexter Freeman, Earwin, Terrance Williams and Lee Bonner.
Hughes was second in the 440-meter relay using the quartet of David Dowden, Andre Walker, Ayo Ogunsakin and Courtley London, who was fifth in the long jump.
The senior high version of the Yellowjacket Relays will be held today at Yellowjacket Stadium in Wynne.
The Forrest City Mustangs, coming off a third place finish at Cabot on Tuesday, will take part as will the Hughes Blue Devils.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS--The Forrest City Mustang golf team finished strong.
The Mustangs won their third straight match Wednesday, defeating West Memphis 183 to 184 to end the year at 4-7.
The win gave Forrest City a sweep over West Memphis in the two AAAAA-East Conference matches -- both by one stroke.
On Monday, Forrest City won 347 to 348 in 18-hole play at Forrest City Country Club. Wednesday, the two teams played the regulation nine-hole, play five, count four format.
Chad Halbert took medalist honors with a round of 41. Luke DeBuhr fired a 46 while Matt Turner and Jake Wade finished with rounds of 48.
Cam Deacon led West Memphis with a round of 43.
In girls' play, the Lady Mustangs capped a perfect season with a 16-stroke victory over West Memphis.
Sarah Eldridge earned medalist honors finishing with a round of 45. Hannah Cohn finished with a 65.
The boys' AAAAA-east District practice round is set for Monday at Cabot and tournament play begins Tuesday.
Halbert, Brian hacker, Wade, Josh Coleman and DeBuhr will represent Forrest City at the district.
Halbert will be the top-seeded player based on his 45.6 nine-hole stroke average. Hacker is seeded second (45.8), Wade is third (46.2), Coleman is fourth (47.5) and DeBuhr is the fifth seed (49.6).
The Class AAAAA state tournament will be played April 24, at Cabot's Greystone Course.
The Class AAA state champion Hughes Blue Devils will play a benefit basketball game tonight at Blue Devil Gym, against a team comprised of former Hughes players and alumni.
The "Alumni Game" will tip at 7 p.m. and admission to the game is $2 for adults and $1 for students.
All proceeds will be used to help send the Blue Devils to team basketball camp.