By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JACKSONVILLE--The Forrest City Mustangs took a severe blow in AAAAA-East Conference play Friday when they lost a varsity doubleheader to the Jacksonville Red Devils at Dupree Park.
Jacksonville took the opener 12-4 and then made it a clean sweep by taking the nightcap 13-3.
Jacksonville improves to 3-2 in the conference while the Mustangs fall to 1-4 in league play and 4-8 overall for the season.
Jacksonville led 6-4 going into the sixth inning when disaster struck for the Mustangs.
The Red Devils scored six runs in the inning to put the game away.
Forrest City got runs from Mark Lewis, who singled and scored in the top of the first; Brad Taylor who scored in the second; Drew Vaccaro in the fourth and Marcus Hancock in the fifth.
Once again in the game, the Mustangs kept the game close before giving up a big inning to Jacksonville.
The Red Devils took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and held that advantage until the bottom of the third when Forrest City tied the game.
Lewis used an error to get on base, stole second and came home on another Jacksonville error, leaving the game deadlocked at 1-1.
Jacksonville broke the tie in the top of the fifth with five runs and then added five more runs in the top of the sixth to lead 11-1.
Forrest City answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth when Brandon Cochran and Will Harris each scored.
Jacksonville added two more in the seventh to produce the final after holding the Mustangs scoreless in their final at-bat when Forrest City went down in order.
"It's the same old story for us," said Forrest City Coach Reggie Murphy. "We played well and stayed with them for five innings and then we just let the wheels come off. We have a chance to redeem ourselves this week in conference play."
The Mustangs travel to Jonesboro Tuesday for a doubleheader.
The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots pushed their season record to 6-0 Friday with a 15-0 win over Elaine in three innings at Palestine.
The Lady Patriots played long ball, led by Nikki Bass, who belted solo home runs in each of her first two at-bats and scored three runs.
Libby Martin, pressed into the pitcher's role with the team last week after regular starting pitcher Amanda Riffle suffered recurring knee problems, scored three times for P-W. Martin had a double, a triple and a home run. Leslie Hoots crossed the plate three times and connected for a home run. Jenny Loewer doubled and scored while Andrea Cooper tripled and hit a home run. Tara Beck, Amanda Roberts and Marla Gardner each scored single runs.
The Lady Patriots will host Hazen today at Palestine, beginning at 4 p.m. and will travel to Barton on Tuesday for a conference twinbill.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
SOUTHAVEN--Arkansas Concrete, Forrest City's 10-year-old youth baseball team, finished second at the Super Pretzel Shootout tournament played this past weekend at Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, Miss.
The tournament featured 16 teams from five states competing in an Olympic pool play style format.
Arkansas Concrete and the Wynne Yellowjackets were the only two Arkansas teams in the mix.
Arkansas Concrete opened tournament play on Friday with a 3-2 loss to the Bolivar Fire Ants from Bolivar, Tenn.
Bolivar scored two in the first inning and added one in the second to lead 3-1.
Arkansas Concrete got a run in the second from Barrett Astin and cut Bolivar's lead to 3-2 in the third when Barrett Beshears walked and scored.
Arkansas Concrete loaded the basese in the top of the sixth but failed to score.
On Saturday, the team rebounded to win their game against the Louisville Lightning from Louisville, Kentucky 5-2.
Chance Pearson and Seth Smith each walked and scored in the top of the first inning and Baker Aldridge walked and scored in the second to put Arkansas Concrete on top 3-0 before Louisville picked up a run in the bottom of the second.
Arkansas Concrete added a run in the fourth when Turner Norsworthy walked and scored and pushed their final run across in the top of the sixth when Joey Bonds scored.
Next up was a Saturday afternoon game against the Germantown (Tenn.) Sox.
Norsworthy scored in the top of the seventh inning to break a 6-6 tie to lift the Concrete team to a 7-6 win.
Pearson, Norsworthy and Findley Scott Laws each scored twice in the game while Raymond Patillo scored a single run.
On Sunday, Arkansas Concrete faced the Greenwood (Miss.) Storm in the championship round and scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 4-2 win over the Storm to put them into the championship game against the Cordova Wolves from Bartlett, Tenn.
Tied at 1-1, going into the fifth, Bonds, Astin and Norsworthy each scored single runs to break on top 4-1. The Storm picked up a run in the bottom half of the inning.
The team started fast, plating four runs in the top of the first inning, before the Wolves got back within a run in the bottom of the inning with three runs.
Concrete made it 5-3 with a run in the second but Cordova took the lead at 6-5 with three runs in the home portion of the second inning.
A four-run, third inning put Arkansas Concrete back on top 9-6. Cordova got a run in the fourth to slice the Concrete lead to 9-7 and rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 10-9 win.
Southaven was the second tournament for Arkansas Concrete this season.
They finished third at the Memphis Travelers Invitational Tournament at Millington two weeks ago.
The second annual Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremonies will be held Sept. 21.
Nominations are now being taken for the second Hall of Fame class.
The Hall of Fame was started last year and included athletes from three different eras of Forrest City sports -- Lincoln High School, Forrest City High School before 1970 and Forrest City High School from 1970 to present.
The first 12 inductees were DeJustice Coleman, Manuel Twillie, Cecil Twillie and Robert Harris, representing Lincoln; Marvin Laws, James Devazier, Donnie Kessinger and B. Lindsey, representing FCHS prior to 1970 and Rusty Trail, Mallory Nimocks, Robert Lee Steward and Arthur Banks, representing FCHS from 1970 to present.
Nominations may be mailed to Bill Baxter at P.O. Box 1034, Forrest City, or to the St. Francis County Museum at 603 Front Street.
Nomination forms should include information as to why the nominee is deserving of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
All nominations must be made by Aug. 1, 2001.