By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
At this point, it appears that Mother Nature is winning the game when it comes to the Forrest City youth baseball and softball leagues.
The majority of the rain outs have come on either Monday or Thursday night, with the most recent wash out occurring Monday night.
Following last night's rain out, the program is now facing the prospect of making up 81 games halted by the weather.
The hardest hit of the two leagues has been the youth boys baseball.
The Bambino (9-10) League has lost 16 games to rain while the Junior Babe Ruth League has dropped 12 games.
The Minor League (pitching machine) has lost 10 games or five playing dates.
M&T Paving and the Lion's Club teams have been involved in each one of the five rain outs and have only played four games each since the season started on May 2.
By contrast, Taylor-Casbeer, which leads the league, has played eight games having lost only one to a rain out. Easley Law and Mr. T have lost three games to rain outs.
In Bambino, five of the nine teams have four rain out games to make up while the remaining four teams have three to get in before the season ends exactly one month from today.
Four of the seven Junior Babe Ruth teams have four rain outs to make up while the final three teams have been hit with three rain outs.
By contrast, the Bambino (11-12) League, which plays on Tuesday and Friday, have lost only one scheduled playing date and are down only four games.
The T-Ball League has five games to make up.
According to Program Director Kenneth Taylor, a Saturday "Play Day" will be scheduled to help make up the lost games, with most of the teams playing doubleheaders.
The men's adult softball league has lost three playing dates and are down 15 games. Playing deep into July, the men's league will have the opportunity to make up their rain outs once the youth leagues have ended regular season.
The girls' softball league, which plays on Tuesday and Friday nights, has not suffered quite as many rain outs, having lost only one date -- May 11 -- and are only down 10 games.
The adult women's league has lost three playing dates and are behind by nine games.
The process of making up the lost games will become a little more complicated later this month and into July when several tournaments, scheduled to be played at the Sports Complex, will begin.
The annual Heather McKee Memorial softball tournament will be played the weekend of June 23-24 on the softball side of the complex while the second annual postseason T-Ball Tournament will be played on the boys' baseball side of the complex.
Additionally, Forrest City will host a pair of youth baseball tournaments beginning the last weekend of June.
The Sports Complex will host the 10-year-old district tournament, June 28-July 3 and will host the 13-year-old district tournament from July 5-10.
The 12-year-old district tournament will be held in Clarendon, June 28-July 3 while the 14 and 15-year-old district tournaments will be played in Marion, July 5-11.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
On the heels of the two-week spring practice session, held last month, the Forrest City Mustang football team, along with 11 other area high schools, will participate in a "7-on-7" league for the second consecutive season.
Each team will be involved in five playing dates, at selected sites, in a series of controlled scrimmages designed to heighten and sharpen the passing game. As was the case a year ago, all of the plays from scrimmage will be passing plays only. No running plays will be used.
All games will be 20 minutes and will use a running clock, except for the final minute when time outs will be allowed to stop the clock.
Joining Forrest City are Palestine-Wheatley, Hughes, West Memphis, Barton, Wynne, Clarendon, Brinkley, Turrell, West Helena, Marianna and Hazen.
The league held its first scrimmage last week and the second will be played today at West Memphis' Hamilton-Schultz Field, beginning at 5 p.m. when Barton and Hughes hook up and Hazen and Palestine-Wheatley face off on each half of the field.
The rest of today's schedule has Wynne against Turrell and Clarendon against Marianna at 5:30 p.m.; Brinkley vs West Memphis and West Helena vs Wynne at 6 p.m.
Barton will take on Palestine-Wheatley at 6:30 p.m. while Clarendon hooks up with Hazen. Wynne goes against Hughes and Brinkley takes on Turrell at 7 p.m.
West Helena battles Marianna and Forrest City and West Memphis hook up at 7:30 p.m. The Mustangs return at 8 p.m. to go against Hazen and Hughes will go against West Helena to close out the scrimmage.
Next week's scrimmage will be held at West Helena.
The league has a new wrinkle this season.
The winner of the head-to-head, round robin scrimmages will move on to the state 7-on-7 tournament.
The Mustangs are 1-2 going into today's games.
Forrest City defeated P-W last week but lost to West Helena and Clarendon.
"This is good for the kids," said Forrest City's Donnie Willis. "It gives the kids a chance to throw and catch and to practice their coverages."
Willis said the league will complete its run with a single-elimination style tournament at the end of the season.
The pairings and site for the tournament will be announced later.