WEST MEMPHIS -- The West Memphis Blue Devils used their pitching depth Tuesday to put away the Forrest City Mustangs in AAAAA-East Conference play at Tilden Rodgers Complex.
The Blue Devils ace lefty Taylor Fowler, was all set to make the start against Forrest City with two major league scouts on hand to get a further glimpse.
Fowler, however, felt a twinge in his arm and felt it best not to risk damage.
That forced West Memphis to mix-and-match as No. 2 man Ty Anderson was called on to start.
Anderson, also a senior lefty, held Forrest City to just three hits over four innings and was the winning pitcher in a 9-1 decision over the Mustangs.
Anderson gave way for the final three innings to senior righty Jake Hatchett, No. 3 in the rotation, who had been the starter for the Blue Devils in the first matchup of the year between the two teams, a 10-3 West Memphis victory in 10 innings back on March 14 at Forrest City.
He allowed only a seventh-inning single.
Neither pitcher allowed a walk.
Forrest City greeted Anderson with two singles to open the game, and the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils rallied for a 2-1 lead after three innings.
In the fourth inning the Blue Devils broke the game open, but not exactly by mashing the ball.
West Memphis used a pair of suicide squeeze bunts in a four-run fourth inning.
The Blue Devils added two more runs in the sixth, one on an RBI single from Hatchett.
Junior third baseman Chris Oswalt led West Memphis' six-hit attack with a pair of singles.
West Memphis (12-6, 6-2) won its fifth straight game while the Mustangs lost for the second straight time.
The Mustangs are 3-7 overall for the year and 0-4 in the conference.
West Memphis will host Sylvan Hills Friday in a key conference doubleheader matchup while the Mustangs will host Little Rock Mills.
West Memphis and Sylvan Hills are battling for the conference's top spot.
After last Friday's games, which did nothing to clear things up in the East conference, six of the eight league teams each with two conference losses and at least two league wins.
*Forrest City has been forced to forfeit its doubleheader conference matchup against Jacksonville.
Originally scheduled to be played last Friday at Forrest City, the Mustangs had to cancel the game after being unable to secure umpires.
Efforts to reschedule the game couldn't be worked out, resulting in the forfeit.
The double forfeit leaves Forrest City at 3-9 for the year and 0-6 in the league.
*The Hughes Blue Devils evened their season record at 2-2 Tuesday by pounding Turrell 20-0.
Chuck Jackson picked up the win from the mound and Wayne Bartouch slammed a three-run home run for Hughes.
Hughes will travel to Marked Tree today for a 4 p.m. game.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
JONESBORO -- The host Jonesboro Lady Hurricane stormed past Forrest City 14-4 in high school fast-pitch softball in a make-up game played Tuesday at Southside Park in Jonesboro.
The Lady Mustangs remain winless in AAAAA-East Conference play at 0-9 and slip to 2-10 overall for the year. They travel to Cabot today for a scheduled 5 p.m., conference game.
Jessica Long scored twice for Forrest City while Natalie Nelson and Tyeshia McDaniel added single runs.
Jonesboro opened a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning before the Lady Mustang cut the lead in half, 4-2, with two runs in the top of the second.
Two more Lady Hurricane runs in the bottom of the third made it a 6-2 lead before Forrest City pulled within two at 6-4 with two runs in the top of the fourth.
The rest of the game belonged to Jonesboro, as the host team scored five times in the fifth and four times in the sixth.
For Jonesboro, Sara Lehman homered, while Rachel Sharp and Kim Tinsley each had a pair of hits for Jonesboro. Amanda Berry struck out five to pick up the win.
*Quinita Harris had two hits and Krystal Lemiere scattered a pair of hits on the mound to lead Wynne to a 5-4 victory and a doubleheader split with Batesville Tuesday in AAAA-East fast-pitch softball.
Wynne (11-4, 5-1) scored five runs in the third inning and held on for the victory in the first game before dropping the second 6-5.
Lemiere walked two and struck out two in seven innings of the first game and surrendered eight hits and walked two in seven innings in the nightcap.
*Meanwhile, the Hughes Lady Blue Devils, in their first season of slow pitch softball, are 1-3 for the year but continue to improve.
"All of the girls are freshmen and sophomores and with the exception of two on the team, everyone is playing softball for the first time," said Coach Brad Brannen. "Since the opening game, we have made steady improvement, despite all of the rain outs. If these girls hang in, by the time they ar seniors, they will be hard to beat. They have some talent."
The Lady Blue Devils split with West Helena and suffered losses to Cross County and Clarendon.
The Lady Blue Devils will host Cross County today.
Hughes begins play in the district tournament next week at Elaine.
The top four will advance to the regional tournament.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustang golf teams finished the regular season strong by defeating Marion on Tuesday.
The varsity boys took a 170-177 victory over the Patriots with Brian Hacker shooting a season-best round of 40 to take medalist honors.
Josh Coleman finished with a 41 while Chad Halbert fired a 43 for the day.
The varsity girls, led by Sarah Eldridge's season-best round of 38, easily put away the Marion Lady Patriots by 29 strokes, winning 95-124 in their match. Mary Dudley Hodges finished with a 57.
The Forrest City girls, undefeated in regular season for the second straight year, close out at 5-0-1, while the boys finish regular season at 5-3.
On Monday, the girls defeated Greenbrier and Searcy in a trimatch played at Searcy.
Eldridge finished with a 49 in that match up.
In the quadmatch against Greenbrier, Searcy and Cathedral School (Little Rock) the Mustang boys finished with a round of 182, led by Halbert's 43 and Hacker's round of 45.
The Forrest City boys will begin practice round for the upcoming AAAAA-East Conference Tournament, to be played Tuesday, April 16, at Cabot's Greystone Country Club.
A year ago, the Mustangs finished fifth in the tournament.
The boys Class AAAAA state tournament is scheduled to be played April 23 at Cabot.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City White Junior lady Mustangs finished seventh Tuesday at the Lady Patriot Relays held at Marion.
The White junior girls put up 16 1/2 points at the junior high meet.
The Blue Lady Mustangs finished ninth with five points.
Jonesboro Annie Camp ran away from all of the competition, scoring 147 points. Jonesboro MacArthur was a distant second with 84 points while Marion was third with 68.
Forrest City's Sequoria Grady won the high jump with a leap of five feet.
The White team ran fifth in the 3,200-meter relay while the Blue team ran sixth in the 1,600-meter relay.
The Osceola meet, scheduled for Friday, has been cancelled.
The junior high boys and girls track teams will run at Marianna on Wednesday, April 17.
MEND, Cotton Plant's afterschool-tutoring program, will host an Intramural basketball tournament, April 15-19.
Team entry fee is $75.
For information contact Jackie Powell at (870) 459-9917 or Roy Daniels at (870) 459-3471.
The Forrest City Colts AAU team will host Bellevue Baptist and West Memphis Friday, April 12, at Mustang Arena.
Basketball games will begin at 6 p.m., when the Colts take on West Memphis. FCity will play Bellevue at 8:30 p.m.
* PREP SPORTS
FAST PITCH SOFTBALL
Monday's Scores
Palestine-Wheatley 11, Carlisle 1
Jacksonville 12, Forrest City 0
Tuesday's Score
Jonesboro 14, Forrest City 4
Thursday, April 11
Forrest City at Cabot, 5 p.m.
DeValls Bluff at P-W, 4 p.m.
SLOW PITCH SOFTBALL
Monday's Score
Osceola at Hughes - Cancelled
Thursday, April 11
Cross County at Hughes, 4:30 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Friday's Score
Jacksonville vs Forrest City
(Forfeit win for Jacksonville)
Tuesday's Score
West Memphis 9, Forrest City 1
Thursday, April 11
Hughes at Marked Tree, 4:30 p.m.
P-W at West Helena, 4 p.m.
Friday, April 12
Little Rock Mills at Forrest City, 4:30 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK
Thursday, April 11
Forrest City at West Memphis, 3:30 p.m.
(Senior Boys, Senior Girls)