By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The East Arkansas Bandits reached the championship round of the USSSA 10-Year-Old World Series Tuesday.
Eighty-three teams began pool play Monday at the World Series, which is being played at Southaven, Miss.
The Bandits are one of seven Arkansas teams involved in the World Series and they were the only Arkansas team to finish pool play with a winning record. The 2-1 mark in pool play put the team into the double-elimination championship bracket round, which started play this morning.
The Bandits were scheduled to play the Ola Mudcats from McDonough, Ga. The Mudcats ended pool play in a three-way tie at 2-1.
A win over the Mudcats will bring the Bandits back for an afternoon game against The Knoxville, Tenn. Yardsharks, who emerged from pool play at 3-0.
The Bandits are made up of players from Wynne, Marion, Marked Tree and McCrory. Several of the players have Forrest City connections.
Keenan Jumper, Connor McAllister and Cody Carlson are from Wynne and each played a big role in the winning rally.
Jared Lancaster, Connor Smith and Forrest Hall are all from Marion while Boyd Williams and twin brothers, Peyton and Grant Duncan are from McCrory.
Peyton and Grant are the sons of Forrest City native Barry Duncan and his wife, Dana. They are the grandsons of Janet Duncan of Forrest City.
The team is coached by Craig McAllister, Kevin Jumper, Joe Pitts and Joe Williams.
They are the 2001 Arkansas state runners-up and are currently ranked No. 3 in the nation and the No. 2 ranked team into the USSSA tournament.
Going into Monday's first-round of pool play games, the Bandits were 36-20-2.
Tuesday, the Bandits lost to the top-seeded Dallas (Texas) Braves 19-5 but rebounded later in the day to take a 12-4 win over the Clinton (Iowa) Comets.
The loss against Dallas leaves the Bandits 0-2-1 in three games against the Braves team this season.
"We felt like Dallas was the tam to beat in our pool and we were right," said Jumper. "They finished pool play unbeaten. But we also knew if we came out of pool play at 2-1, it would get us into the championship round."
Grant Duncan got the pitching start for the Bandits and got the win as well. He received offensive support from Richie Tate and Jared Lancaster, who each blasted over-the-fence home runs.
Connor McAllister and Peyton Duncan combined for the pitching duties in the loss to Dallas.
On Monday, the Bandits posted a come-from-behind 8-6 win over the Louisville Lightning, the Kentucky state champions to get their first victory in pool play.
Tate was the winning pitcher, going the complete six innings and holding Louisville to the six runs on five hits and six walks.
The Bandits trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the second inning but scored two runs to cut Louisville's lead to 4-3. In the bottom of the third, the team plated two more runs to take a 5-4 lead and in the bottom of the fourth, put up three runs to lead 8-4.
Meanwhile, the East Arkansas 8-Under Bandits open pool play in the 8-year-old Coach-Pitch World Series today at Carencro, La.
The Bandits, with several players from Forrest City and Wynne on roster, opened play Wednesday morning against the Kaplan All-Stars from Louisiana and are scheduled to play the Mounds (Oklahoma) Eagles today at 3:30 p.m.
The Bandits return Thursday for an 8 a.m. game against the Woodland (Texas) Banditos.
Like the 10-year-old Bandits, the 8s have a chance to advance to the double-elimination style championship bracket upon completing pool play or to the single-elimination consolation round.
The eights are the only Arkansas team in the World Series.
Both tournaments run through Sunday, July 21.
Volunteers can be the backbone of any event.
And the annual Mightymite triathlon is no exception.
Volunteers donate their time to help organize, direct, and produce event such as the Mightymite, which will be run in Forrest City for the 19th consecutive year on Saturday, July 20.
Mightymite Director Wyndell Robertson needs all the volunteer help he can muster to once again insure this year's Mightymite is a success.
"Without volunteers the participants would not know where to go or what to do during the race," Robertson said recently. The Mightymite staff wants to make sure that this is a fun triathlon for the volunteers as well as the participants."
Robertson said organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts, or a soccer or baseball team can benefit from volunteering for the triathlon.
"We will donate $50 for every five people they bring out to volunteer," Robertson said.
Those interested in such a deal need only call Robertson at (901) 276-0354 for more information.
The Mightymite format remains the same as in past years with the race beginning with the swim at Village Creek State Park's Lake Dunn. The second leg is the bicycle ride and the finishing leg with be the run to the finish line.
Trophies will be awarded for the top 10 male and females and the overall male and female master (40+).
Other awards will be given in age divisions 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59and 60 plus as well as the top 3 Athena (145 lbs.), top 3 Clydesdale (200 lbs.) and the top three relay teams (male, female, mixed).
This year's Mightymite Tri will be a USA Triathlon sanctioned event.
The field is limited to 500 participants.
Packet pick up will be held Friday, July 19, from 5 until 8 p.m. and on Saturday, July 20, from 5:30 until 6:30 a.m., at the Forrest City Civic Center, located at 1335 North Washington Ave.
On Saturday, late packet pick up will be available at Village Creek State Park's Lake Dunn from 7:00 until 7:30 a.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Mustangs will open the 2002 high school football season on Friday, Sept. 6, when they renew their Highway 1 rivalry against Wynne.
The series was interrupted last year when the Yellowjackets opted to play in the Hooten's/Alltel Kickoff Classic.
The Yellowjackets went on to win the Class AAAA state title, beating Stuttgart in the championship game.
The Mustangs hosted Osceola in last year's opener in place of Wynne.
This year, Wynne is back in the opening season slot and Osceola remains on the schedule, becoming the Mustangs' third and final nonconference matchup on Sept. 20.
Sandwiched in between is Marianna. Gone from the nonconference schedule is Newport.
The AAAAA-East Conference portion of the Mustangs' schedule has undergone a face lift as well.
Gone from the league is Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Mills. They have been replaced by Searcy and Mountain Home.
Searcy is a home game for the Mustangs but Mountain Home is a road trip.
Other area changes have Hughes dropping down to Class AA football this season and into the same conference with Palestine-Wheatley.
The Patriots will play at Hughes on Oct. 11.