By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
No doubt, the late Ralph Thompson was smiling from ear to ear Monday as the first annual Ralph Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament was being played at Forrest City's Country Club.
"If he were here, he would be as happy as one man could be," said Ralph's son, Johnny, who attended the event. "He wouldn't have wanted the attention for himself, but he would be happy that his friends and family were all working together for such a great cause."
The tournament was held to benefit the East Arkansas Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
"The tournament was a huge success," said tournament director Mallory Parker. "It really exceeded our expectations. When we started talking about putting this thing together, we really didn't know what to expect or how it would turn out."
Thirty-nine, four-man teams played in the one-day tournament which raised more than $8,000 for FCA and was backed by corporate sponsors Nimocks Oil Co., Exxon and Pepsi America.
The tournament was played in two flights -- a morning and afternoon session.
The team of Woody Harrelson, Jim Goad, Bryce Goad and Jared Woodard won the morning flight shooting an 18-under 53 round.
Mallory Nimocks, David Baldwin and Bill Baxter were second with a 13-under 58.
Bill Little, Willie Little, Stephen Cox and Jeff Redden, all of Jonesboro won the afternoon flight with a round of 16-under 55 while the team of John Bramlett, Davis Sisson, Andy Bramlett and Larry Robinson, all of Cordova, Tenn., placed second with a 15-under 56.
Willie Little recently won the state junior match play title held at Stuttgart.
Pine Bluff's Richie Workman, Jamey Price, Mike Costello and Chad Gentry finished in a tie for third with the Forrest City/Conway team of Charlie Bradshaw, Don DeVasier, Terry Bradshaw and Larry Malpeeka.
Both teams finished with a round of 13 under 58.
Dean Sides, of Newport, hit a hole-in-one on the 15th hole.
"The entire community should be commended for their effort in putting this tournament together," said Johnny Thompson.
Thompson, of Forrest City, is the defensive football coordinator at the University of Florida.
"This area meant a lot to my dad and we have been involved with the FCA for quite a while," Thompson said. "There is a lot more to athletics that just winning football game. FCA gives the athletes something positive in a world where there are too many negatives. Hopefully, this tournament will make a difference in the lives of Forrest City's local athletes."
The tournament attracted several high-profile coaches and administrators from colleges and universities from Arkansas and surrounding states.
"I can't begin to put into words how much this touches the Thompson family," Johnny added. "We are blessed that we are able to do our small part for such a worthy cause."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Layne McGuirt, 12, of Forrest City and her little sister, Meg, spent the summer learning the game of fast-pitch softball by playing some of the best teams around.
Layne, who will be going into the eighth grade, was honing her skills as a pitcher as a member of the North Mississippi Cardinals 12-under competitive fast-pitch girls' softball team, which placed second at the B State Tournament played at Tupelo, Miss., June 28-30.
The Cardinals rolled through the tournament, finishing at 5-1. The team defeated the Louisville All Stars, Mississippi Thunder, Southaven Illusions, Oak Grove Stingers and the Thrillers from DeSoto County, Miss.
McGuirt pitched in all five games and compiled a 4-1 won-loss record. From the plate, McGuirt banged out two doubles, three triples and one home run.
The Cardinals lost to the Hattiesburg, Miss. Southern Storm in the tournament finals.
The Cardinals qualified for the ASA 'B' Regional Tournament, which will be played in McAllister, Okla., July 19-21.
The ASA National Tournament will be played in Montgomery, Ala., July 29-Aug. 5.
Meg, who will be going into the fifth grade in the fall, played for the 10-under fast-pitch North Mississippi Cardinals and competed in the 10-under Mississippi state tournament, June 28-30, at Olive Branch, Miss.
The 10-under Cardinals finished sixth out of 22 teams.
The Cardinals defeated the Houston All Stars, Batesville Blaze and the Cozy Kats of Kosiousko, Miss while losing to the Mississippi Blast and the Coastliners, the tournament champions.
Meg is the team's second baseman.
Both Layne and Meg are former players for the Times-Herald youth softball team in Forrest City.
They are the daughters of Woody and Karen McGuirt of Forrest City.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The VIPs completed their Junior Bambino League season Tuesday by winning their seven consecutive game, a 12-6 victory over Hill Concrete.
That winning streak helped the team finish third in the final standings at 10-5.
Lucas Trucking won the outright league title Tuesday by defeating Sanyo 10-3.
Lucas finishes the year at 14-1 while Sanyo ends at 10-4.
In other games played Tuesday, Mr. T Auto downed A&C Motors 10-9 and Food Giant rolled past Farm Credit 18-1.
On Monday, the VIPs downed A&C Motors 16-3.
Anthony Wallace, Mario Peters and Chris Bean each scored three runs in the win over A&C to help the VIPs score five runs in the first and second innings and six in the third.
Tuesday, against Hill, Peters scored three times while Jerrod Brown, Terrance Bean, Louis Driver and Devanis Johnson each scored twice.
Peters banged out three triples in the game and drove in three runs.
He also pitched the complete game to get the win while Brown drilled a two-run homer in the first inning.
Andrew Atkins, Davyon McKinney and Brandyn Granberry each scored single runs to lead the Hill Concrete team.
Lucas turned a 2-1 lead after the first inning into a 10-3 win Tuesday night by scoring three times in the second inning and three times in the fourth to put away Sanyo.
Bruce Heard and Jeffrey Siler led the way by scoring two runs each while John Jones, Jim Bailey, Jarvis Bolden, Daries Banks, Justin Strong and Theodis Goodwin added single runs.
Bailey went the distance from the mound to get the win, holding Sanyo to three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out 12.
Mr. T got two runs from Larry Smith, Jonathan Pinson and Devin Green in their win over A&C Motors Tuesday.
Romero Barber, Lloyd Barber and Chatman Tucker added single runs.
Mr. T led 10-5 going into the bottom of the fourth inning before A&C rallied for four runs. The rally fell short as A&C left the potential game-tying run standing at third base when the final out was made.
Jeffery Lopez scored twice for A&C as did Bakari Norman and Bryan Whittenton. Tate Roberts added a single run.
Food Giant ran all over Farm Credit Tuesday, getting three runs each from Chandler Sorrells, Jacob Hoskins, Cody Broussard and Blake Duch. Ben Dickey scored the lone Farm Credit run.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
True Value clinched at least a share for the10-under girls' slow-pitch league title Tuesday with an 18-3 win over Forrest City Bank.
True Value improves to 14-2 for the year with two regular season games left to play.
Steven's Food Giant and Dr. Schwartz are all locked in a three-way tie for second place. each of the three teams are 12-4.
True Value picked up its ninth straight win on Tuesday by scoring five runs each in the first and second innings and four runs each in the third and fourth while holding Forrest City Bank to single runs in the second, third and fourth innings.
Cassie Holloway and Kristina Fort led the way with three runs each. Holloway hit two home runs while Sharika Jones and LaQuasha Moore homered.
In other games played Tuesday, Title Company split a doubleheader, losing to Food Giant 13-1 and then slipping past Sanyo 8-7.
Semiko Grady scored three times to lead Title Company in the win over Sanyo.
Steven's edged Walker Insurance 11-10 and Sanyo defeated Dr. Schwartz 11-8.
McDonald's was awarded a forfeit win over Southern Furniture when the game was halted after one inning.
Mary Burks homered for Walker Insurance and scored three times. Steven's was led by Kelsey Ferguson, Kaitlyn Peterson and kayla Johnson.
The league will conclude their regular season with games on Monday, July 8 and Tuesday, July 9.
On Monday, Steven's shut out Dr. Schwartz 12-0, true Value slipped past Food Giant 8-7, Sanyo downed Southern Furniture 6-2 and Forrest City Bank edged McDonald's 9-7.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Forrest City Lady Mustang basketball team enjoyed a successful stay last week at the Arkansas State University Lady Indian Basketball Camp.
The Lady Mustangs varsity team comprised of Caronica Randle, Trina Wynne, Gabriel Agnew, Shari Rogers, Kim Ursery, Katrina Floyd, Erika Haggans and Sequoria Grady, finished second in the 12-team tournament bracket, losing to Sylvan Hills in the finals of the tournament after defeating Marion and Greene County Tech.
The Forrest City Junior Varsity squad, comprised of Nicole Parker, Shardavia Davis, Whitney Lowe, Mary Jo Hymes, Emily Harris, Teela Lee and Torrie Willis, also finished second in their tournament bracket, losing to Greene County Tech in the finals after taking victories over North Calaway.
* CITY LEAGUES
YOUTH BASEBALL
Junior Bambino League (9-10)
Monday's Score
VIPs 16, A&C Motors 3
Tuesday's Scores
VIPs 12, Hill Concrete 6
Mr. T Auto 10, A&C Motors 9
Food Giant 18, Farm Credit 1
Lucas Trucking 10, Sanyo 3
Cal Ripken 10-Year-Old State Tournament at Pine Bluff Seabrook Complex
Friday, July 5
Forrest City vs Russellville, 1 p.m.
District 7 Junior Babe Ruth Tournament
13-Year-Olds at Pine Bluff
Friday, July 5
Wynne vs Pine Bluff Junior, 3 p.m.
White Hall vs Marion, 5 p.m.
Forrest City vs Pine Bluff Northern, 7 p.m.
14-Year-Olds at White Hall
Friday, July 5
West Memphis vs Wynne, 1 p.m.
Marion vs Pine Bluff Northern, 3 p.m.
Pine Bluff Junior vs Forrest City, 6 p.m.
West Helena vs White Hall, 8 p.m.
15-Year-Olds at Pine Bluff
Friday, July 5
Pine Bluff Northern vs White Hall, 1 p.m.
West Memphis vs Wynne, 3 p.m.
West Helena vs Marion, 6 p.m.
Pine Bluff Junior vs Forrest City, 8 p.m.
GIRLS SOFTBALL
10-Under League (Slow-Pitch)
Monday's Scores
FCity Bank 9, McDonald's 7
True Value 8, Food Giant 7
Sanyo 9, Food Giant 7
Steven's 12, Dr. Schwartz 0
Walker Ins. vs Title Company
Sanyo 6, Southern Furniture 2
Tuesday's Scores
Sanyo 11, Dr. Schwartz 8
Food Giant 13, Title Company 1
Title Company 8, Sanyo 7
Steven's 11, Walker Insurance 10
True Value 18, Forrest City Bank 3