By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Good weather, good crowd, good food.
Sunday's American Legion opener at the Sports Complex had all the elements of a perfect day at the ballpark.
The only thing missing was a victory.
The Lonoke Lookouts swept Forrest City in an 'A' squad doubleheader 12-2 and 11-8.
It was the first game of the Legion season for each program.
Lonoke used an eight-run, third inning in the first game to secure the win.
Dustin Gore and Colby McKennon combined for the Forrest City pitching duties. Gore started and worked the first three innings and was tagged with the loss.
Jesse Whittmore and Danny Flowers each scored for Forrest City. Whittmore, from Wynne, was 1-for-3 at the plate and scored in the bottom of the sixth after drawing a walk and coming home on Gore's RBI single.
Flowers, 1-for-2 on the day, singled in the bottom of the fifth and came around to score.
"Most of the runs he (Gore) gave up were unearned," said Forrest City Coach Darrell Gaskin. "The defense behind him made some mistakes and that cost us."
Forrest City got their two runs on five hits and seven walks while stranding 13 runners.
Lonoke plated their 12 runs on nine hits and five walks.
In the nightcap,Gaskin went with Daniel Parten on the mound, who worked the first four innings before giving way to Whittmore, who took the loss.
Lonoke scored in the top of the first and Forrest City tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Jimmy Aldridge used an error to reach base and scored on a double by Danny Flowers.
Lonoke led 6-1 going into the bottom of the third before Forrest City plated seven runs by sending 11 batters to the plate to take an 8-6 lead.
Lonoke tied the game at 8-8 with two runs in the top of the fourth and then won the game with three runs in the top of the sixth.
Forrest City plated their seven runs on three hits, two walks and two errors.
Aldridge scored twice while Whittmore,, Gore, Flowers, Princeton Davis, McKennon and Casidy Hankins scored single runs.
"I think in the first game, being nervous hurt us because the plays we didn't make were plays that we normally make," Gaskin said. "It was too bad we couldn't get a win, because we had a great crowd on hand. I hope they don't give up on us. The kids are working hard."
Forrest City will host Newport Tuesday for an A-AAA doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Bambino (11-12) teams didn't get to play in the Fireball Classic Tournament over the weekend but the pitching machine teams did.
Almost two inches of rain on Friday left the fields unplayable -- even into Saturday morning when tournament organizers delayed the start of the Bambino part of the tournament for more than two hours.
However, ground crews were able to get the Minor League field playable for the younger kids.
After going 2-1 in the round-robin bracket to qualify for the championship game, Devazier held off T&J Properties 20-19 in the finals.
Devazier's victory in the final game offset a 24-10 loss earlier in the day to T&J.
T&J entered the title game after three straight victories in round-robin action.
T&J defeated Easley Law 19-11, Joey's Muffler 27-7 and Devazier 24-10.
Devazier downed Joey's 14-4 and Easley Law 22-14.
Joey's picked up a victory over Easley Law, winning 18-10 to finish the day at 1-2 while Easley finished 0-3.
T&J led 19-14 after scoring five runs in the top of the sixth inning in the final game.
Devazier rallied in the bottom of the inning for six runs and the victory.
T&J led 5-3 after two innings and pushed that lead to 12-3 headed into the bottom of the fourth. Devazier scored once to cut the lead to 12-4 and then exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 14-14.
Devazier got four runs from Demarius Fingers and three runs each from Nicholas King and Dneshio Foster.
The Minor League will be in action tonight as regular season games resume.
Friday's schedule was rained out.
* CITY LEAGUES YOUTH BASEBALL
Minor League (Pitching Machine)
Monday, May 20
Devazier vs Easley Law, 6 p.m. F7
T&J Properties vs Lion's Club, 7:30 p.m. F7
Bambino League (11-12)
Monday, May 20
Pearson Ins. vs Taylor Glass, 6 p.m. F5
Bonanza vs Taco Bell, 6 p.m. F6
Ray Houser vs Vaccaro, 7:30 p.m. F5
Cochran Auto vs L&L Electric, 7:30 p.m. F6
Junior Babe Ruth League
Monday, May 20
Rotary Club vs Ridout, 6 p.m. F8
Planter's Bank vs Freeman, 7:45 p.m. F8
ADULT SOFTBALL
Men's League
Monday, May 20
Barnes Timber vs Kerby's, 7 p.m. F3
Bulldogs vs M&T Paving, 7 p.m. F4
Boar's Head vs Morgan, 8 p.m. F3
Young Guns vs Greg's, 8 p.m. F4
Gym 2000 vs Miller Insurance, 9 p.m. F3
Sanyo vs TSM Computers, 9 p.m. F4
Women's League
Monday, May 20
First National Bank vs Mohr Sports, 7 p.m. F1
Chism vs Purple Haze, 8 p.m. F1