By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forty two teams went head-to-head in six different divisions Friday and Saturday as the Forrest City Sports Complex hosted the district softball tournaments for the 10-under, 12-under, 14-under and 16-under age groups.
Two 12-under Forrest City teams -- Airtherm and Food Giant -- qualified for the upcoming Class C Fast Pitch State Tournament which will be played in Cabot, June 27-29.
Airtherm, the regular season league champions at Forrest City, stayed that way during the two-day tournament going 3-0 to win the division.
Airtherm, given a bye into the second round, opened play Saturday morning with a 17-2 win over the Marion Dazzlers and then put away Food Giant 12-3 in the winner's semifinal.
Food Giant defeated Brinkley's Cajun Express 16-6 Friday night and downed Children's Clinic 17-2 Saturday.
After the loss to Airtherm, Food Giant lost to the Dazzlers 15-14 in the loser's semifinal to finish third while Airtherm defeated the Dazzlers 12-9 for the title.
Two other Forrest City league teams -- Sanyo and Bonanza -- qualified for the Class C 16-under state fast pitch tournament as well, finishing third and fourth
Wynne swept the 10-under slow pitch division as Servco finished first defeating Clark Appraisal in the final while Fisher Farms and Greenway Equipment finished third and fourth.
All four advance to the Class C state tournament in Sherwood, June 27-29.
The West Memphis Lady Braves defeated West Memphis Farmers Supply 19-11 to win the 12-under slow pitch division Saturday.
Johnny's Pro Auto and Hamlin Tractor, both of Wynne, finished third and fourth. All four teams advance to the Class C state tournament in Fort Smith, June 27-29.
In the 14-under slow pitch bracket, Wynne Backstreet Florist defeated Wynne Medical in the finals and both teams advance to the Class C state tournament in Pine Bluff, June 27-29.
West Helena Dr. Lance downed Wynne Apothecary 14-9 to win the 16-under slow pitch division while Mohr Sports and Smith Auto, both from Wynne, finished third and fourth.
The four teams qualify for the Class C state tournament to be played in Pine Bluff, June 27-29.
And finally, in the 16-under fast pitch grouping, Marion's Lady Rebelz downed Brinkley Farmer's Market 13-8 in Saturday's championship to qualify for the state tournament in Pine Bluff.
Forrest City Sanyo and Bonanza finished third and fourth and are eligible to play in the state tournament.
Sunday rain wiped out the final day of the 22nd annual Mountain Dew Grand Slam Classic at Jonesboro's Southside Softball Complex.
Tiebreaking procedures were used to determine the top four places in five of the seven age divisions. Two divisions were decided on the field Saturday.
For the first time in 10 years, the Mountain Dew tournament was cut short.
The Tomboys of Conway won the 16-and-under championship with Senter Farms of Wilson second, and the Central Arkansas-based Flames and the Mashers of Jonesboro.
The Lady Poachers of Crittenden County won the 14-and-under title and Mid-South Rage of Memphis placed second. The NLR Cole Minnows were third and the Jonesboro Diamonds fourth.
Heber Springs' Extreme won the 12-and-under fast pitch. Jett Fast of West Memphis was second and Vilonia's Explosion third.
CNI of Jonesboro earned the 12-and-under slow pitch championship Saturday night. Georgia Carpet of Jonesboro was second, followed by The Max of Paragould and Gold Rush of Trumann.
LR Southern Tag claimed the 10-and-under title. The LR Sliders were second, followed by Team Nitro of Jonesboro and Rampage of Jonesboro.
The Lil' Sluggers of Jonesboro took home the first-place trophy in 8-and-under. The Slugg Buggs, another Jonesboro Softball Association team, came in second.
Jonesboro's Northside Steel was first in the 6-and-under division that concluded Saturday, followed by Rees Law Firm, The Cut Above and Peterson Warehouse, all of Jonesboro.
Area teams now turn their attention to ASA district tournaments this weekend. Southside Softball Complex is the site for the 16-and-under fast pitch and 10-and-under tournaments. Douglas said Paragould is the site for 14-and-under fast pitch, 12-and-under fast pitch, 12-and-under slow pitch and 8-and-under.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Derrick CPA got four runs each from Caleb Sugg and Lance Hughes and rebounded after wasting a big lead, to clip Giffin's Grins 17-16 in Bambino 9-10 League play Friday.
Hughes walked all four times he got on base. Drew Sugg and Nathan Derrick scored three times each while Austin Chapman, Matthew Vaughn and Brandon Davis added single runs.
Giffin's got three runs each from Ben Hollowell and Quinton Jones while RoRo Steverson scored two runs. Kyiler King, Chance Vaughn, Antonio Sanders and Raheem Wynne added single runs.
The two teams were tied at 4-4 after one inning before both teams erupted in the second inning.
Derrick scored seven runs in the top of the inning to take an 11-4 lead before Giffins scored eight runs in the bottom of the second go up 12-11.
Derrick came back to take a 17-12 lead in the top of the third by scoring six runs and then held Giffin's to four runs to get the win.
Derrick CPA improves to 6-4 for the year while Giffin's slips to 2-8.
Arkansas Electric pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and took home a 9-5 win over National Carpet One in Bambino 9-10 League play.
Arkansas Electric led 4-2 after one inning and 4-3 after two innings before scoring three times in the third to pad their lead at 7-3.
Cochran Auto opened with a five-run, first inning to put away Sanyo 8-3 Friday night and in the final game of the night, Mr. T Auto stayed unbeaten but not without a fight, holding off Joey's Muffler 3-1.
Mr. T Auto, 9-0, scored all three runs in the bottom of the first inning while Joey's, 6-4, got their single run in the top of the third.
Davyon McKinney and Larry Smith combined for the Mr. T pitching duties while Charles Anderson went the distance for Joey's in the loss.
In Minor League action Friday night, Easley Law got three runs each from Weston Hess and Alex Lindsay in a 17-5 win over Lion's Club.
Easley improves to 3-6 for the year while Lion's Club falls to 3-7.
Larren Freeman, Seth Parker, Cameron Smith and Dalton Quinn added two runs each for Easley.
Kye Tillman scored twice to lead Lion's Club while Jalen Ford, Cole Bieber and Ethan Mathes scored single runs.
Hill's Delta Concrete got four runs each from Michael Bernard and Draylon Willis in a 12-11 win over JB Sports 12-11 Friday. Jared Haynie added three runs for the winners.
Broderick Johnson scored three times for JB Sports while Dennis Scott, Brandon Griffin and Philandus Watson added two runs each.
Both Bambino Leagues will finish out the year as will the Minor League.
The Junior Babe Ruth League and the 12-under and 16-under girls' fast pitch leagues have finished their season.
The 10-under slow pitch teams will continue to play and the post-season T-Ball tournament begins tonight at 6 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Newport's George Kell Motors American Legion team rolled into Forrest City Saturday and rolled out with a doubleheader sweep over the home town Legion program.
The twin losses leaves Forrest City at 6-8 for the year.
In four games against Newport this season, Forrest City is 0-4.
Newport won the opener 14-0 as starting pitcher Josh Vunghrin handcuffed Forrest City, allowing only four hits while striking out six on his way to getting the win.
Newport ended the game by scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh inning, sending 12 batters to the plate.
It was more of the same for Newport in the second game of the twinbill as Kell Motors scored 14 runs in the second game to take the sweep with a 14-6 win.
Newport struck for five runs in the second inning and scored three runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings.
Forrest City got three runs from Danny Flowers and single runs from Dustin Gore and Chris Autry in the second game.
Forrest City hit the road on Sunday to play Pine Bluff and will host Wynne tonight at the Sports Complex.
It is the second meeting of the year between the two rivals.
Wynne handed Forrest City its first two losses of the year back on May 28 at Wynne, winning both games of a doubleheader.
Jonesboro comes to Forrest City Tuesday for a doubleheader which is set to begin at 5 p.m. Forrest City takes Wednesday off before heading to Searcy on Thursday.
Rain washed away Sunday's championship rounds at the American Legion Ricemen Classic Tournament played at Arkansas State University, so top honors in the American Legion baseball tournament were determined by each team's seeding after pool play.
Jefferson City, Mo., which swept through its pool, earned the top seed and by default won the title over Blue Springs, Mo., which placed second.
The Jonesboro AAA Ricemen (14-2) slipped out of pool play thanks to a 5-0 victory over Jackson, Mo., Saturday. But because of a loss earlier in the tournament, the Jonesboro team had to settle for sixth place.
West Plains, Mo., the team Jonesboro was scheduled to face in one of two "play-in" games in order to advance to the semifinals, finished the shortened tournament in third place.
Paragould and Conway were to play in the other play-in game but instead, settled for fourth and fifth, respectively.
The AAA Ricemen return to action Tuesday when they travel to Sherwood to face Sylvan Hills in a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m.