By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
For six and a half innings, Forrest City had Sheridan on the ropes.
For six and a half innings, Forrest City starting pitcher Chance Pearson was a man on a mission, silencing the Sheridan bats.
For six and a half innings, Forrest City was on track for tonight's loser's bracket game with Pine Bluff.
Then they played the bottom of the seventh inning and Forrest City's best-laid plans began to unravel as a 5-3 lead turned into a 6-5 loss to Sheridan, the same team which eliminated Forrest City a year ago in the 12-year-old state tournament.
Sheridan's come-from-behind victory over Forrest City Monday kept the Yellowjackets alive and eliminated the host team from the Babe Ruth 13-year-old State Tournament, being played at the Sports Complex.
With Barett Beshears taking the mound after six strong innings by Pearson and Forrest City holding the 5-3 lead, the unexplainable happened.
With an 0-2 count on the leadoff hitter, Beshears hit the Sheridan batter. Then, a Forrest City error put Sheridan runners at second and third.
Beshears played a come backer just right, chasing back the Sheridan runner back to third but coming up short for the out at first. Beshears struck out the next Sheridan hitter for the first out of the inning but Sheridan plated a run to cut the lead to 5-4 and then tied the game at 5-5 aided by another Forrest City fielding error.
With Brady Bone standing at third, Forrest City fielded a dribbler toward second base but the throw home to catcher Mark Machen was high as Bone slid in safely under the play to dash Forrest City's hopes once again.
Sheridan advances to today's 6 p.m. game against Pine Bluff. The winner turns around to play Clark County for the right to meet Little Rock Junior Deputy in Wednesday's championship game.
Junior Deputy handed Clark County a 7-1 loss in Monday's winner's semifinal.
That overall tournament winner goes on to regionals at Monticello later this month.
Pearson, who went seven innings against Jacksonville Friday in a 4-2 Forrest City win, held Sheridan to three runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts before tiring in the sixth and giving way to Beshears.
Sheridan starter Nick Mote worked four innings giving up four of Forrest City's five runs on seven hits. Daniel Ramsey worked the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, giving up one Forrest City run on two hits.
Forrest City finished with nine hits for the game while Sheridan countered with seven hits.
Forrest City took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when William Burks walked to lead off the inning and scored on a sacrifice by Lee Smith. Jacobi Cooley doubled and scored from third on a passed ball by Sheridan catcher Shane Harrington.
Sheridan cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second when Ramsey doubled and scored.
Forrest City added single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings by Pearson, Nathan Jefferson and Findley Scott Laws. Cooley, Beshears and Machen picked up RBIs.
Trailing 5-1, Sheridan plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth when Bone and Ryan Bridges scored and pushed home the game-tying and game-winning runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Bone was credited with the game-winning run while Chris Clinton and Daniel Thaxton accounted for Sheridan's other two seventh inning runs. Thaxton was the winning pitcher a year ago in the 12-year-old state tournament win over Forrest City.
In other games played Monday, Pine Bluff stayed alive by shutting out White Hall 14-0 in a rematch of the district 7 championship game.
White Hall managed just six hits against Pine Bluff starter Todd Taylor.
Pine Bluff led 5-0 going into the fourth inning and scored seven runs to push their advantage to 12-0.
The tournament will conclude Wednesday with the championship game set for 6 p.m.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Thanks to Wal-Mart, Gym 2000 once again has sole possession of the adult men's softball league.
Playing a round of make-up games Monday, Gym 2000 won both of their scheduled games to move to 11-2 for the year with one game remaining to be played.
Kerby's, which started Monday's schedule in a first-place tie with Gym 2000, split their two games to fall to 10-3 and into third place behind the Middle Busters, who climbed into second by winning both of their make up games to stand at 10-2.
Kerby's and Gym 2000 will face each other Thursday in the final season games.
Gym 2000 can claim the outright men's title with a win over Kerby's. A Kerby's win over Gym and a Middle Busters win over Wal-Mart, would hand the outright league title to Middle Busters.
Middle Busters and A&M Connection are both a game behind the rest of the league teams, after their June 7 game was ruled a "double forfeit" and neither team was assessed a loss.
That game may or may not be made up, even though there is a chance it could have an effect on determining the league champion.
Middle Busters defeated Gym 2000 in both meetings during the regular season. Kerby's defeated Middle Busters in both regular season matchups.
Monday, Gym 2000 defeated A&M 14-4 and then downed Food Giant 15-5.
Kerby's got past Food Giant 14-4 but lost to Wal-Mart 12-9 in the night cap.
Middle Busters defeated Laws Contracting 24-23 and A&M Connection 20-5.
By losing twice Monday, A&M falls to 6-6 for the year. Wal-Mart improves to 6-7 while the Head Hunters are 5-8 after losing to Wal-Mart 6-5 in the first game and then winning the nightcap 15-10 over Laws.
Laws stands at 2-11 for the year while Food Giant is 1-12.
The men's and women's district tournament will be played Saturday at the Sports Complex.
The men's bracket is comprised of 17 teams while seven teams will make up the women's bracket.
Both the men and women will open play at 8:30 a.m. with the men using Fields 1, 3 and 4 and the women playing all of their games on Field 2.
Six of the Forrest City men's league teams will be involved in district play.
The men's district winner can advance to either the D or E state tournament at Pine Bluff while the second, third and fourth place teams have the option to play at the E or EE state tournaments at Pine Bluff or Rogers, Aug. 6-7.
The top three finishers in the women's district can advance to the E state tournament at Hobo Park in Texarkana or the EE state tournament at Hot Springs, July 24-25.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
New Forrest City Lady Mustang basketball coach Jacky England liked what he saw from his team at a recent camp held at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
England takes over the Lady Mustang program this season after serving as the junior girls' basketball coach last season. The move came about when former Lady Mustang coach Sue Jayroe resigned in late February after five seasons.
At the camp, played at ASU's Convocation Center, the Lady Mustangs finished 5-5 in 10 games played during the week long came.
Forrest City defeated Lockwood, Mo. 42-36; Doniphan, Mo. 40-35; Bartlett, Tenn. 41-40; Collierville, Tenn. 32-22 and Mount St. Mary's from Little Rock, 48-45.
The team lost to Bolivar, Tenn. 50-30; Mitchell, Tenn. 41-40 in overtime; Republic, Tenn. 52-32; Mount St. Mary's 37-32 and Republic for a second time, 50-42.
England took nine players to the camp, four seniors (Sequoria Grady, Shari Rogers, Nicole Parker, Aneisha Barden) three juniors (Lashunda Rogers, Marsha James and Jasmina Morton) and two sophomores (Fareedah Washington and Astrin Allen).
"The girls played hard and I saw some bright spots," England said. "We have a lot of work to do between now and November, but I think this group will work hard."
The Lady Mustangs are coming off 7-20 campaign last season.
Twenty-twenty vision may not be good enough to determine if a buck is legal to shoot this coming deer season. While the state's three-point rule will continue to be in affect for the majority of the state, some areas are experimenting with a "slot antler restriction."
Unlike a fish that can be released because it falls inside the slot, a downed deer is obviously a much different matter.
Two of my favorite wildlife management areas, Henry Gray/Hurricane Lake and Wattensaw, have changed the antler requirements for a legal buck.
Previously, these areas were governed by a four-point rule, one point more than the statewide three-point rule. A buck must have four points on one side before it can be taken.
That's changing this year to a five-point rule, however a buck with four or fewer total points may be taken.
Here's the less than clear definition of a protected buck: a five-point, unless it is a buck that has only one side of his rack and it has five points; a six-point, unless it has five on one side and one on the other; a seven-point, unless it has five on one side and two on the other; an eight point, unless it has five on one side and three on the other.
Any deer larger than eight points would be considered a legal buck.
A "point" is considered as any point that is one inch or longer, or the end of the main beam.
Now you can see the dilemma hunters face with the "slot." If it's really big or really small, it's probably legal. If it's anywhere in between, you'd better purchase a good set of binoculars or get a close up view before you release your arrow or pull the trigger.
While many hunters complained about similar problems with the three-point rule, the three-point rule seems rather elementary compared to the protected slot.
Other WMAs such as Dagmar, Lafayette County, Black Swamp, Grandview Prarie and St. Francis National Forrest require that a buck have four or more points on one side, or a four-point rule.
However, a buck that has both antlers shorter than two inches may be harvested. Better get out your binoculars and your tape measure.
Let's mix it up a little by adding in Cut-off Creek, Bayou Meto, Little Bayou, Trusten Holder and all the National Wildlife Refuges to impose a four-point rule with an exception -- that being, a buck that has four or fewer total points may be taken. This is similar to the Hurricane/Wattensaw regulation with four points on one side instead of five.
Choctaw Island has separate antler restrictions that include the five-point rule coupled with an antler spread restriction of no less than 15 inches of inside spread.
A buck with five or fewer total points is also legal. Ed Gordon/Point Remove WMA in Pope and Conway counties is dropping any antler restriction during the firearms hunts; however the three-point rule applies for archery hunts.
Hunters are going to have to become more and more knowledgeable about the rules and regulations governing the area that they're hunting.
The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission utilizes these wildlife management areas to experiment with management practices because they can better control the variables and monitor results. Many of the statewide changes have first been practiced at WMAs in one form or another.
If you're old enough to drive, you have to abide by the state or WMA antler restriction. If you're too young, you'll be able to harvest any buck, regardless of their headgear, at least for your first buck. Hunters under 16 years of age may take a buck of choice for their first deer but the second deer must follow the state or area guidelines. This was a positive move for the Game & Fish Commission to allow our youth the thrill of hunting with fewer restrictions.
One area of frustration for hunters who rely on public hunting lands is that a WMA may have a more restrictive buck requirement while the private land surrounding the WMA is much less. A protected, big eight-point that walks across the boundary line at Hurricane WMA is fair game to someone sitting in a box stand during rifle season.
You could argue that a protected spike that walks across the private ground into Hurricane suddenly becomes a legal buck. I doubt that too many hunters would think this scenario is the same and I would tend to agree.
This "public vs.private" debate has often centered around the flood stage and closing of WMAs, with the WMA closing much sooner than the private land surrounding it. This gives the private landowner the obvious opportunity to hunt the deer being pushed out of the WMA by rising waters.
A perfect example of this is once again Hurricane. When the White River at Augusta reaches 26 feet, Hurricane is closed (despite the fact you can walk from one end to the other without getting your feet wet). The surrounding private land isn't closed until the White River reaches 31 feet. The Hurricane closing is too low (probably 28 feet is the right number) and there should be a buffer zone surrounding the area that should be tied to this level, based on the elevation of surrounding private property.
Enforcement may be difficult, but similar scenarios exist around other parts of the state and officials need to at least consider making changes in this area.
Just in case you're counting, it's 81 days until the opening of bow season. You have time to hone your shooting skills, study the regulations and perhaps schedule a visit to your local eye doctor. We don't want any excuses this year for you not knowing whether he was legal or not.