By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Through two days of first-round games at the Class AAAAA State Tournament at North Little Rock, the AAAAA-East Conference is 3-3.
Jonesboro and Cabot own victories in the girls' side of the bracket while West Memphis, the defending state champs, lost to Little Rock Parkview in the opening round.
Mountain Home plays its opening game today.
In the boys bracket, West Memphis is the lone winner from the East so far. Forrest City fell to North Little Rock Tuesday and Blytheville lost to Conway Wednesday.
A year ago, after the first-round, the East boys were 2-2 as were the East girls.
In other games played Wednesday, Adrian Wyrick hit a field goal and two free throws in the final 57 seconds, giving Conway the 48-45 victory over the Blytheville Chickasaws in the first round of the Class AAAAA State Tournament at the North Little Rock High School arena.
Conway improves to 20-7 and advances to tonight's quarterfinals against Fort Smith Northside.
Senior forward John Fowler led the Chickasaws with 16 points.
Blytheville, the No. 2 seed from the AAAAA-East, cut Conway's 31-21 halftime lead to a 38-37 by the start of the final quarter.
Blytheville ends the season at 20-7.
Senior Cortez Jeffries scored 13 points to lead West Memphis (24-2) past Fayetteville.
The Blue Devils are the No. 1 seeded team from the AAAAA-East. They will play the Little Rock Parkview-Camden-Fairview winner Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Bentonville, making its first state tournament appearance in 20 years, rallied in the final 2:34 to defeat El Dorado (19-5).
Bentonville's last state tournament appearance was 1984, which was brief as the team suffered a first-round loss to North Pulaski in the Class AAA tournament.
At the boys' Class AAA State Tournament in Ozark, Osceola knocked off Subiaco Academy 66-48 Wednesday.
Osceola (20-12) is ranked No. 7 in the state but finished fourth in the Region 2 Tournament/
Juniors Martinez Martin and John Jarrett combined for 31 points and eight three-pointers to pace No. 10 Lonoke to a 60-39 victory over No. 5 Ozark.
Dollarway (23-9) rallied midway through the second half to pull away from Mountain View for a 66-48 win.
The Cardinals led 31-25 late in the third quarter and used a 15-0 run to take a 46-25 lead early in the fourth.
In the girls bracket, Farmington defeated Pocahontas, Ozark defeated Dover and DeQueen ousted Rivercrest.
At the Class AAAA State Tournament in Beebe, in boys play, Batesville defeated Hot Springs lakeside, Pulaski Robinson downed Nettleton and Arkadelphia advanced by beating Paragould.
The Arkadelphia girls also defeated Paragould while Greene County Tech defeated Hope and Vilonia downed Pulaski Robinson.
At the Class AA State Tournament at Centerpoint, Lafayette County defeated Carlisle, Melbourne downed Kingsland and Hector got by Lavaca in boys play.
Parkers Chapel, Carlisle and Charleston were all winners in the girls' bracket.
Finally, in the Class A State at Lynn, Weiner, FS Christian and Kingston all won their boys games on Wednesday, while Weiner, Rural Special and Western Grove advanced in the girls bracket.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City lost its third head coach in two weeks Wednesday. But this time, Athletic Director Mike Bender didn't have to look too far for a replacement.
In less time than it takes to fill out a line-up card, the Lady Mustang softball team lost and found a head coach all in one day.
Amber Main, who has head coached the softball team for the past two seasons, turned in her resignation to Bender, citing personal and family reasons for her decision.
Bender, in turn, named assistant softball coach Pam England as the interim head coach for the 2004 season which is close to getting underway.
The Lady Mustangs scheduled season-opening game against West Memphis today has been cancelled as has Friday's game against Palestine-Wheatley. Both will be rescheduled.
"The fields at the complex just aren't ready," Bender said.
Wednesday's coaching move came quickly. Almost too quickly for England, the wife of Jacky England, who coached the Forrest City Junior High girls basketball team this season. The Englands are in their first year with the Forrest City School District.
Main was preparing to begin her third season as the Lady Mustang head coach. Her resignation, which is effective immediately, also includes her duties as assistant coach with the Lady Mustang senior girls' basketball team.
"I just need more time with my family," Main said. "It is something I have been thinking about for a while but I didn't make up my mind until Monday."
In her two seasons as head softball coach, Main compiled an 11-41 record. Main's two seasons were the first two fast-pitch seasons for Forrest City.
"Coach Main approached me right after the basketball season ended about giving up her coaching duties," Bender said. "I asked her if she wanted to give up softball as well and she said 'yes.' And I said 'I think we can work that out."
Bender said a day or so after that, he approached England about the possibility of head coaching the team.
"She told me she would have to think about it," Bender said. "She wasn't aware of Coach Main's situation at that point. When she came back to see me, her first response was 'no.' I told her to think about it a couple of more days and that's when she decided she would do it. I understand the concern of both coaches but I think overall it is a move that will be good for everyone."
England becomes the fifth Lady Mustang softball coach since the program was established in 1997. Previous coaches include Steve Murry (1997, 98); Jeff Spaletta (1999); Sue Jayroe (2000, 01) and Main (2002, 03).
"I really don't know what to tell you just now," England said as she made an attempt to catch her breath after the day's events. "Everything happened so fast. And I don't have a lot of time to think about it because we have a softball season to prepare for and right now, we are a long, long way from being ready to play."
England has played on championship fast-pitch softball teams and has coached the sport in the past.
She and Steve Gracey were to be Main's assistant coaches this season. Gracey will remain as an assistant along with Jacky England.
"Right now, I'm trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can about the girls on the team," England said. "I've been out here with them every day since we started practice, but only as an assistant. I'm not even sure I will be able to fill out the line up card for the first game, because I really don't know the girls that well. I know Stacey Gracey and Mallory Nelson will be on the pitching rubber. Other than that, I have a lot to learn."
England cautioned parents and fans not to expect a whole lot too quickly.
"We are going to play a lot of games in a very short period of time," England said. "We will get to know each other quickly."
The Lady Mustangs will now open the season on Monday, March 8, at Blytheville, the first of four consecutive games, next week.
Asked about her coaching style, England said she expects the girls to play solid defense every time out.
"Games are won defensively," England said. "When we need runs, we will do whatever we have to do to manufacture those. I hope to use some slap hitting, a lot of bunting and hopefully some speed to score some runs. When we have to be aggressive on the bases, we will be. That's not saying we are going to win every game, but we are going to play to win instead playing bnot to lose."
"The Englands are two outstanding coaches and Forrest City School District is fortunate to have them on staff," Bender said.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Terrance Ware used his arm and David Machen used his bat to lift Forrest City to a 5-1 victory over Brinkley Tuesday at the Sports Complex.
Ware held Brinkley to one run on just four hits Tuesday as Forrest City evened their record at 1-1 as they prepare for the Polar Bear Classic one day tournament Saturday at Marion and West Memphis.
Ware went the full seven innings to pick up the win. He walked three and struck out nine Tiger hitters.
David Machen, who led the Mustangs offensively by scoring twice and driving in three runs by going 2-for-3 at the plate, gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Machen scored on an RBI single by D.J. Banks after being hit by a pitch.
Brinkley tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the second inning.
Machen broke the tie in the bottom of the third when he reached base on a Brinkley error and scored on a fielder's choice play against Banks.
Forrest City added two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Kevin Padilla and Larry Bean drew one-out walks. After Ware flied out for the second out of the inning, Machen's two-RBI single plated both Padilla and Bean for a 4-1 Mustang cushion.
Machen was later tagged out at home to end the inning.
Ware scored Forrest City's final run in the bottom of the sixth when he singled with two outs and scored on an RBI double by Machen.
The Mustangs will play twice Saturday at the Marion Complex when they take on West Helena at 12:30 p.m. and Marion at 3 p.m.
Three games will be played at Marion and three games will be played at the West Memphis fields. The third and fourth-place teams will play at 5:30 p.m., at Marion while the fifth and sixth-place teams will play at 5:30 p.m., at West Memphis.
The championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. between the two teams with the most wins leading up to the final game.
Our very own Forrest City Beagle Club recently held its second field trial in the past two weeks. Larry Tubbs walked away with first place trophies in both the male and female divisions. Tubbs' female dog, Blue Collar, "finished strong," according to AKC Qualified Judge Keith Jordan. His male dog, Blue Boy was also strong in all categories. Claud Gaines is the club president while Jimmie Gaines serves as viced president.
The field trial was held on the running ground owned by Scott Carroll, located south of Forrest City on Highway 1. During the field trial competition, dogs are judged on how well they run the rabbit. The dogs should run the rabbit exactly how the rabbit runs, following its path to the letter. The dogs are awarded points in several categories including skirting, closeness, work ethics and jumping. Competitors were Jerry Flenory, Eddie Baldwin, Floyd Jordan and Tubbs. The next field trial meeting will be held Friday, March 26, for females, beginning at 4 p.m. and Saturday, March 27, for males, beginning at 8 a.m. The event will once again be held on Carroll's land. Beagle enthusiasts are encouraged to attend.