By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Even though the team's final 6-12 overall season record doesn't show it, the Forrest City Lady Mustang fast pitch softball team showed great improvement this year.
"I can think of several teams, some in our conference, who would gladly take those six victories," said first-year Lady Mustang Coach Pam England. "So 6-12 is not a disappointment at all. These girls have come a long way this year and they have grown up. The future for Forrest City softball looks very good."
England, who started the year expecting to be an assistant to former coach Amber Main, was handed the head coaching duties just days before he season started in early March after Main announced her resignation from all coaching duties at Forrest City.
With her husband, Jacky and long-time summer league coach Steve Gracey helping, England's Lady Mustangs opened the season with back-to-back victories over AAAAA-East Conference opponents, Searcy and Blytheville.
The team stumbled, losing the next four games but rebounded to sweep Palestine-Wheatley in a nonconference doubleheader and then won two of their next three games to get to 6-7 overall.
The Lady Mustangs played back-to-back nine inning games this season, defeating Searcy and losing to Brinkley and the team showed great resolve by holding powerful Cabot, who qualified for the state tournament, to just two runs in the first four innings of their conference matchup in mid-April after suffering a run-rule, shutout against the Lady Panthers earlier in the year.
The Lady Mustangs eventually finished with a 3-11 conference mark and for the most part during the season, played doubleheaders each time out, even though the conference games were designated "varsity-junior varsity" contests.
"Due to some things beyond my control at the time, we started the year with only a dozen players on roster which meant almost everyone played both games each time out," England said. "Some cuuts were made and some who might have played, missed the tryout date and did not have an opportunity to make the team. We will correct that before next season. We will have several designated tryout days and I hope to have a varsity team and a separate JV team in place. Most every conference team we played this season fielded two teams."
Tuesday night, England held an end-of-the-year get together for the team and handed out some individual awards.
Rachel Sims, the team's lone senior, led the team in on-base percentage at .543 and led the team in highest slugging percentage at .632. Sims hit three home runs during the year and led the team in walks. She was given the Lady Mustang Award for her contributions to the team.
Other awards went to Risondra Deans who led the team in hits (16) and the best overall team batting average at .356.
Holly Simon led the team in sacrifices and also had the highest fielding average on defense.
Rudy Stewart was named the Most Improved Player on the team while Leigh Anna Taylor was given the Lady Mustang Hustle Award.
In the pitching category, England used Stacey Gracey and Mallory Nelson on the mound.
Gracey worked 74-1/3 innings this season and finished with two wins, one save and suffered eight losses while striking out 90 batters.
Nelson, who had minor hand surgery early in the year, was limited to 28 2/3 innings and ended with three wins and four losses to go along with 26 strikeouts.
Sims and Gracey were named to the AAAAA-East All Conference team.
With the exception of Sims, England expects to have everyone back next season.
Forrest City High School began its girls' softball program in 1997, following the slow pitch tradition across the state. That first team finished 11-11 overall and 8-6 in the league.
In 2002, the Lady Mustang team made the switch to fast pitch and finished 3-19 overall.
That first fast-pitch team included current members, Nelson, Sims, Gracey, Simon and Ameshia Barden and no seniors.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Palestine-Wheatley will be well represented at today's Class AA State Track Championships being held at Heber Springs High School.
Patriot track coach Terry Clardy is taking 15 P-W athletes to the games. All but one will return next year.
"I think we have a chance to make our presence felt at the Class AA state," Clardy said Wednesday. "And the best part about this situation is that we have only one senior going and everyone else will be back to run next season. That's a plus for the team and for the school's track program."
Clardy said the 15-athlete contingent to state is about average over the past few years. A year ago, Clardy took eight athletes to state.
The Patriots finished second at the 3AA South Conference Meet held two weeks ago at Gillett. Barton won the district title.
The Junior Patriots won their district meet. Clardy is taking four freshmen to today's state meet.
"We've been finishing consistently in the top five or six in meets this season," Clardy said. "And we have been placing multiple finishers in the point positions, which is what we need to do to be competitive. Keep in mind that all of the meets we attended put us against bigger schools but we held our own."
If the weather holds off and we have a chance to get our athletes to the Meet of Champs and maybe even to the Decathlon.
Clardy singled out the Patriot 400-meter relay team comprised of Brad Barton, Rashun Barnes, Antonio Leak and Elisha Duncan. They recently ran a 43.6.
Texarkana has the state's best time in the event at 41.56.
"That is a good time in our classification, maybe second to Lafayette County, who may be favored today," Clardy said. "I don't see why we can't dominate next year and maybe even we can rewrite some of the records."
This season the Patriots rewrote several school records in setting new marks in the 400-meter relay; the high jump (Antonio Leak, 6'1"); the triple jump (Barnes, 43'9"); the long jump (Barnes, 20'9") and in the 400-meter run (Adam Kennedy, 54 seconds flat).
All of the new school marks would be right in line with the overall best times and efforts recently listed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
If there is a lacking point for the Patriots this season it is in the distance races, but it is Clardy's hope to overshadow those points with scoring in other events.
The Patriots have at meets this season swept the top three places in the triple jump and the pole vault.
The best effort in the pole vault was 10 feet and that was done without having a facility to practice.
P-W athletes competing at today's state meet include Vince Jones (shot put and discus); Antonio Leak (hurdles and triple jump); Fred Leak; Elisha and Elijah Duncani; Barnes (triple jump and long jump); Brad Barton (relays); Adam Kennedy (400-meter run); D.J. Banks (hurdles); Michael Gardner and Curtis Allen (pole vault) and the four freshmen, Taylor Clark, Justin Cathey, Hunter Rybolt and Brandon Daniels.
The Class A State Meet was held Wednesday with the Emerson boys rolling to the championship and Delaplaine taking the girls' title.
Emerson put up 141-1/2 points while delaplain scored 193-1/2 points.
The Class AAA, Class AAAA and Class AAAAA State Championships will be held Saturday various sites across the state.
Forrest City is sending it's entire Lady Mustang track team to Lake Hamilton Saturday while the Mustangs are sending seven to the state competition.
The second leg of the adult men's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Triple Crown of Softball will be played at Jacksonville's Dupree Park Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The tournament includes Lower, Middle and Upper Division teams.
Barnes Logging defeated Fat City to win the Upper Division of the first legof the tournament played last month.
The third and final leg will be played over the Memorial Day weekend.
Forrest City will host two Mustang basketball camps this summer -- elementary and junior high -- at Mustang Arena.
An elementary boys and girls' camp will be held June 7-10, for students going into the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in the fall.
The second camp is a boys' and girls' junior high camp scheduled for June 14-17, at Mustang Arena, for youths entering seventh, eighth or ninth grade in the fall.
At both camps, the girls will meet from 8 until 11 a.m. while the boys will meet from 12 noon until 3 p.m., each day.
Cost per student for each camp is $20 and all campers must have the paperwork completed and turned in to the office on their respective campus with the camp fee by Thursday, May 20.
The Jackson County Little League Program in Newport has issued a challenge to all Northeast Arkansas yoth leagues to come and participate in the annual "One-Pitch" Tournament, set for Saturday, May 22.
This tournament is for regular season youth baseball teams, ages 9-10 and 11-12 and for girls softball teams, ages 11-12 and older.
For more information contact Johnny Long at 870-512-8185.
The Forrest City American Legion program will hold team tryouts Saturday, May 15,, at 3 p.m., rain or shine, at the Sports Complex.
The tryouts are open to players ages 14-19 who live in Forrest City, Marianna and Palestine-Wheatley.
Brett Bullard will coach the American Legion team.