IN SHORT: The Beebe fastpitch softball team went 3-2 and took fourth place in a tournament in Van Buren over the weekend.
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Beebe Lady Badgers took fourth place over the weekend in the 16-team Rumble in the River Valley fastpitch tournament in Van Buren. The Lady Badgers went 3-2 in the event after taking a week off for spring break.
The two losses were double Beebe’s loss total heading into the tournament, but Beebe head coach Terry Flenor wasn’t displeased with his team’s performance.
“Of course we would have liked to have won the tournament, but I believe we accomplished what we set out to accomplish,” Flenor said. “We were using this really as a way to get ready for this week. We hadn’t played over spring break and we didn’t want to come in and play a tough conference team like Wynne when we hadn’t played in 10 days or so.”
Beebe got a tough draw, opening with a local team. The Lady Badgers started the tournament with a 2-0 victory over Fort Smith Southside, and advanced to the winners bracket semifinal with a 4-1 win over Greenwood.
Once in the semis, Beebe was sent down to the losers bracket with a 2-1 loss to eventual tournament champion Vilonia.
In the losers bracket, Beebe handled Dardanelle with little trouble, beating the Lady Sandlizards 8-2. Beebe followed its best offensive game with its worst, losing a 4-0 shutout to Alma and ending its weekend of play.
“We feel like we can hit a little better than we are,” Flenor said. “We experimented with some things. We had some kids out of their usual positions, just trying new things and seeing what would work and what wouldn’t.”
Alma lost the right to play Vilonia for the championship to Fayetteville. Fayetteville, who had lost to Vilonia in the final of the winners’ bracket, forced a game two against the Lady Eagles, but lost the “if” game to take the runner-up spot.
Beebe’s record now stands at 14-3 overall. They are 3-1 in conference play and played a huge 5A-East doubleheader last night against Wynne. Look for details of that encounter, as well as the Lady Badgers’ Thursday non-conference matchup with Rumble winner Vilonia in Saturday’s edition of The Leader.
