By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader staff writer
Jacksonville-area residents are closer than they’ve ever been to getting their own school district. Again.
“We got everything we came for,” Daniel Gray, spokesman for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski County Education Corps, said.
The state Board of Education on Monday unanimously approved as valid petitions submitted by activists seeking to detach a Jacksonville/North Pulaski County district from the 730-square-mile Pulaski County Special School District.
The new district would take about 100 square miles out of that.
Ten years ago, the state board set an election to let residents decide the issue, but the PCSSD board opposed the move, went to court and U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson ruled that such a detachment was contrary to desegregation efforts and scuttled the vote.
This time around, according to the Jacksonville group’s lawyer, Patrick Wilson, PCSSD is in favor of the detachment and proponents are seeking approval of both the state attorney general’s office and U.S. District Judge Price Marshall before returning to the board of education to set a detachment election.
Mayor Gary Fletcher, director of administration Jim Durham, Mike and Larry Wilson, most members of the Jacksonville City Council — including former school board member Bishop James Bolden, state Rep. Mark Perry (D-Jacksonville), Reedie Ray and former state Rep. Pat Bond were among others attending in support.
Chairman Brenda Gullett said going against Bond would be like going against the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.
The state board approved as valid petitions signed by 2,079 residents of the area that would comprise the new district and will submit the information supporting the request for an election on the matter to the state attorney general’s office.
County clerks in both Pulaski and Lonoke counties verified the petitions and sig natures, as well as the number of signatures needed.
If the attorney general’s office — which has been trying to extricate the state from the tangled desegregation agreement that costs it about $60 million a year — approves the petition, the supporting documents and board action, Marshall will be asked to sign off and allow the detachment election.
The state board would then be asked to set a date for such an election, which could be a special election, school election or general election.
Both the feasibility study and PCSSD Superintendent Jerry Guess have said that the detachment would actually make it easier for the districts to achieve unitary status, especially in terms of repairing and replacing old and decrepit school buildings — one of the stumbling blocks to achieving unitary status. Transferring responsibility for those buildings to a new district would lighten PCSSD’s financial burden, officials say.
Board member Sam Led-better asked if the Little Rock and North Little Rock districts opposed the detachment. Wilson said they were currently preoccupied, but would be considering the detachment later.
The effort to carve the district from the sprawling Pulaski County Special School District dates back to the late 1960s. Some supporters are second-generation leaders of the effort.
Representing the Jackson-ville/North Pulaski School District Education Corps, Wilson — one of the second-generation activists on the matter — told the board that the group had met all four requirements for detaching from PCSSD:
A statement of purpose to form a new school district.
Maps of the area affected.
An independent feasibility study — the group has had six in recent years, including the one this year.
A petition signed by 10 percent of voters who participated in the last election. Proponents needed 1,869 verified signatures and gathered an extra 210 signatures.
Winston F. Simpson’s feasibility concluded that both the new and old districts would have more than the required 4,000 students, both would have enough money to operate and neither would be negatively impacted regarding racial balance and the 2000 Desegregation Agreement.
While Jacksonville’s detachment effort is not part of the desegregation case before Marshall, they intersect.
Two of nine remaining unitary issues that PCSSD is seeking hearings on were slated for an August hearing and two more begin Dec. 9, according to the district’s longtime desegregation lawyer, Sam Jones.
But, late last week, John Walker, lawyer for the Joshua Intervenors in the desegregation case, asked and received a postponement of the August hearing for personal health reasons, but Marshall declined to postpone the December hearing. He has not set a new hearing date to replace the postponed August hearing.
The judge is expected to want to hear how the state’s motion to stop desegregation funding totaling about $60 million a year — $20 million of that to PCSSD — would affect PCSSD’s unitary efforts, Jones said. He suggested that may offer an opening to discuss the proposed detachment.
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
SPORTS STORY >> Bears win Summer Showdown
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
In dramatic fashion, the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears of Sylvan Hills closed summer play by winning the seventh annual Little Rock Catholic Summer Showdown tournament with a 6-5 win over the favored Arkansas Express 17-year-olds in the championship game Sunday at UALR’s Curran Conway Park.
Sylvan Hills led 6-4 going into the seventh and final inning. Winning pitcher T.J. Burrow got Express cleanup hitter William Hancock to fly out the first at bat of the inning, but third baseman Nate Alberius hit a bloop single to right field the next at bat.
John Franklin Matros then came to the plate and hit a one-out triple to deep left-centerfield. Alberius scored on the play and Matros represented the tying run at third base. Matt Sherry followed Matros’ at bat with a hard-hit chopper to Burrow.
Burrow looked off Matros before throwing to first base for the second out of the inning. Jack Thomas then came to the plate to pinch hit and early in the at bat Burrow threw a wild pitch that got by catcher Chase Imoff.
It looked as if the title game was going to be knotted up at 6-6 as Matros took off for home, but suddenly the ball bounced back to Burrow who was rushing to cover home plate. Burrow snagged the ball with his glove as it bounced toward him and tagged Matros in the nick of time to seal the showcase tournament championship for the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears.
“I thought, shoot we’re in trouble,” said Sylvan Hills coach Denny Tipton about the wild pitch, “but T.J. – great hustle. I mean, he competed, went seven (innings). We hadn’t thrown more than three (pitchers) all summer. Being in six games and just being a high-school team, it’s hard on pitching.”
The Arkansas Express team had a significantly higher number of pitchers on its roster, which was the main reason it was favored in Sunday’s championship game, which was the second game of the day for both teams.
“They’re a prospect (team) and they’ve got like 15 pitchers on their roster,” Tipton said. “We were struggling with our pitching because we didn’t have a lot of depth, but at the same time I always take heart over anything. I thought our kids showed a lot of heart and competed and played hard and I’m real proud of them.”
Arkansas Express was the aggressive team at the plate early as it scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead. Sylvan Hills though got it going in the third inning with six runs scored, thanks in part to five-straight walks to start things off.
Leadoff hitter Reid Fawcett was the first player to get walked, and Burrow, Imoff, Brandon Baioni and Hunter Heslep all followed with walks. Fawcett scored the first run for the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears on a wild pitch by Express pitcher Ty Tice.
Heslep picked up an easy RBI as he walked with the bases loaded. After Heslep’s at bat, designated hitter Charlie Roberts hit a bases-clearing triple to give Sylvan Hills a 5-3 lead. The first out of the inning didn’t come until the next at bat, which was a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Blake Maddox that scored Roberts for all of Sylvan Hills’ runs.
Though the numbers don’t necessarily indicate it, Burrow showed a lot of heart, stamina and mental toughness in the winning effort. He threw all seven innings in the 100-plus degree heat and gave up five runs on as many hits, two walks, and recorded two strikeouts.
The Gwatney Buick GMC Bears outhit the Express team 7-5, and Roberts led the tournament champs with two hits. Burrow, Baioni, Maddox, Marcus Long and Connor Poteet had a hit apiece.
To get to the tournament title game, Sylvan Hills routed the Fayetteville based Rawlings Mud Dogs 11-3 in the semifinal game earlier in the day. Maddox was the star on the mound in that game. He recorded a game-high 11 strikeouts and gave up just two hits.
Burrow, Imoff and Fawcett each had two hits in that game, while Baioni, Roberts and Jacob White had one hit apiece.
Leader sportswriter
In dramatic fashion, the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears of Sylvan Hills closed summer play by winning the seventh annual Little Rock Catholic Summer Showdown tournament with a 6-5 win over the favored Arkansas Express 17-year-olds in the championship game Sunday at UALR’s Curran Conway Park.
Sylvan Hills led 6-4 going into the seventh and final inning. Winning pitcher T.J. Burrow got Express cleanup hitter William Hancock to fly out the first at bat of the inning, but third baseman Nate Alberius hit a bloop single to right field the next at bat.
John Franklin Matros then came to the plate and hit a one-out triple to deep left-centerfield. Alberius scored on the play and Matros represented the tying run at third base. Matt Sherry followed Matros’ at bat with a hard-hit chopper to Burrow.
Burrow looked off Matros before throwing to first base for the second out of the inning. Jack Thomas then came to the plate to pinch hit and early in the at bat Burrow threw a wild pitch that got by catcher Chase Imoff.
It looked as if the title game was going to be knotted up at 6-6 as Matros took off for home, but suddenly the ball bounced back to Burrow who was rushing to cover home plate. Burrow snagged the ball with his glove as it bounced toward him and tagged Matros in the nick of time to seal the showcase tournament championship for the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears.
“I thought, shoot we’re in trouble,” said Sylvan Hills coach Denny Tipton about the wild pitch, “but T.J. – great hustle. I mean, he competed, went seven (innings). We hadn’t thrown more than three (pitchers) all summer. Being in six games and just being a high-school team, it’s hard on pitching.”
The Arkansas Express team had a significantly higher number of pitchers on its roster, which was the main reason it was favored in Sunday’s championship game, which was the second game of the day for both teams.
“They’re a prospect (team) and they’ve got like 15 pitchers on their roster,” Tipton said. “We were struggling with our pitching because we didn’t have a lot of depth, but at the same time I always take heart over anything. I thought our kids showed a lot of heart and competed and played hard and I’m real proud of them.”
Arkansas Express was the aggressive team at the plate early as it scored three runs in the first inning to take an early lead. Sylvan Hills though got it going in the third inning with six runs scored, thanks in part to five-straight walks to start things off.
Leadoff hitter Reid Fawcett was the first player to get walked, and Burrow, Imoff, Brandon Baioni and Hunter Heslep all followed with walks. Fawcett scored the first run for the Gwatney Buick GMC Bears on a wild pitch by Express pitcher Ty Tice.
Heslep picked up an easy RBI as he walked with the bases loaded. After Heslep’s at bat, designated hitter Charlie Roberts hit a bases-clearing triple to give Sylvan Hills a 5-3 lead. The first out of the inning didn’t come until the next at bat, which was a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Blake Maddox that scored Roberts for all of Sylvan Hills’ runs.
Though the numbers don’t necessarily indicate it, Burrow showed a lot of heart, stamina and mental toughness in the winning effort. He threw all seven innings in the 100-plus degree heat and gave up five runs on as many hits, two walks, and recorded two strikeouts.
The Gwatney Buick GMC Bears outhit the Express team 7-5, and Roberts led the tournament champs with two hits. Burrow, Baioni, Maddox, Marcus Long and Connor Poteet had a hit apiece.
To get to the tournament title game, Sylvan Hills routed the Fayetteville based Rawlings Mud Dogs 11-3 in the semifinal game earlier in the day. Maddox was the star on the mound in that game. He recorded a game-high 11 strikeouts and gave up just two hits.
Burrow, Imoff and Fawcett each had two hits in that game, while Baioni, Roberts and Jacob White had one hit apiece.
SPORTS STORY >> Morrilton juniors hold off Red rally
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
A fifth inning rally by the Cabot Red Centennial Bank junior American Legion team made Saturday’s matchup with Morrilton interesting, but the home team fell short in the end as Morrilton left the Cabot Sports Complex with an 8-7 win.
Morrilton scored two runs in the top of the second inning and Cabot scored a run in each of the first two innings to knot the score up at 2-2.
Both teams were held scoreless in the third, but Morrilton answered with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a six-run, 8-2 lead.
Just as it appeared the visiting team was going to pull away with relative ease, the Centennial Bank Red squad battled back with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Cabot Red relief pitcher Mike Havard held Morrilton scoreless the rest of the way, but the offensive momentum stopped for the home team as Cabot failed to score again.
Caleb Harpole started the game on the mound for the Centennial Bank Red team. He threw four full innings before turning the pitching duties over to Havard in the fifth.
Harpole struck out three Morrilton batters and walked three during his time on the hill.
He gave up five hits and as many runs, but only two of those were earned.
The errors continued to plague Cabot in the fifth inning, as all three of Morrilton’s runs scored in that time were unearned. Havard allowed just one hit in his two innings of work.
Offensively, Cabot Red outhit Morrilton 8-6 and Centennial Bank five-hole hitter Jarrett Pitchford led both teams by going 3 for 4 at the plate. He scored one run and drove in a game-high three RBIs.
Havard and Ethan Holland were the only other Cabot players with multiple hits – each had two. Havard led the Red team with two runs scored.
Wes Brown had the only other hit for Cabot as he went 1 for 2 at the plate with an RBI. Even though Cabot struggled in the field, it had its chances to do more damage to Morrilton at the plate.
The Red Centennial Bank squad left a total of seven runners stranded on the bases. Morrilton left five. Besides Havard and Pitchford, Josh Kelpine, cleanup hitter Tyler Fowler, Jacob Womack and Holland scored one run each for Cabot.
With last week’s 8-6 loss to Sheridan, the Cabot Red team has lost its last two games by a combined three runs.
The Red Centennial Bank junior squad (5-14) will try and get back on the winning side of things tomorrow against Conway in an early afternoon game at 2:30 at the Cabot Sports Complex.
Leader sportswriter
A fifth inning rally by the Cabot Red Centennial Bank junior American Legion team made Saturday’s matchup with Morrilton interesting, but the home team fell short in the end as Morrilton left the Cabot Sports Complex with an 8-7 win.
Morrilton scored two runs in the top of the second inning and Cabot scored a run in each of the first two innings to knot the score up at 2-2.
Both teams were held scoreless in the third, but Morrilton answered with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a six-run, 8-2 lead.
Just as it appeared the visiting team was going to pull away with relative ease, the Centennial Bank Red squad battled back with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Cabot Red relief pitcher Mike Havard held Morrilton scoreless the rest of the way, but the offensive momentum stopped for the home team as Cabot failed to score again.
Caleb Harpole started the game on the mound for the Centennial Bank Red team. He threw four full innings before turning the pitching duties over to Havard in the fifth.
Harpole struck out three Morrilton batters and walked three during his time on the hill.
He gave up five hits and as many runs, but only two of those were earned.
The errors continued to plague Cabot in the fifth inning, as all three of Morrilton’s runs scored in that time were unearned. Havard allowed just one hit in his two innings of work.
Offensively, Cabot Red outhit Morrilton 8-6 and Centennial Bank five-hole hitter Jarrett Pitchford led both teams by going 3 for 4 at the plate. He scored one run and drove in a game-high three RBIs.
Havard and Ethan Holland were the only other Cabot players with multiple hits – each had two. Havard led the Red team with two runs scored.
Wes Brown had the only other hit for Cabot as he went 1 for 2 at the plate with an RBI. Even though Cabot struggled in the field, it had its chances to do more damage to Morrilton at the plate.
The Red Centennial Bank squad left a total of seven runners stranded on the bases. Morrilton left five. Besides Havard and Pitchford, Josh Kelpine, cleanup hitter Tyler Fowler, Jacob Womack and Holland scored one run each for Cabot.
With last week’s 8-6 loss to Sheridan, the Cabot Red team has lost its last two games by a combined three runs.
The Red Centennial Bank junior squad (5-14) will try and get back on the winning side of things tomorrow against Conway in an early afternoon game at 2:30 at the Cabot Sports Complex.
SPORTS STORY >> Hart signs to become ABC Buffalo
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Former Carlisle Bison baseball standout Chris Hart will continue his playing career at the next level as he signed a National Letter of Intent on Monday to play baseball for Arkansas Baptist College.
Hart, a three-time All-State selection in the sport, liked the pitch from the junior college Buffaloes program as he’s going to have the opportunity to play right away.
“I just think if I go to a junior college I can get bigger and stronger,” Hart said after the signing. “Coach (Zach) Bottoms told me that I could come in and pretty much be the shortstop right away.
“They said they were going to move their shortstop to third and the third baseman to first. Playing time right away is a big deal to me just because I don’t like sitting on the bench.”
Sitting on the bench is something Hart doesn’t have much experience with. He’s been a starter since his freshman year. Most of those starts have been at shortstop, but he’s also been a key contributor to the Bison starting pitching rotation as well.
Even though Hart has experienced both individual and team success throughout his high school playing days, he said there were a few growing pains along the way.
“Coach (B.J.) Greene probably had the biggest influence on me,” Hart said. “He came in my ninth grade year. I had a pretty hot attitude, and he threatened me, saying if I got another attitude with the team I’d get kicked off.
“That was my 10th grade year, and after that I just started playing the game instead of worrying about all the other stuff.”
B.J. Greene was the Bison baseball coach in Hart’s ninth through 11th grade years, but last summer Greene took the head-coaching job at Heber Springs.
Former Bison basketball coach William Rountree was an assistant baseball coach during Greene’s tenure and after Greene’s departure, Rountree took over head coaching duties for the Bison baseball program as well.
Monday’s signing was extra special for Rountree, who is Hart’s stepfather.
“I’m really proud of all the people in town who came for the signing,” Rountree said. “Christopher is very, very talented. He’s a three-sport athlete and the thing about Chris was that he was good in all the games.
“In all the sports he was a lead player. He’s always been good. He started as a very young kid playing with older kids and that probably helped his progress. But I’ve always felt like, especially in these later years, that if you looked past high school, that baseball was the best of his three opportunities. I’m very proud of what he’s accomplished.”
Hart’s other athletic accolades came on the football field and basketball court. He was a two-time All-Conference selection in each sport.
He was an All-Conference cornerback on the 2011 Class 2A state runner-up football team and also started at quarterback for this year’s Bison team that won its third-straight 2A-6 Conference Championship.
In basketball, Hart earned his postseason honors from his point guard position his junior and senior year. He led the team in assists from his sophomore year on and was second on the team in scoring his senior year.
Hart earned All-State honors in baseball for the first time his sophomore season, but it wasn’t until last year that the Bison made their name well known on the diamond.
Carlisle advanced all the way to the Class 2A state baseball championship game last year, but fell to traditional Class 2A baseball powerhouse Woodlawn in the title game.
The Bison made it back to the state tournament this year with Hart batting at the two spot as opposed to his usual leadoff position. He was the lone starting senior on this year’s team and his near .450 batting average was a team-high.
“He was a very good senior leader,” Rountree said of Hart. “Whether it was field maintenance or situational things we talked about, it was like having another coach on the field. Honestly, it was a very easy situation for me because Chris is such a good player that knows the game so well.”
Arkansas Baptist pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Zach Bottoms was present for the ceremony. According to him, he had been targeting Hart since his junior year and was even more impressed at the Xtra Innings Summer Classic, which showcases underclassmen Arkansas baseball players to college coaches and professional scouts.
“We started recruiting Chris at the end of his junior year,” Bottoms said. “We saw him again at Xtra Innings and he really showed up at Xtra Innings. Since then it’s been a process to get him on board at Baptist.
“We really liked his athleticism and leadership, being a three-sport guy. We think he’s just going to be a baseball player. He’s really a superb athlete that we want to focus more on just baseball because we’ve had a lot of success with those guys.”
Hart would ultimately like to play baseball at the Division I level and he believes playing for Arkansas Baptist College is a great opportunity for him to do that.
But for now, Hart says he just wants to get out there and play and see what happens, and is humbled to sign a college scholarship in front of his friends, family, former teammates and coaches.
“It feels good because these are the people that have helped me achieve the goals I’ve achieved,” Hart said. “And just to be able to sign a scholarship feels pretty good.”
Leader sportswriter
Former Carlisle Bison baseball standout Chris Hart will continue his playing career at the next level as he signed a National Letter of Intent on Monday to play baseball for Arkansas Baptist College.
Hart, a three-time All-State selection in the sport, liked the pitch from the junior college Buffaloes program as he’s going to have the opportunity to play right away.
“I just think if I go to a junior college I can get bigger and stronger,” Hart said after the signing. “Coach (Zach) Bottoms told me that I could come in and pretty much be the shortstop right away.
“They said they were going to move their shortstop to third and the third baseman to first. Playing time right away is a big deal to me just because I don’t like sitting on the bench.”
Sitting on the bench is something Hart doesn’t have much experience with. He’s been a starter since his freshman year. Most of those starts have been at shortstop, but he’s also been a key contributor to the Bison starting pitching rotation as well.
Even though Hart has experienced both individual and team success throughout his high school playing days, he said there were a few growing pains along the way.
“Coach (B.J.) Greene probably had the biggest influence on me,” Hart said. “He came in my ninth grade year. I had a pretty hot attitude, and he threatened me, saying if I got another attitude with the team I’d get kicked off.
“That was my 10th grade year, and after that I just started playing the game instead of worrying about all the other stuff.”
B.J. Greene was the Bison baseball coach in Hart’s ninth through 11th grade years, but last summer Greene took the head-coaching job at Heber Springs.
Former Bison basketball coach William Rountree was an assistant baseball coach during Greene’s tenure and after Greene’s departure, Rountree took over head coaching duties for the Bison baseball program as well.
Monday’s signing was extra special for Rountree, who is Hart’s stepfather.
“I’m really proud of all the people in town who came for the signing,” Rountree said. “Christopher is very, very talented. He’s a three-sport athlete and the thing about Chris was that he was good in all the games.
“In all the sports he was a lead player. He’s always been good. He started as a very young kid playing with older kids and that probably helped his progress. But I’ve always felt like, especially in these later years, that if you looked past high school, that baseball was the best of his three opportunities. I’m very proud of what he’s accomplished.”
Hart’s other athletic accolades came on the football field and basketball court. He was a two-time All-Conference selection in each sport.
He was an All-Conference cornerback on the 2011 Class 2A state runner-up football team and also started at quarterback for this year’s Bison team that won its third-straight 2A-6 Conference Championship.
In basketball, Hart earned his postseason honors from his point guard position his junior and senior year. He led the team in assists from his sophomore year on and was second on the team in scoring his senior year.
Hart earned All-State honors in baseball for the first time his sophomore season, but it wasn’t until last year that the Bison made their name well known on the diamond.
Carlisle advanced all the way to the Class 2A state baseball championship game last year, but fell to traditional Class 2A baseball powerhouse Woodlawn in the title game.
The Bison made it back to the state tournament this year with Hart batting at the two spot as opposed to his usual leadoff position. He was the lone starting senior on this year’s team and his near .450 batting average was a team-high.
“He was a very good senior leader,” Rountree said of Hart. “Whether it was field maintenance or situational things we talked about, it was like having another coach on the field. Honestly, it was a very easy situation for me because Chris is such a good player that knows the game so well.”
Arkansas Baptist pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Zach Bottoms was present for the ceremony. According to him, he had been targeting Hart since his junior year and was even more impressed at the Xtra Innings Summer Classic, which showcases underclassmen Arkansas baseball players to college coaches and professional scouts.
“We started recruiting Chris at the end of his junior year,” Bottoms said. “We saw him again at Xtra Innings and he really showed up at Xtra Innings. Since then it’s been a process to get him on board at Baptist.
“We really liked his athleticism and leadership, being a three-sport guy. We think he’s just going to be a baseball player. He’s really a superb athlete that we want to focus more on just baseball because we’ve had a lot of success with those guys.”
Hart would ultimately like to play baseball at the Division I level and he believes playing for Arkansas Baptist College is a great opportunity for him to do that.
But for now, Hart says he just wants to get out there and play and see what happens, and is humbled to sign a college scholarship in front of his friends, family, former teammates and coaches.
“It feels good because these are the people that have helped me achieve the goals I’ve achieved,” Hart said. “And just to be able to sign a scholarship feels pretty good.”
SPORTS STORY >> Six in a row for Cabot Juniors
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot White Centennial Bank junior American Legion team improved its winning streak to six games after beating Benton Sport Stop 9-4 on Friday at Benton.
Cabot (24-7) wasted little time getting its offense going as it scored the game’s first nine runs, eight of which came in the top of the first inning.
All but one player in the Cabot starting lineup scored a run in the game, and the White Centennial Bank junior team made the most of its chances as it left just one runner stranded on the bases. Benton left a total of 10 runners on base.
That was the most telling statistic of the game as Cabot narrowly outhit Benton 7-6. Seven different players rounded out the team’s hit totals.
Leadoff hitter Jonathan Latture, Dylan Bowers, Adam Hicks, Chris Odom, Tyler Tucker, Austin Null and Trent Frizell each had one hit apiece for the White Centennial Bank junior team.
Latture’s hit was a triple that scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Frizell also drove in two runs in that inning with a double. Three other Cabot White players collected RBIs.
Null, Tucker and Odom each drove in a run, and Null led the team with two runs scored. Cabot scored its final run in the top of the third inning.
The White Centennial Bank junior team used five different pitchers in the seven innings played.
Null picked up the win after just two innings of work. He gave up one hit and three walks, but didn’t allow a run and recorded one strikeout.
Brandon Jones came in to relieve Null in the bottom of the third. He gave up three hits and as many runs, but only two of those runs were earned. He also recorded one strikeout in his two innings on the hill.
Shawn Williams took over pitching duties in the fifth but couldn’t record an out. Benton scored its final run of the game off of Williams before Gavin Tillery took to the mound.
Tillery gave up just one hit in his one inning of work and recorded all three Benton outs with strikeouts. Bowers finished the game on the mound. He gave up one walk and no hits, while recording one strikeout at the end of the game.
The White Centennial Bank squad will try and extend its win streak tomorrow as it hosts Lonoke at 7:30 p.m. at the Cabot Sports Complex.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot White Centennial Bank junior American Legion team improved its winning streak to six games after beating Benton Sport Stop 9-4 on Friday at Benton.
Cabot (24-7) wasted little time getting its offense going as it scored the game’s first nine runs, eight of which came in the top of the first inning.
All but one player in the Cabot starting lineup scored a run in the game, and the White Centennial Bank junior team made the most of its chances as it left just one runner stranded on the bases. Benton left a total of 10 runners on base.
That was the most telling statistic of the game as Cabot narrowly outhit Benton 7-6. Seven different players rounded out the team’s hit totals.
Leadoff hitter Jonathan Latture, Dylan Bowers, Adam Hicks, Chris Odom, Tyler Tucker, Austin Null and Trent Frizell each had one hit apiece for the White Centennial Bank junior team.
Latture’s hit was a triple that scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Frizell also drove in two runs in that inning with a double. Three other Cabot White players collected RBIs.
Null, Tucker and Odom each drove in a run, and Null led the team with two runs scored. Cabot scored its final run in the top of the third inning.
The White Centennial Bank junior team used five different pitchers in the seven innings played.
Null picked up the win after just two innings of work. He gave up one hit and three walks, but didn’t allow a run and recorded one strikeout.
Brandon Jones came in to relieve Null in the bottom of the third. He gave up three hits and as many runs, but only two of those runs were earned. He also recorded one strikeout in his two innings on the hill.
Shawn Williams took over pitching duties in the fifth but couldn’t record an out. Benton scored its final run of the game off of Williams before Gavin Tillery took to the mound.
Tillery gave up just one hit in his one inning of work and recorded all three Benton outs with strikeouts. Bowers finished the game on the mound. He gave up one walk and no hits, while recording one strikeout at the end of the game.
The White Centennial Bank squad will try and extend its win streak tomorrow as it hosts Lonoke at 7:30 p.m. at the Cabot Sports Complex.
SPORTS STORY >> Chevy Boys overpower Russellville
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Gwatney Chevrolet senior American Legion team from Jacksonville had little trouble with Russellville in Sunday’s home game as the Chevy Boys won 9-3 at Dupree Park.
Jacksonville never trailed in the game and scored two runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings before adding one in the sixth to round out its run total. The Chevy Boys totaled 12 hits in the game, which was pleasing to head coach Bob Hickingbotham.
“Our catcher, Troy Allen, had three hits – two doubles and a single, and he drove in three or four runs,” Hickingbotham said. “We had three or four guys get two hits, which that’s what it’s all about. What we want them to do is to get some hits in order and today they did a good job.”
Allen and leadoff hitter Derek St. Clair scored the first two runs for Jacksonville after both hit singles to start the inning. The Chevy Boys went scoreless in the second, but picked up where they left off in the third.
Greg Jones and Jared Wilson hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom part of the inning. Courtland McDonald advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt the next at bat. Caleb Reeves singled later in the inning, but both Jones and Wilson scored on wild pitches to give the Chevy Boys a 4-1 lead.
Russellville scored its last two runs the following at bat in the top of the fourth, but Jacksonville answered with two runs of its own. St. Clair walked with one out in the inning and scored the next at bat thanks to the first of Allen’s two doubles.
Allen scored three batters later on Wilson’s third single of the day. Jacksonville built on its 6-3 lead in the fifth with two more runs. Like the previous inning, St. Clair walked to start things off and Allen followed with a double that scored St. Clair.
Second baseman Ryan Mallison scored the eighth run for Jacksonville. He walked during his at bat and later scored on a wild pitch to give the home team a comfortable 8-3 lead. Wilson once again kept the Russellville bats at bay in the top of the sixth, and the Chevy Boys added an insurance run to set the final score.
Reeves singled to the gap in right field for the first hit of the inning. Mallison caught the Russellville infield sleeping the next at bat with a bunt that went for a single.
LaDerrious Perry then came to the plate and hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice, but as the Russellville catcher threw it to first in an attempt to get Perry for a double play, the ball sailed over the first baseman’s head and allowed Reeves to score to give the Chevy Boys a 9-3 lead.
Eric Moore got the win on the hill for Jacksonville. He started the game before turning the pitching duties over to Wilson midway through. Hickingbotham was just as pleased with the effort his pitchers gave along with the defense behind them.
“I thought both of our pitchers did a good job,” Hickingbotham said. “Jared Wilson came in and pitched the last three and did outstanding. We played good defense. We made a couple of errors but we played good defense.”
Allen and Wilson led the way for Jacksonville offensively with three hits each. Reeves was the only other Chevy Boys player with multiple hits. He had two, while St. Clair, Jones, Mallison and Perry had one apiece.
Leader sportswriter
The Gwatney Chevrolet senior American Legion team from Jacksonville had little trouble with Russellville in Sunday’s home game as the Chevy Boys won 9-3 at Dupree Park.
Jacksonville never trailed in the game and scored two runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings before adding one in the sixth to round out its run total. The Chevy Boys totaled 12 hits in the game, which was pleasing to head coach Bob Hickingbotham.
“Our catcher, Troy Allen, had three hits – two doubles and a single, and he drove in three or four runs,” Hickingbotham said. “We had three or four guys get two hits, which that’s what it’s all about. What we want them to do is to get some hits in order and today they did a good job.”
Allen and leadoff hitter Derek St. Clair scored the first two runs for Jacksonville after both hit singles to start the inning. The Chevy Boys went scoreless in the second, but picked up where they left off in the third.
Greg Jones and Jared Wilson hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom part of the inning. Courtland McDonald advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt the next at bat. Caleb Reeves singled later in the inning, but both Jones and Wilson scored on wild pitches to give the Chevy Boys a 4-1 lead.
Russellville scored its last two runs the following at bat in the top of the fourth, but Jacksonville answered with two runs of its own. St. Clair walked with one out in the inning and scored the next at bat thanks to the first of Allen’s two doubles.
Allen scored three batters later on Wilson’s third single of the day. Jacksonville built on its 6-3 lead in the fifth with two more runs. Like the previous inning, St. Clair walked to start things off and Allen followed with a double that scored St. Clair.
Second baseman Ryan Mallison scored the eighth run for Jacksonville. He walked during his at bat and later scored on a wild pitch to give the home team a comfortable 8-3 lead. Wilson once again kept the Russellville bats at bay in the top of the sixth, and the Chevy Boys added an insurance run to set the final score.
Reeves singled to the gap in right field for the first hit of the inning. Mallison caught the Russellville infield sleeping the next at bat with a bunt that went for a single.
LaDerrious Perry then came to the plate and hit into a 5-2 fielder’s choice, but as the Russellville catcher threw it to first in an attempt to get Perry for a double play, the ball sailed over the first baseman’s head and allowed Reeves to score to give the Chevy Boys a 9-3 lead.
Eric Moore got the win on the hill for Jacksonville. He started the game before turning the pitching duties over to Wilson midway through. Hickingbotham was just as pleased with the effort his pitchers gave along with the defense behind them.
“I thought both of our pitchers did a good job,” Hickingbotham said. “Jared Wilson came in and pitched the last three and did outstanding. We played good defense. We made a couple of errors but we played good defense.”
Allen and Wilson led the way for Jacksonville offensively with three hits each. Reeves was the only other Chevy Boys player with multiple hits. He had two, while St. Clair, Jones, Mallison and Perry had one apiece.
Monday, July 08, 2013
TOP STORY >> Harlem Globetrotter inspires kids at JPD
By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
Legendary Harlem Globetrotter Hubert (Geese) Ausbie showed he still has a few of his smooth basketball skills as a guest speaker at the Jacksonville Police Department’s Junior Citizens Police Academy graduation day on June 28.
Ausbie, 75, of Little Rock was the “Clown Prince” for the Globetrotters for 25 years until retiring in 1985. He then coached the team for another 15 years.
Ausbie was born in Crescent, Okla. He came to Arkansas after high school to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock from 1956 to 1960. He earned a degree in physical education. In college, Ausbie was named All-American in basketball and during in his senior year he was the third-highest scorer in the country.
Ausbie turned down offers to play baseball with the Chicago Cubs and professional basketball.
In 1961, Ausbie attended the Globetrotters training camp in Chicago. He was chosen from more than 500 players around the nation to be on the Globetrotters team.
As a youngster, Ausbie’s nickname was “Goose” but the Globetrotters already had a player named Goose, so Ausbie’s name changed to “Geese.”
Ausbie played in more than 10,000 games in 100 countries.
“We played for the Pope. We played for the Queen. I played for Nelson Mandela for his birthday in ’98 and played for President Bill Clinton. I’ve met Bill Cosby and Michael Jordan,” he said.
A Harlem Globetrotter game is more than scoring points; it’s about entertainment.
One of Ausbie’s favorite comic routines during a game was to go into the stands. He would get a woman’s purse and return to the floor. He would then go into her purse and get all her stuff out. Then he would dance with her.
“Sometimes you get surprises in a purse. One time in New York the lady said Geese, you’ll be sorry. I was sorry. She had a .45 (handgun). I took it back to her,” he said.
Ausbie said the players have thrown real water on people. They did not mind it when they found out they were going to be paid for their troubles.
“I enjoyed my life, and, if I had to, I’d do it all over again. Everywhere we went we were well protected by the officers. Anytime we called at night we knew they would be there,” Ausbie said.
He said police officers get paid less than professional athletes who make millions of dollars and waste it. The officers put their life on the line every day, not knowing if they are coming home or not.
“Officers are good people. Every night I go to bed I hear that siren blown and it makes you wonder if an officer or a young kid has been shot. I just pray everybody makes it home safe,” Ausbie said.
“There is a show that comes on TV. I love cowboy movies and the show is Hopalong Cassidy. At the end of the show he always tells the kids, thank your parents, be sure to go to Sunday school in church and mind your police officer,” Ausbie said.
“They get mad if you call a police a cop. Hopalong Cassidy said to call a police officer ‘mister officer,’” Ausbie said.
“Everywhere in the world I go they give me a badge. An officer gave me a badge in Alabama one night and he said, ‘Geese, this badge is good in Alabama, but it ain’t worth 10 cents in Mississippi, so don’t try to use ’em,” Ausbie said.
Ausbie and his wife, Awilda, have been married for 55 years. They have four adult children — three daughters and a son — and two grandchildren.
“She gives me a hard time sometimes. She sells MaryKay and I’ve have to deliver for her because she has a little car. I drive a car for free. She puts gas in the car,” Ausbie said.
Ausbie had each of the JPD junior police academy students read words to live by printed on a Harlem Globetrotter basketball: cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm, respect and responsibility.
He told the youngsters to mind their parents because they are great people.
“Don’t call me Hubert. When you call me Hubert, I know I am in trouble,” Ausbie said of his folks.
He said at school he sometimes got in trouble. The principal would whoop him and, when he got home, his mother would be sitting in the swing. She would tell him to go in the house. That is when Ausbie knew he did something wrong.
“She whooped me. Wooo, Lordy, have mercy,” he said.
“I can prove it too, take a look at the scars,” Ausbie said as he pointed toward his backside.
“But she was good to us and we were a praying family, and that was the main thing,” he said.
He told the youth, “Stay in school. You’re going to have a lot of trouble out there on the road. You’re going to see people with drugs. Just turn it down. Don’t do drugs.”
Ausbie ended by saying, “The best day of your life is today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised to you.”
It was the second year for JPD to hold its Junior Citizens Police Academy. The free five-day program was limited to 14 youngsters from 13 to 17 years old interested in law enforcement.
They learned about community-orientated policing, criminal investigations, patrol duties, the use of force, less lethal weapons and firearms. They also learned about the K9 unit duties, the special response team and narcotics investigations.
Leader staff writer
Legendary Harlem Globetrotter Hubert (Geese) Ausbie showed he still has a few of his smooth basketball skills as a guest speaker at the Jacksonville Police Department’s Junior Citizens Police Academy graduation day on June 28.
Ausbie, 75, of Little Rock was the “Clown Prince” for the Globetrotters for 25 years until retiring in 1985. He then coached the team for another 15 years.
Ausbie was born in Crescent, Okla. He came to Arkansas after high school to attend Philander Smith College in Little Rock from 1956 to 1960. He earned a degree in physical education. In college, Ausbie was named All-American in basketball and during in his senior year he was the third-highest scorer in the country.
Ausbie turned down offers to play baseball with the Chicago Cubs and professional basketball.
In 1961, Ausbie attended the Globetrotters training camp in Chicago. He was chosen from more than 500 players around the nation to be on the Globetrotters team.
As a youngster, Ausbie’s nickname was “Goose” but the Globetrotters already had a player named Goose, so Ausbie’s name changed to “Geese.”
Ausbie played in more than 10,000 games in 100 countries.
“We played for the Pope. We played for the Queen. I played for Nelson Mandela for his birthday in ’98 and played for President Bill Clinton. I’ve met Bill Cosby and Michael Jordan,” he said.
A Harlem Globetrotter game is more than scoring points; it’s about entertainment.
One of Ausbie’s favorite comic routines during a game was to go into the stands. He would get a woman’s purse and return to the floor. He would then go into her purse and get all her stuff out. Then he would dance with her.
“Sometimes you get surprises in a purse. One time in New York the lady said Geese, you’ll be sorry. I was sorry. She had a .45 (handgun). I took it back to her,” he said.
Ausbie said the players have thrown real water on people. They did not mind it when they found out they were going to be paid for their troubles.
“I enjoyed my life, and, if I had to, I’d do it all over again. Everywhere we went we were well protected by the officers. Anytime we called at night we knew they would be there,” Ausbie said.
He said police officers get paid less than professional athletes who make millions of dollars and waste it. The officers put their life on the line every day, not knowing if they are coming home or not.
“Officers are good people. Every night I go to bed I hear that siren blown and it makes you wonder if an officer or a young kid has been shot. I just pray everybody makes it home safe,” Ausbie said.
“There is a show that comes on TV. I love cowboy movies and the show is Hopalong Cassidy. At the end of the show he always tells the kids, thank your parents, be sure to go to Sunday school in church and mind your police officer,” Ausbie said.
“They get mad if you call a police a cop. Hopalong Cassidy said to call a police officer ‘mister officer,’” Ausbie said.
“Everywhere in the world I go they give me a badge. An officer gave me a badge in Alabama one night and he said, ‘Geese, this badge is good in Alabama, but it ain’t worth 10 cents in Mississippi, so don’t try to use ’em,” Ausbie said.
Ausbie and his wife, Awilda, have been married for 55 years. They have four adult children — three daughters and a son — and two grandchildren.
“She gives me a hard time sometimes. She sells MaryKay and I’ve have to deliver for her because she has a little car. I drive a car for free. She puts gas in the car,” Ausbie said.
Ausbie had each of the JPD junior police academy students read words to live by printed on a Harlem Globetrotter basketball: cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm, respect and responsibility.
He told the youngsters to mind their parents because they are great people.
“Don’t call me Hubert. When you call me Hubert, I know I am in trouble,” Ausbie said of his folks.
He said at school he sometimes got in trouble. The principal would whoop him and, when he got home, his mother would be sitting in the swing. She would tell him to go in the house. That is when Ausbie knew he did something wrong.
“She whooped me. Wooo, Lordy, have mercy,” he said.
“I can prove it too, take a look at the scars,” Ausbie said as he pointed toward his backside.
“But she was good to us and we were a praying family, and that was the main thing,” he said.
He told the youth, “Stay in school. You’re going to have a lot of trouble out there on the road. You’re going to see people with drugs. Just turn it down. Don’t do drugs.”
Ausbie ended by saying, “The best day of your life is today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised to you.”
It was the second year for JPD to hold its Junior Citizens Police Academy. The free five-day program was limited to 14 youngsters from 13 to 17 years old interested in law enforcement.
They learned about community-orientated policing, criminal investigations, patrol duties, the use of force, less lethal weapons and firearms. They also learned about the K9 unit duties, the special response team and narcotics investigations.
TOP STORY >> Murder defendant contests competency
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
The Cabot area woman charged with beating James Heath to death with a baseball bat last September is challenging a ruling that she is competent to stand trial.
Patrick Benca, attorney for Jeanne Rene Rollf, 40, will contest the May 1 finding that she is competent to stand trial, according to Deputy Prosecutor Barbara Mariana. The next hearing is set for Aug. 12 in the Fourth District Pulaski County Circuit Court with Judge Herbert Wright presiding.
Rollf has been in the Pulaski County Detention Center since her Oct. 12, 2012 arrest, in lieu of $1 million bond.
She is charged with the first-degree murder that happened at her north Pulaski County trailer. If convicted, Rollf could serve between 10 to 40 years in prison or life. She is also accused of abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Her three co-defendants all pleaded guilty to reduced charges, contingent upon testimony against Rollf.
On May 1, John Posey, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, according to Mariana. He was sentenced to 20 years for murder and six years for each of the other charges, which will run concurrently for a total of 26 years. Posey is at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit with a scheduled release date of November 2022, according to Correction Department records.
Also on May 1, William Null, 25, pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to six years on each count, to run consecutively.Null is at the East Arkansas Regional Correction Unit with a scheduled release date of January 2015.
Taylor Arnold, 20 at the time of his October arrest, pleaded guilty April 29 to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He will be sentenced later, Mariana said.
Arnold is free on bond, she noted.
Arnold said in an affidavit that he was in another room of Rollf’s trailer when he heard Heath say, “No, Rene, no.” Arnold then told officers that he heard “two very loud thumps as if someone got hit with something.”
Arnold said he and Null walked out of the bedroom and saw Heath “lying in the hallway floor covered in blood and Rollf lying on top of him holding a baseball bat,” according to the affidavit.
Posey’s wife, who was also at the scene, said in an affidavit that Rollf told her, “I killed him.”
Arnold said his involvement was limited to digging the grave, helping clean the bloody trailer and helping carry Heath’s body on a door to that grave.
Leader senior staff writer
The Cabot area woman charged with beating James Heath to death with a baseball bat last September is challenging a ruling that she is competent to stand trial.
Patrick Benca, attorney for Jeanne Rene Rollf, 40, will contest the May 1 finding that she is competent to stand trial, according to Deputy Prosecutor Barbara Mariana. The next hearing is set for Aug. 12 in the Fourth District Pulaski County Circuit Court with Judge Herbert Wright presiding.
Rollf has been in the Pulaski County Detention Center since her Oct. 12, 2012 arrest, in lieu of $1 million bond.
She is charged with the first-degree murder that happened at her north Pulaski County trailer. If convicted, Rollf could serve between 10 to 40 years in prison or life. She is also accused of abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence.
Her three co-defendants all pleaded guilty to reduced charges, contingent upon testimony against Rollf.
On May 1, John Posey, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, according to Mariana. He was sentenced to 20 years for murder and six years for each of the other charges, which will run concurrently for a total of 26 years. Posey is at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit with a scheduled release date of November 2022, according to Correction Department records.
Also on May 1, William Null, 25, pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence and was sentenced to six years on each count, to run consecutively.Null is at the East Arkansas Regional Correction Unit with a scheduled release date of January 2015.
Taylor Arnold, 20 at the time of his October arrest, pleaded guilty April 29 to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He will be sentenced later, Mariana said.
Arnold is free on bond, she noted.
Arnold said in an affidavit that he was in another room of Rollf’s trailer when he heard Heath say, “No, Rene, no.” Arnold then told officers that he heard “two very loud thumps as if someone got hit with something.”
Arnold said he and Null walked out of the bedroom and saw Heath “lying in the hallway floor covered in blood and Rollf lying on top of him holding a baseball bat,” according to the affidavit.
Posey’s wife, who was also at the scene, said in an affidavit that Rollf told her, “I killed him.”
Arnold said his involvement was limited to digging the grave, helping clean the bloody trailer and helping carry Heath’s body on a door to that grave.
EDITORIAL >> Going wet: It adds up
The University of Arkansas report on making Sherwood and Jacksonville “wet” are mathematically flawed, but the conclusion is valid — both cities would benefit financially by being completely wet.
First, the background:
• Gray Township, a political entity that no longer exists but covers about 50 percent of what is now Sherwood and close to 90 percent of Jacksonville, voted in 1954 and 1956 to make the area dry, meaning no alcohol sales except under certain circumstances, like jumping through a lengthy process of hoops to be a private club.
• Because Gray Township no longer officially exists, there has been no mechanism to change that vote. But the state legislature approved a new law that helped set the boundaries of four dry Pulaski County townships and to allow residents to vote on the issue later this year.
The study flaws:
• The studies, produced by the university’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said that 50 percent of Sherwood is dry and losing about $7 million a year in sales because full-service restaurants can’t open in the dry areas. It then says that Jacksonville is 90 percent dry and is also losing money, but only $600,000 a year — say what?
Jacksonville and Sherwood are close in population (29,000 to 30,000 residents respectively) and much more of Jacksonville falls into the dry category, but Sherwood is losing 10 times the money? The numbers simply don’t add up, multiple up or make any mathematical sense.
But the concept is true; the cities are losing money because many national, full-service restaurants will not locate in the area because most of the land available for development is in the dry areas.
Jacksonville has only one major full-service chain restaurant and that is Chili’s, pulling in about $4 million a year, making it one of the busiest and best in the state. But why doesn’t anyone else open next to Little Rock Air Force Base, which contributes more than $800 million to the local economy?
The “dry” rules, restrictions and regulations are a major factor here.
The study also forgets the indirect or ancillary jobs new restaurants would create. When a Chili’s or Buffalo Wild Wings comes in, there is an instant need for plumbers, electricians and a variety of laborers to build the facility. Not all of those workers are hired locally, but many are. Plus, crews that come in to help need to stay at local hotels, use local eateries and gas up locally.
Once a restaurant opens, like Buffalo Wild Wings, it could employ 100-plus people. Plus, it could be responsible for that much more indirectly — from the drivers delivering the supplies to the chicken farmers providing the product.
Now, what to do:
• Study flaws aside, both cities and their chambers of commerce need to push hard to get enough signatures collected to call for the vote. Both cities need about 4,400 signatures from the affected area. Sherwood has to get it from a much smaller segment than Jacksonville, but both need the vote for the economic impact it will provide—which would actually be less than $7 million a year for Sherwood and much more than $600,000 for Jacksonville.
First, the background:
• Gray Township, a political entity that no longer exists but covers about 50 percent of what is now Sherwood and close to 90 percent of Jacksonville, voted in 1954 and 1956 to make the area dry, meaning no alcohol sales except under certain circumstances, like jumping through a lengthy process of hoops to be a private club.
• Because Gray Township no longer officially exists, there has been no mechanism to change that vote. But the state legislature approved a new law that helped set the boundaries of four dry Pulaski County townships and to allow residents to vote on the issue later this year.
The study flaws:
• The studies, produced by the university’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said that 50 percent of Sherwood is dry and losing about $7 million a year in sales because full-service restaurants can’t open in the dry areas. It then says that Jacksonville is 90 percent dry and is also losing money, but only $600,000 a year — say what?
Jacksonville and Sherwood are close in population (29,000 to 30,000 residents respectively) and much more of Jacksonville falls into the dry category, but Sherwood is losing 10 times the money? The numbers simply don’t add up, multiple up or make any mathematical sense.
But the concept is true; the cities are losing money because many national, full-service restaurants will not locate in the area because most of the land available for development is in the dry areas.
Jacksonville has only one major full-service chain restaurant and that is Chili’s, pulling in about $4 million a year, making it one of the busiest and best in the state. But why doesn’t anyone else open next to Little Rock Air Force Base, which contributes more than $800 million to the local economy?
The “dry” rules, restrictions and regulations are a major factor here.
The study also forgets the indirect or ancillary jobs new restaurants would create. When a Chili’s or Buffalo Wild Wings comes in, there is an instant need for plumbers, electricians and a variety of laborers to build the facility. Not all of those workers are hired locally, but many are. Plus, crews that come in to help need to stay at local hotels, use local eateries and gas up locally.
Once a restaurant opens, like Buffalo Wild Wings, it could employ 100-plus people. Plus, it could be responsible for that much more indirectly — from the drivers delivering the supplies to the chicken farmers providing the product.
Now, what to do:
• Study flaws aside, both cities and their chambers of commerce need to push hard to get enough signatures collected to call for the vote. Both cities need about 4,400 signatures from the affected area. Sherwood has to get it from a much smaller segment than Jacksonville, but both need the vote for the economic impact it will provide—which would actually be less than $7 million a year for Sherwood and much more than $600,000 for Jacksonville.
TOP STORY >> Base family’s burden of service
By STAFF SGT. RUSS SCALF
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Exhausted from another day of managing tantrums, diapers, laundry, dinner, baths and bedtime, Heather Drain finally sits down in her Cabot home.
She is free at last to enjoy the solitude that her labor has earned her.
The refuge lasts nearly 10 minutes before her son, Ayden, gets up from bed. After a brief confrontation, he retreats back to his room, but not before waking 6-month-old Everett, who is ready for a feeding.
The frustration of even the smallest task or chore amplifies as each day passes. Rest comes in small increments, as most nights she is lucky to get just three hours of sleep. Her parental duties are a relentless cycle, and her day mirrors the military spouse lifestyle.
For Drain there are no typical days. Yet, each one seems like a rerun. It begins each morning when her young boys wake and ends when they fall asleep in the evening. In the four months that have passed since she said goodbye to her husband, Aaron, Drain has spent nearly every day and night caring for the couple’s sons.
Through all of the hardships, she insists that her biggest challenges have been neither physical nor mental. Instead her battles are being waged on an emotional front.
“The hardest part of being here, by myself, raising two boys, would be not having anyone around to experience the special moments and the things that your kids do, someone to share it with,” said Drain, whose husband has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
While she accepts that deployments are a way of life in the military, and in fact come with some benefits, it’s little consolation for the moments that will be missed out on as a family. Drain gave birth to the couple’s second child, Everett, just three weeks before her husband deployed.
This was the first of several changes she would have to prepare for, and deal with, on her own during the deployment.
“I prepared by kind of disconnecting myself a little bit,” said Drain. “I had to, to make it less emotional.”
The decision to disconnect was born, in part, from a flood of postpartum emotions.
“About halfway through the deployment I was able to get back to where I was before he left,” said Drain. “It was really hard because typically I’m not a super emotional person; I never really have been.
“I’m a pretty logical person, but after the baby came along, I was a whole new me. I couldn’t control any of it. It made it pretty difficult.”
While many of the changes occurring in her life were internal, others were very visible. She does her best to keep Aaron a part of the boys’ lives, however, webcams and video clips offer only a small measure of comfort to either parent.
“(Aaron) missed his first smile, his first laugh, rolling over,” said Drain. “He’s almost sitting up on his own now; he’ll miss a lot of firsts.”
Drain also achieved a few milestones of her own. After serving on active duty for eight years as an aerospace medical technician, she transitioned over to the Air Force Reserve in November. The move will allow her to become a stabilizing force at home.
“Ayden was just 2 when (Aaron) deployed the first time,” said Drain. “It took a long time for him to feel secure that his dad wasn’t just going to leave. It could be as simple as just walking out of the house or dropping him off at daycare. It became very difficult, and Ayden had a really hard time with that.
“If I were to deploy it would not be very good at all. His dad affects him so much being gone I can only imagine what would happen if I had to leave. So, the main factor of me getting out is just doing what’s best for my children,” she said.
With nearly two months to go, the deployment was beginning to reveal signs of fatigue in 4-year-old Ayden as well. Drain noted that she had observed some changes in the toddler’s behavior.
“Ayden had a few changes, negative changes, in his behavior after his dad left,” said Drain. “He started to get clingy, very, very clingy and would be violent if not given his way. Really anything would set him off.”
Drain credits her own military service in helping her appreciate the importance of the sacrifices her husband is making. However, she feels those sacrifices may have had detrimental effects on Ayden.
“He never really had a secure bond with his dad,” said Drain. “Aaron had missed the whole first year of (Ayden’s) life, due to the military. We were separated geographically at the time.
His whole second year he was with him, Aaron was in school. There really wasn’t much interaction. So, just this past year is the most interaction he’s had with his dad in all four years of his life.
So, for him to leave again, it set him back a little bit. There will be a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done.”
For now, Drain returns her attention to the task at hand. She carefully places Everett back in his swing and tries to slog through a few more chores. She briefly acknowledges this day, like many others, appeared to be a draw, and suggests that her time would be better spent resting for the day ahead.
In only a few short hours the cycle would begin again. It would inevitably be another exhausting day of laboring for those she loves. Still, it would be one day closer to Aaron’s return.
This is the second part of a three-part series. To see a video clip of this story, visit the Little Rock Air Force Base YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/littlerockafb1.
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Exhausted from another day of managing tantrums, diapers, laundry, dinner, baths and bedtime, Heather Drain finally sits down in her Cabot home.
She is free at last to enjoy the solitude that her labor has earned her.
The refuge lasts nearly 10 minutes before her son, Ayden, gets up from bed. After a brief confrontation, he retreats back to his room, but not before waking 6-month-old Everett, who is ready for a feeding.
The frustration of even the smallest task or chore amplifies as each day passes. Rest comes in small increments, as most nights she is lucky to get just three hours of sleep. Her parental duties are a relentless cycle, and her day mirrors the military spouse lifestyle.
For Drain there are no typical days. Yet, each one seems like a rerun. It begins each morning when her young boys wake and ends when they fall asleep in the evening. In the four months that have passed since she said goodbye to her husband, Aaron, Drain has spent nearly every day and night caring for the couple’s sons.
Through all of the hardships, she insists that her biggest challenges have been neither physical nor mental. Instead her battles are being waged on an emotional front.
“The hardest part of being here, by myself, raising two boys, would be not having anyone around to experience the special moments and the things that your kids do, someone to share it with,” said Drain, whose husband has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
While she accepts that deployments are a way of life in the military, and in fact come with some benefits, it’s little consolation for the moments that will be missed out on as a family. Drain gave birth to the couple’s second child, Everett, just three weeks before her husband deployed.
This was the first of several changes she would have to prepare for, and deal with, on her own during the deployment.
“I prepared by kind of disconnecting myself a little bit,” said Drain. “I had to, to make it less emotional.”
The decision to disconnect was born, in part, from a flood of postpartum emotions.
“About halfway through the deployment I was able to get back to where I was before he left,” said Drain. “It was really hard because typically I’m not a super emotional person; I never really have been.
“I’m a pretty logical person, but after the baby came along, I was a whole new me. I couldn’t control any of it. It made it pretty difficult.”
While many of the changes occurring in her life were internal, others were very visible. She does her best to keep Aaron a part of the boys’ lives, however, webcams and video clips offer only a small measure of comfort to either parent.
“(Aaron) missed his first smile, his first laugh, rolling over,” said Drain. “He’s almost sitting up on his own now; he’ll miss a lot of firsts.”
Drain also achieved a few milestones of her own. After serving on active duty for eight years as an aerospace medical technician, she transitioned over to the Air Force Reserve in November. The move will allow her to become a stabilizing force at home.
“Ayden was just 2 when (Aaron) deployed the first time,” said Drain. “It took a long time for him to feel secure that his dad wasn’t just going to leave. It could be as simple as just walking out of the house or dropping him off at daycare. It became very difficult, and Ayden had a really hard time with that.
“If I were to deploy it would not be very good at all. His dad affects him so much being gone I can only imagine what would happen if I had to leave. So, the main factor of me getting out is just doing what’s best for my children,” she said.
With nearly two months to go, the deployment was beginning to reveal signs of fatigue in 4-year-old Ayden as well. Drain noted that she had observed some changes in the toddler’s behavior.
“Ayden had a few changes, negative changes, in his behavior after his dad left,” said Drain. “He started to get clingy, very, very clingy and would be violent if not given his way. Really anything would set him off.”
Drain credits her own military service in helping her appreciate the importance of the sacrifices her husband is making. However, she feels those sacrifices may have had detrimental effects on Ayden.
“He never really had a secure bond with his dad,” said Drain. “Aaron had missed the whole first year of (Ayden’s) life, due to the military. We were separated geographically at the time.
His whole second year he was with him, Aaron was in school. There really wasn’t much interaction. So, just this past year is the most interaction he’s had with his dad in all four years of his life.
So, for him to leave again, it set him back a little bit. There will be a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done.”
For now, Drain returns her attention to the task at hand. She carefully places Everett back in his swing and tries to slog through a few more chores. She briefly acknowledges this day, like many others, appeared to be a draw, and suggests that her time would be better spent resting for the day ahead.
In only a few short hours the cycle would begin again. It would inevitably be another exhausting day of laboring for those she loves. Still, it would be one day closer to Aaron’s return.
This is the second part of a three-part series. To see a video clip of this story, visit the Little Rock Air Force Base YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/littlerockafb1.
SPORTS STORY >> Misplaced priorities revealed
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
(This sports column from Sept. 12, 2012, won first place at the Arkansas Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest banquet last Saturday.)
The Arkansas Razorback fan base is divided since the eighth-ranked Hogs lost 34-31 to hapless Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Fans’ expectations for this season were as high as any in a few decades, and the loss to a team that’s not had a winning season since 1994 has dashed those expectations.
Now it seems that about half the fan base wants to rehire Bobby Petrino and fire athletic director Jeff Long for firing Petrino in the first place. And those fans are wrong.
Some try to revise history and minimize the egregious offenses Petrino committed. Others just have their priorities out of line and believe winning at football is the most important thing to consider.
They don’t care that he cheated on his wife, hired his mistress for a job she wasn’t qualified for, wrecked his motorcycle with her aboard, lied to his boss (Long), allowed Long to send out a press release he knew was false and finally called his own press conference and lied to the media and fans about the whole incident. And let’s not forget he paid the woman he was sleeping with $20,000. There’s a word for that which won’t be used here, but it pertains to an old saying about an even older profession.
And he hired this woman for a job in the football department. For the fans whose priority No. 1 is Razorback football, that fact alone should tell you that Razorback football was no longer Petrino’s top priority, but even that misses the point here.
The point is that fans who want Petrino back have misprioritized the important things in life.
Some fans just want him back because he won games and that’s all that matters.
Some will try to argue that his success brought millions of dollars to the program. But that’s a tenuous rationalization. Even if it’s true, money is not the most important thing here either. It rarely is in truth, it’s just treated that way because our priorities are out of line.
Fans who are against rehiring Petrino are often called self righteous, or morality peddlers or Bible thumpers. One was even told to keep his morality to himself and at his worship services.
The late writer David Foster Wallace once made this profound observation.
“Here’s something that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there’s no such thing as not worshiping. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship – is that pretty much anything else will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.”
One might also add, worship sports or competition and winning, you’ll die every time you lose and sacrifice some truly important things like family, integrity, honesty and courage for something that’s not really that important, like winning at football.
Don’t want to feel eaten alive every time the Hogs fail? Put them in their proper place in life’s priorities.
Leader sports editor
(This sports column from Sept. 12, 2012, won first place at the Arkansas Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest banquet last Saturday.)
The Arkansas Razorback fan base is divided since the eighth-ranked Hogs lost 34-31 to hapless Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Fans’ expectations for this season were as high as any in a few decades, and the loss to a team that’s not had a winning season since 1994 has dashed those expectations.
Now it seems that about half the fan base wants to rehire Bobby Petrino and fire athletic director Jeff Long for firing Petrino in the first place. And those fans are wrong.
Some try to revise history and minimize the egregious offenses Petrino committed. Others just have their priorities out of line and believe winning at football is the most important thing to consider.
They don’t care that he cheated on his wife, hired his mistress for a job she wasn’t qualified for, wrecked his motorcycle with her aboard, lied to his boss (Long), allowed Long to send out a press release he knew was false and finally called his own press conference and lied to the media and fans about the whole incident. And let’s not forget he paid the woman he was sleeping with $20,000. There’s a word for that which won’t be used here, but it pertains to an old saying about an even older profession.
And he hired this woman for a job in the football department. For the fans whose priority No. 1 is Razorback football, that fact alone should tell you that Razorback football was no longer Petrino’s top priority, but even that misses the point here.
The point is that fans who want Petrino back have misprioritized the important things in life.
Some fans just want him back because he won games and that’s all that matters.
Some will try to argue that his success brought millions of dollars to the program. But that’s a tenuous rationalization. Even if it’s true, money is not the most important thing here either. It rarely is in truth, it’s just treated that way because our priorities are out of line.
Fans who are against rehiring Petrino are often called self righteous, or morality peddlers or Bible thumpers. One was even told to keep his morality to himself and at his worship services.
The late writer David Foster Wallace once made this profound observation.
“Here’s something that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there’s no such thing as not worshiping. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship – is that pretty much anything else will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.”
One might also add, worship sports or competition and winning, you’ll die every time you lose and sacrifice some truly important things like family, integrity, honesty and courage for something that’s not really that important, like winning at football.
Don’t want to feel eaten alive every time the Hogs fail? Put them in their proper place in life’s priorities.
SPORTS STORY >> Centennial Bank routs Jacksonville at Dupree
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Centennial Bank senior American Legion avenged a tournament loss from earlier in the week with an 11-3 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday at Dupree Park. Cabot (13-12) scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed, even extending the lead with another four-run rally in the third.
Hayden Vinson threw all five innings for Cabot, giving up just five hits and one earned run while striking out six and walking just two.
Jacksonville’s Alex Broadwell struck out four in two-and-two-thirds innings, but also walked four and hit two batters. He gave up six hits and eight earned runs. Jared Wilson finished the game on the mound for Gwatney, giving up two hits and two earned runs.
Bryson Morris started Cabot’s rally in the first inning by drawing a one-out walk. Casey Vaughan followed that with a single to left field that scored Morris. Coleman McAtee and Ryan Logan made it three singles to left in a row to load the bases. Grayson Cole grounded to third base, where Blake Perry fielded the ball and threw home to get Vaughan out on the force. With the bases still loaded, Kyle Kaufman hit a two-out single to right field to score McAtee and Logan, and Cole scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
Jacksonville’s best inning was also the first thanks to fielding errors on the first two at bats. Derek St. Clair and Troy Allen each hit grounders to Conner Vocque at shortstop, and both were misplayed. St. Clair scored on the second error and Courtland McDonald singled to drive Allen home with no outs. But that’s all the offense the Chevy Boys could produce until the fifth inning.
McDonald was caught stealing by catcher Brent Dean, and Vinson got Blake Perry to fly out to right field before walking LaDerrious Perry. Ryan Mallison then flew out to left field.
Cabot scored an unearned run in the second inning thanks to two walks and an error, then scored four runs with two outs in the third to take command of the game.
Cole was hit by a Broadwell pitch to start the inning, but the Gwatney pitcher struck out the next two batters. Cole stole second base during the second out, and Vinson singled to drive him home and make it 6-2. Broadwell walked Vocque and hit Morris to load the bases before he was replaced by Wilson.
Vaughan made it a rough start for Wilson with a bases-clearing double through the power alley in left-centerfield that made it 9-2.
Cabot scored another run in the fourth without a base hit. Cole was hit and Kaufman walked before Dean hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Cole. Vocque started the fifth inning with a base hit and Vaughan got his fifth RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Centennial Bank an 11-2 lead.
Jacksonville finally got back on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Allen hit a leadoff double and scored with two outs when LaDerrious Perry singled to left field.
Jacksonville will travel to Benton today and plays at home against Russellville at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Cabot’s senior team is off until Tuesday when it hosts North Little Rock.
Leader sports editor
The Centennial Bank senior American Legion avenged a tournament loss from earlier in the week with an 11-3 win over Jacksonville on Tuesday at Dupree Park. Cabot (13-12) scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed, even extending the lead with another four-run rally in the third.
Hayden Vinson threw all five innings for Cabot, giving up just five hits and one earned run while striking out six and walking just two.
Jacksonville’s Alex Broadwell struck out four in two-and-two-thirds innings, but also walked four and hit two batters. He gave up six hits and eight earned runs. Jared Wilson finished the game on the mound for Gwatney, giving up two hits and two earned runs.
Bryson Morris started Cabot’s rally in the first inning by drawing a one-out walk. Casey Vaughan followed that with a single to left field that scored Morris. Coleman McAtee and Ryan Logan made it three singles to left in a row to load the bases. Grayson Cole grounded to third base, where Blake Perry fielded the ball and threw home to get Vaughan out on the force. With the bases still loaded, Kyle Kaufman hit a two-out single to right field to score McAtee and Logan, and Cole scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
Jacksonville’s best inning was also the first thanks to fielding errors on the first two at bats. Derek St. Clair and Troy Allen each hit grounders to Conner Vocque at shortstop, and both were misplayed. St. Clair scored on the second error and Courtland McDonald singled to drive Allen home with no outs. But that’s all the offense the Chevy Boys could produce until the fifth inning.
McDonald was caught stealing by catcher Brent Dean, and Vinson got Blake Perry to fly out to right field before walking LaDerrious Perry. Ryan Mallison then flew out to left field.
Cabot scored an unearned run in the second inning thanks to two walks and an error, then scored four runs with two outs in the third to take command of the game.
Cole was hit by a Broadwell pitch to start the inning, but the Gwatney pitcher struck out the next two batters. Cole stole second base during the second out, and Vinson singled to drive him home and make it 6-2. Broadwell walked Vocque and hit Morris to load the bases before he was replaced by Wilson.
Vaughan made it a rough start for Wilson with a bases-clearing double through the power alley in left-centerfield that made it 9-2.
Cabot scored another run in the fourth without a base hit. Cole was hit and Kaufman walked before Dean hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Cole. Vocque started the fifth inning with a base hit and Vaughan got his fifth RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Centennial Bank an 11-2 lead.
Jacksonville finally got back on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Allen hit a leadoff double and scored with two outs when LaDerrious Perry singled to left field.
Jacksonville will travel to Benton today and plays at home against Russellville at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Cabot’s senior team is off until Tuesday when it hosts North Little Rock.
SPORTS STORY >> Sherwood Bears earn two wins at UALR event
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ Gwatney GMC Bears picked up two hard-fought wins the first two games of the Little Rock Catholic Fourth of July Showcase tournament.
On Thursday, the Bears used a strong sixth inning to blow past the junior Rockets 8-4, and on Friday, solid pitching by Marcus Long and a timely hit by Hunter Heslep helped Sylvan Hills edge Lake Hamilton 2-1 at Curran Conway Field on the UALR campus.
“We had a couple of double plays that were turned, but for the most part he just stifled them,” said Bears assistant coach Chris Foor about Long’s showing on the mound. “Between his fastball, his curveball, and his split-finger fastball, they just never were on time with him.
“It’s hot out here and we’re playing on astro turf. When you get to the seventh inning and you’re getting near that hundred pitch count, it’s tough. He basically just became a pure bulldog and just fought through.”
Long gave up just three hits and the one run Lake Hamilton scored was unearned. He also recorded eight strikeouts. Sylvan Hills scored both of its runs in the first inning. The Bears got two walks to start the inning and a sacrifice bunt the next at bat moved the runners to second and third base.
A strikeout followed, but Hunter Heslep came through with a two-out single up the middle to drive in both runs. In Thursday’s win, the Bears led early, but put the game away with a big sixth inning.
Chase Imoff and Reid Fawcett led the way offensively, and Sylvan Hills was very active on the base paths as it totaled five stolen bases in the sixth inning alone.
“They’re really learning with these new bats,” Foor said. “Yeah, being a powerhouse offensive team would be nice, but really you don’t see that many. You’ve got to play small ball and we got our bunts down, we stole bases, we got hit, we battled to get walks, and worked pitch counts up high for pitchers. They’re starting to understand the game.”
The Catholic junior team started connecting at the plate in the final inning against Bears pitcher Connor Poteet, but Poteet held off the rally for the complete game win. Poteet, who Foor said is projected to be the ace pitcher for the Sylvan Hills varsity team next spring, finished the game with seven strikeouts and only two earned runs.
Sylvan Hills played Jonesboro yesterday and will play Catholic’s older 17-year-old Rockets team today before closing tournament play tomorrow.
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ Gwatney GMC Bears picked up two hard-fought wins the first two games of the Little Rock Catholic Fourth of July Showcase tournament.
On Thursday, the Bears used a strong sixth inning to blow past the junior Rockets 8-4, and on Friday, solid pitching by Marcus Long and a timely hit by Hunter Heslep helped Sylvan Hills edge Lake Hamilton 2-1 at Curran Conway Field on the UALR campus.
“We had a couple of double plays that were turned, but for the most part he just stifled them,” said Bears assistant coach Chris Foor about Long’s showing on the mound. “Between his fastball, his curveball, and his split-finger fastball, they just never were on time with him.
“It’s hot out here and we’re playing on astro turf. When you get to the seventh inning and you’re getting near that hundred pitch count, it’s tough. He basically just became a pure bulldog and just fought through.”
Long gave up just three hits and the one run Lake Hamilton scored was unearned. He also recorded eight strikeouts. Sylvan Hills scored both of its runs in the first inning. The Bears got two walks to start the inning and a sacrifice bunt the next at bat moved the runners to second and third base.
A strikeout followed, but Hunter Heslep came through with a two-out single up the middle to drive in both runs. In Thursday’s win, the Bears led early, but put the game away with a big sixth inning.
Chase Imoff and Reid Fawcett led the way offensively, and Sylvan Hills was very active on the base paths as it totaled five stolen bases in the sixth inning alone.
“They’re really learning with these new bats,” Foor said. “Yeah, being a powerhouse offensive team would be nice, but really you don’t see that many. You’ve got to play small ball and we got our bunts down, we stole bases, we got hit, we battled to get walks, and worked pitch counts up high for pitchers. They’re starting to understand the game.”
The Catholic junior team started connecting at the plate in the final inning against Bears pitcher Connor Poteet, but Poteet held off the rally for the complete game win. Poteet, who Foor said is projected to be the ace pitcher for the Sylvan Hills varsity team next spring, finished the game with seven strikeouts and only two earned runs.
Sylvan Hills played Jonesboro yesterday and will play Catholic’s older 17-year-old Rockets team today before closing tournament play tomorrow.
SPORTS STORY >> Gwatney rallies in seventh, beats Red
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Gwatney Chevrolet junior team escaped with a narrow victory over the rapidly improving Cabot Red team Tuesday at Dupree Park. Jacksonville saw a 7-1 lead after five innings turn into a 9-7 deficit by the middle of the seventh, but managed three runs in the bottom of the last inning to pull out the victory.
The Centennial Bank team pulled to within one run in the top of the sixth with a five-run rally, then took the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh. They were in good shape with Jacksonville’s seven through nine hitters due up, and things looked even better when Mike Havard struck out Josh Cook to start the inning.
Brandon Hopkins then singled and Tyson Flowers walked. That brought Jacksonville (18-2) back to the top of the order, when James Tucker tied the game by sending a 2-1 pitch to the wall in centerfield and driving in both base runners. Wesley Williams then reached on an error at first base and Payton Traywick was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then, in anti-climactic fashion, A.J. Jackson walked in five pitches to score the game-winning run.
Jacksonville got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning when Greg Jones walked and Blake Perry hit a fly ball to centerfield that was misplayed.
Pitcher Brandon Hickingbotham got a three-run rally started for Gwatney in the second inning with a leadoff double to right-centerfield. Zac Watkins singled to drive him home and Donte Harris singled to score Watkins. After Flowers flew out to right field, an error at third base left Harris and D.J. Scott safe at second and third, and Ryan Mallison hit a sacrifice grounder to score Harris and make it 4-0.
Cabot Red (5-12) scored a run in the top of the third. Ethan Holland hit a leadoff single before Hickingbotham fanned the next two batters. Holland stole second base and was able to score on a two-out RBI single by Braden Jarnigan.
Jarnigan, who started on the mound and pitched three innings for Cabot, yielded to Havard in the fourth, but three more runs gave Jacksonville a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Harris and Flowers hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Mallison tripled down the line in right field for two more RBIs. He then scored on a single to centerfield by Jones.
Havard held Gwatney scoreless on just one hit through the fifth and sixth innings as Cabot Red mounted its rally.
It started with a leadoff triple by Jarnigan off Hickingbotham, who went the distance for Jacksonville. Wes Brown then singled to drive in one run. Kayde Ridgeway walked and Jarrett Pitchford doubled to drive in Brown, all before Jacksonville recorded an out. Lino Garcia singled with one out to score Ridgeway. Pitchford scored on a passed ball and Garcia scored on a sacrifice by Havard to make it 7-6.
In the top of the seventh, Jarnigan started things off with a single before Brown grounded out back to the mound. Hickingbotham then hit Ridgeway and Pitchford to load the bases. An error at shortstop scored one run and tied the game. A single to left by Garcia drove in Ridgeway and Pitchford and gave Cabot a 9-7 lead.
Hickingbotham gave up nine base hits but only three earned runs. He walked three and hit three while striking out six. Jacksonville scored just four earned runs while piling up eight base hits.
The Gwatney junior team will play its regular-season game at 2 p.m. today at Benton. Cabot Red also plays at home today against Morrilton.
Leader sports editor
The Gwatney Chevrolet junior team escaped with a narrow victory over the rapidly improving Cabot Red team Tuesday at Dupree Park. Jacksonville saw a 7-1 lead after five innings turn into a 9-7 deficit by the middle of the seventh, but managed three runs in the bottom of the last inning to pull out the victory.
The Centennial Bank team pulled to within one run in the top of the sixth with a five-run rally, then took the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh. They were in good shape with Jacksonville’s seven through nine hitters due up, and things looked even better when Mike Havard struck out Josh Cook to start the inning.
Brandon Hopkins then singled and Tyson Flowers walked. That brought Jacksonville (18-2) back to the top of the order, when James Tucker tied the game by sending a 2-1 pitch to the wall in centerfield and driving in both base runners. Wesley Williams then reached on an error at first base and Payton Traywick was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then, in anti-climactic fashion, A.J. Jackson walked in five pitches to score the game-winning run.
Jacksonville got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning when Greg Jones walked and Blake Perry hit a fly ball to centerfield that was misplayed.
Pitcher Brandon Hickingbotham got a three-run rally started for Gwatney in the second inning with a leadoff double to right-centerfield. Zac Watkins singled to drive him home and Donte Harris singled to score Watkins. After Flowers flew out to right field, an error at third base left Harris and D.J. Scott safe at second and third, and Ryan Mallison hit a sacrifice grounder to score Harris and make it 4-0.
Cabot Red (5-12) scored a run in the top of the third. Ethan Holland hit a leadoff single before Hickingbotham fanned the next two batters. Holland stole second base and was able to score on a two-out RBI single by Braden Jarnigan.
Jarnigan, who started on the mound and pitched three innings for Cabot, yielded to Havard in the fourth, but three more runs gave Jacksonville a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Harris and Flowers hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Mallison tripled down the line in right field for two more RBIs. He then scored on a single to centerfield by Jones.
Havard held Gwatney scoreless on just one hit through the fifth and sixth innings as Cabot Red mounted its rally.
It started with a leadoff triple by Jarnigan off Hickingbotham, who went the distance for Jacksonville. Wes Brown then singled to drive in one run. Kayde Ridgeway walked and Jarrett Pitchford doubled to drive in Brown, all before Jacksonville recorded an out. Lino Garcia singled with one out to score Ridgeway. Pitchford scored on a passed ball and Garcia scored on a sacrifice by Havard to make it 7-6.
In the top of the seventh, Jarnigan started things off with a single before Brown grounded out back to the mound. Hickingbotham then hit Ridgeway and Pitchford to load the bases. An error at shortstop scored one run and tied the game. A single to left by Garcia drove in Ridgeway and Pitchford and gave Cabot a 9-7 lead.
Hickingbotham gave up nine base hits but only three earned runs. He walked three and hit three while striking out six. Jacksonville scored just four earned runs while piling up eight base hits.
The Gwatney junior team will play its regular-season game at 2 p.m. today at Benton. Cabot Red also plays at home today against Morrilton.
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
EDITORIAL >> Not helping Jacksonville
(This November 2012 editorial by Jonathan Feldman about a Jacksonville City Council candidate won first place for editorial writing from the Arkansas Press Association.)
We are not often so disappointed in a city council candidate that we feel obligated to inform readers of the likely pitfalls if he were elected. But Rizelle Aaron’s behavior has been deceitful and erratic since he entered Jacksonville’s political arena in 2009.
Aaron is running against Alderman Terry Sansing in Ward 2, Position 2 in a divisive campaign that is similar to many of Aaron’s civic endeavors. Aaron has been a disruptive voice who has set racial relations back 40 years or more.
Aaron has accused The Leader of bias, although our readers know that we have supported the African-American community since we started this newspaper 25 years ago.
We lauded the late Dr. Charles Hopson, the former superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District, as he tried to improve the district before he was unfairly ousted by the state Education Department. We have recommended Jacksonville High School principal Henry Anderson as the next superintendent of PCSSD or as the head of a Jacksonville-area district when it wins approval in the courts.
The Leader has celebrated Arkansas’ African- American culture like no other newspaper in the state. We have covered the local chapter of the NAACP, the Dick Jeter community and a recent candidates forum at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. We also asked the hard questions about the fatal fire at the Max Howell Apartments where a black family of five perished.
Often we have written of the benefits of health-care reform, President Obama’s most controversial policy initiative that will help minorities and the poor.
We have written about the timeless music of the Arkansas Delta, from Albert King to Son Seals, who are seldom mentioned in the state media or in its history books.
Recently, we were informed by community members that Aaron was telling his supporters and opponents alike that he had sued the newspaper — presumably, The Leader — for reporting on his criminal background and false education credentials in 2010 when he briefly ran for mayor here. He denies saying he sued this newspaper, but we have reason to doubt him.
Aaron presumably felt we were pulling our punches because of the alleged lawsuit. Here are some highlights of his record that should concern Jacksonville residents:
SECRET RECORDINGS
Aaron often tells critics that he secretly records private conversations. It can be assumed he intends to embarrass anyone he felt had crossed him. The legality of secretly recording conversations aside, Aaron’s intentions are clear: He wants to threaten and intimidate his opponents, most of whom are city employees.
SPOTTY EMPLOYMENT
To address the challenges facing Jacksonville, city council members should have professional experience that can help provide insight for the development of the city’s economy, schools and infrastructure. Aaron hasn’t been employed during the few years that he has been politically active. These are hard times, but a professional background and experience are important for any candidate to bring to the council.
He says that he is a disabled veteran, yet he has campaigned all day in front of the community center. How can an under-employed candidate with little work experience help Jacksonville attract businesses?
COLLEGE DEGREE QUESTIONS
We do not expect all city council members to have college degrees, but we do think they should be honest about their education. When he announced his candidacy for mayor, Aaron claimed to have a bachelor’s degree in behavioral psychology from National University at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The school could not find him on their list of graduates.
To complicate matters further, on a Miranda warning waiver Aaron signed Nov. 19, 2007, he wrote that he had just one year of college.
AGAINST INDEPENDENT DISTRICT
During several Pulaski County Special School District board meetings that Aaron attended, he spoke against establishing an independent school district for Jacksonville, citing concerns that racial disparities could return if local officials were to manage the district. He would have us believe that school officials in Little Rock have Jacksonville’s educational interests in mind. More likely, he opposed an independent district because the mayor, like thousands of other Jacksonville residents, supports the plan.
Aaron would rather oppose city officials at every opportunity than see that he shares some goals with those he fervently wants to turn out of office. He has since changed his position and is now in favor of creating a separate Jacksonville district, as he said during a recent candidates forum. Jacksonville deserves better.
We are not often so disappointed in a city council candidate that we feel obligated to inform readers of the likely pitfalls if he were elected. But Rizelle Aaron’s behavior has been deceitful and erratic since he entered Jacksonville’s political arena in 2009.
Aaron is running against Alderman Terry Sansing in Ward 2, Position 2 in a divisive campaign that is similar to many of Aaron’s civic endeavors. Aaron has been a disruptive voice who has set racial relations back 40 years or more.
Aaron has accused The Leader of bias, although our readers know that we have supported the African-American community since we started this newspaper 25 years ago.
We lauded the late Dr. Charles Hopson, the former superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District, as he tried to improve the district before he was unfairly ousted by the state Education Department. We have recommended Jacksonville High School principal Henry Anderson as the next superintendent of PCSSD or as the head of a Jacksonville-area district when it wins approval in the courts.
The Leader has celebrated Arkansas’ African- American culture like no other newspaper in the state. We have covered the local chapter of the NAACP, the Dick Jeter community and a recent candidates forum at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church. We also asked the hard questions about the fatal fire at the Max Howell Apartments where a black family of five perished.
Often we have written of the benefits of health-care reform, President Obama’s most controversial policy initiative that will help minorities and the poor.
We have written about the timeless music of the Arkansas Delta, from Albert King to Son Seals, who are seldom mentioned in the state media or in its history books.
Recently, we were informed by community members that Aaron was telling his supporters and opponents alike that he had sued the newspaper — presumably, The Leader — for reporting on his criminal background and false education credentials in 2010 when he briefly ran for mayor here. He denies saying he sued this newspaper, but we have reason to doubt him.
Aaron presumably felt we were pulling our punches because of the alleged lawsuit. Here are some highlights of his record that should concern Jacksonville residents:
SECRET RECORDINGS
Aaron often tells critics that he secretly records private conversations. It can be assumed he intends to embarrass anyone he felt had crossed him. The legality of secretly recording conversations aside, Aaron’s intentions are clear: He wants to threaten and intimidate his opponents, most of whom are city employees.
SPOTTY EMPLOYMENT
To address the challenges facing Jacksonville, city council members should have professional experience that can help provide insight for the development of the city’s economy, schools and infrastructure. Aaron hasn’t been employed during the few years that he has been politically active. These are hard times, but a professional background and experience are important for any candidate to bring to the council.
He says that he is a disabled veteran, yet he has campaigned all day in front of the community center. How can an under-employed candidate with little work experience help Jacksonville attract businesses?
COLLEGE DEGREE QUESTIONS
We do not expect all city council members to have college degrees, but we do think they should be honest about their education. When he announced his candidacy for mayor, Aaron claimed to have a bachelor’s degree in behavioral psychology from National University at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The school could not find him on their list of graduates.
To complicate matters further, on a Miranda warning waiver Aaron signed Nov. 19, 2007, he wrote that he had just one year of college.
AGAINST INDEPENDENT DISTRICT
During several Pulaski County Special School District board meetings that Aaron attended, he spoke against establishing an independent school district for Jacksonville, citing concerns that racial disparities could return if local officials were to manage the district. He would have us believe that school officials in Little Rock have Jacksonville’s educational interests in mind. More likely, he opposed an independent district because the mayor, like thousands of other Jacksonville residents, supports the plan.
Aaron would rather oppose city officials at every opportunity than see that he shares some goals with those he fervently wants to turn out of office. He has since changed his position and is now in favor of creating a separate Jacksonville district, as he said during a recent candidates forum. Jacksonville deserves better.
TOP STORY >> Principal is walking tall at JHS
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader editor
(This column from July 2012 won first place in the Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.)
Jacksonville High School was in awful shape last July when Henry Anderson took over the failed school in a failed school district.
The place was rundown, morale was terrible and test scores were falling along with graduating rates.
The state Education Department had just taken over the Pulaski County Special School District. Teachers and staff grumbled because their unions faced decertification.
Suddenly, Anderson, 41, showed up like a new sheriff in town and told his staff: Help me clean up this mess or go teach someplace else.
“It’s been an exciting, roller-coaster year,” Anderson told the Jacksonville Rotary Club meeting Monday at Southern Oaks Country Club. But, he said, he’s seeing some encouraging results.
Test scores have improved, he said. Math and literacy scores are up 9 to 10 percent. There’s still a long way to go, but Anderson has inspired teachers and students to care about test scores.
Graduation rates are way up. Only 15 of 166 seniors failed to earn diplomas this year, a big improvement over recent graduation rates of a little more than 50 percent. One of the 15 students who didn’t graduate, Anderson said, was only half a credit away.
“If we can get them on the right track, they’ll be able to graduate,” the principal said.
Anderson is tired of seeing the school called one of the worst in the state. He wants JHS off the needs-improvement list and make it as good as it was 30 and 40 years ago, when it offered advanced-placement courses that were among the best in the state.
“We got a clean bill of health this year,” he said. “We’ve become a model. The school district is sending principals to our school to see what we’re doing right,” Anderson said. “The U.S. Department of Education will visit us to see how the school is making these improvements.”
Back in June 2011, before Anderson showed up, the high school was so bad, it qualified for a multi-million school-improvement grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Jacksonville received a $2 million improvement grant from the department. Three other failing high schools — all in the poverty-stricken Delta — received slightly lesser amounts.
The four high schools — the others are Helena-West Helena, Marvell and Dollarway — were ranked in the bottom 5 percent in the state, which qualified them for the school-improvement grants.
This is a grant you don’t want to shout about, but Anderson doesn’t mind bringing it up. He said Jacksonville is doing so well, it will get an additional $1.7 million this year and $2 million more in 2013, or as much as $5.7 million over three years.
Students now have computers in labs and classrooms and several iPads. There’s campus-wide wireless Internet, Promethian interactive whiteboards, equipment for science labs, recording equipment for band, choir and television-production classes, access to on-campus licensed social workers, credit recovery and concurrent enrollment with Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.
The school district is paying for a $750,000 remodeling this summer, which includes a new front entrance and improvements in the library and cafeteria.
The principal wants to reward teachers who do a good job. “We’ve got a school to turn around,” he said. “We want the best and the brightest.”
He expects teachers to do more and not take off as soon as the bell rings.
“When you’re paid $75,000 a year, and you say you don’t have to call anybody after 3:05 p.m. That’s got to change,” Anderson said. “If we don’t see improvement, they’re terminated. It is what it is.”
That’s his mantra: Teachers must teach and students must learn.
Anderson means business. “If you don’t like it here, you can go someplace else,” he said bluntly. He was talking about students and teachers.
“If you’re going to get into a fight, you’re going to get arrested,” he added, talking about students.
He’s rebuilding the math faculty so parents don’t have to hire tutors to teach their kids.
There’s more blunt talk: If kids go out to McDonald’s or Taco Bell for lunch and don’t come back, he’ll have them arrested because Jacksonville has a daytime curfew.
That means students can’t be out on the streets when schools are in session.
Jacksonville High School hasn’t had a parent-teachers organization in years. But now, it’s forming a parent-teacher-student group that will hold monthly meetings.
Barry Hickingbotham, the assistant football coach, told the Rotarians that Anderson is the real deal.
“If he wants something done, he means it. That’s why our school is turning around,” the coach said. “If you miss two weeks of school, you miss two weeks of sports.”
“He’s what we need. Our school is improving,” Hickingbotham said.
Anderson bought a house in Jacksonville. “I’m the first principal in years who’s done that. Kids know where I live. They toilet papered my house.”
But that’s all right with him as long as test scores improve and the school gets better and more kids graduate.
“I’m loving it,” he said.
Someone told Anderson he could be the next superintendent when the state gives back the district to local control.
“I’d love it,” he said.
“We’ve got a great school,” Anderson said. “We still have lots to do. Our kids deserve so much more.”
(Postscript: Anderson will be principal at McClellan High School in Little Rock this fall. He received a big raise and a signing bonus.)
Leader editor
(This column from July 2012 won first place in the Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.)
Jacksonville High School was in awful shape last July when Henry Anderson took over the failed school in a failed school district.
The place was rundown, morale was terrible and test scores were falling along with graduating rates.
The state Education Department had just taken over the Pulaski County Special School District. Teachers and staff grumbled because their unions faced decertification.
Suddenly, Anderson, 41, showed up like a new sheriff in town and told his staff: Help me clean up this mess or go teach someplace else.
“It’s been an exciting, roller-coaster year,” Anderson told the Jacksonville Rotary Club meeting Monday at Southern Oaks Country Club. But, he said, he’s seeing some encouraging results.
Test scores have improved, he said. Math and literacy scores are up 9 to 10 percent. There’s still a long way to go, but Anderson has inspired teachers and students to care about test scores.
Graduation rates are way up. Only 15 of 166 seniors failed to earn diplomas this year, a big improvement over recent graduation rates of a little more than 50 percent. One of the 15 students who didn’t graduate, Anderson said, was only half a credit away.
“If we can get them on the right track, they’ll be able to graduate,” the principal said.
Anderson is tired of seeing the school called one of the worst in the state. He wants JHS off the needs-improvement list and make it as good as it was 30 and 40 years ago, when it offered advanced-placement courses that were among the best in the state.
“We got a clean bill of health this year,” he said. “We’ve become a model. The school district is sending principals to our school to see what we’re doing right,” Anderson said. “The U.S. Department of Education will visit us to see how the school is making these improvements.”
Back in June 2011, before Anderson showed up, the high school was so bad, it qualified for a multi-million school-improvement grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Jacksonville received a $2 million improvement grant from the department. Three other failing high schools — all in the poverty-stricken Delta — received slightly lesser amounts.
The four high schools — the others are Helena-West Helena, Marvell and Dollarway — were ranked in the bottom 5 percent in the state, which qualified them for the school-improvement grants.
This is a grant you don’t want to shout about, but Anderson doesn’t mind bringing it up. He said Jacksonville is doing so well, it will get an additional $1.7 million this year and $2 million more in 2013, or as much as $5.7 million over three years.
Students now have computers in labs and classrooms and several iPads. There’s campus-wide wireless Internet, Promethian interactive whiteboards, equipment for science labs, recording equipment for band, choir and television-production classes, access to on-campus licensed social workers, credit recovery and concurrent enrollment with Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.
The school district is paying for a $750,000 remodeling this summer, which includes a new front entrance and improvements in the library and cafeteria.
The principal wants to reward teachers who do a good job. “We’ve got a school to turn around,” he said. “We want the best and the brightest.”
He expects teachers to do more and not take off as soon as the bell rings.
“When you’re paid $75,000 a year, and you say you don’t have to call anybody after 3:05 p.m. That’s got to change,” Anderson said. “If we don’t see improvement, they’re terminated. It is what it is.”
That’s his mantra: Teachers must teach and students must learn.
Anderson means business. “If you don’t like it here, you can go someplace else,” he said bluntly. He was talking about students and teachers.
“If you’re going to get into a fight, you’re going to get arrested,” he added, talking about students.
He’s rebuilding the math faculty so parents don’t have to hire tutors to teach their kids.
There’s more blunt talk: If kids go out to McDonald’s or Taco Bell for lunch and don’t come back, he’ll have them arrested because Jacksonville has a daytime curfew.
That means students can’t be out on the streets when schools are in session.
Jacksonville High School hasn’t had a parent-teachers organization in years. But now, it’s forming a parent-teacher-student group that will hold monthly meetings.
Barry Hickingbotham, the assistant football coach, told the Rotarians that Anderson is the real deal.
“If he wants something done, he means it. That’s why our school is turning around,” the coach said. “If you miss two weeks of school, you miss two weeks of sports.”
“He’s what we need. Our school is improving,” Hickingbotham said.
Anderson bought a house in Jacksonville. “I’m the first principal in years who’s done that. Kids know where I live. They toilet papered my house.”
But that’s all right with him as long as test scores improve and the school gets better and more kids graduate.
“I’m loving it,” he said.
Someone told Anderson he could be the next superintendent when the state gives back the district to local control.
“I’d love it,” he said.
“We’ve got a great school,” Anderson said. “We still have lots to do. Our kids deserve so much more.”
(Postscript: Anderson will be principal at McClellan High School in Little Rock this fall. He received a big raise and a signing bonus.)
TOP STORY >> Area to mark Fourth of July with Big Bang
By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Cabot’s Fourth of July celebration starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 163 Mount Carmel Road.
There will be patriotic music. Hot dogs, chips and drinks will be for sale.
A bounce house, slides and an obstacle course will be set up for children.
Fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
Ward’s annual Fourth of July celebration starts at 4:30 p.m. when the vendors open for business and the car and motorcycle show begins.
The opening ceremony at 5 p.m. will feature the Little Rock Air Force base honor guard almost immediately followed by a lawn mower and lawn tractor driving competition.
The River Rats, a bluegrass band from Mountain View, will perform until 8:30 p.m. following the opening ceremony.
Vendors will have funnel cakes and fresh-squeezed lemonade for sale but the city will give away hamburgers and bottled water.
Dancers from Carla’s Dance of Ward will perform at 6:30 p.m. and the fireworks show will start at 9:15 or dark.
South Bend Fire Rescue will have a fireworks show at 4144 Hwy. 294, Military Road, on Thursday beginning with a 6:30 p.m. supper.
Sonny’s Auto Salvage is sponsoring the event.
Jimmie White Park, 115 Cheyenne in north Jacksonville off T.P. White Drive is July’s Park of the Month.
A family fun day is planned there from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13. Admission is free. All ages are welcome.
There will be free food and lots of fun, according to Marlo Jackson, information and marketing manager for Jacksonville Parks and Recreation. She said there will be something for everyone.
Beebe will host its Fourth of July celebration beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Beebe City Park baseball fields with a fireworks show at dusk.
The evening will feature two musical performances by Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers and Wine and Roses.
There will be free hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, water and slush puppies served.
Face painting and temporary tattoos will also be offered.
The swimming pool will be open at no charge and lifeguards will be on duty.
The Army’s Adventure Simulators will visit the Jacksonville Museum of Military History at 100 Veterans Circle from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
The group will offer free simulators for driving M1A1 Abrams tank, flying an Apache helicopter, a timed shooting event with a marksmanship trainer and a bomb squad exercise using an electronic ordnance disposal robotic arm.
There is no charge for admission to the museum that day.
The Army’s Adventure Simulators will also bring their 70-by-25-foot semi truck to Sherwood’s 14th annual Fourth of July Celebration from 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave.
There will be a kid zone with a bounce house and fireworks start at 9 p.m.
The city will provide free hot dogs, water, chips and giveaways while supplies last.
The Sherwood Sharks swim team will be selling additional items.
The entertainment is Patriotic Pamy, Paul Morphis, Fragile Elite and Top of the Rock Chorus. Top of the Rock will be inside the building while the other musical acts will be outside on a second stage.
Shuttles will be available from Sylvan Hills High School.
The new Crossroads Cow-boy Church and Two Bar Two Arena at 3071 Hwy. 5 in El Paso will be dedicated during a Fourth of July celebration with fireworks at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Participants are invited to enjoy food, fellowship and performances by the Crossroads Cowboy Church Band and other musical groups.
Leader staff writer
Cabot’s Fourth of July celebration starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 163 Mount Carmel Road.
There will be patriotic music. Hot dogs, chips and drinks will be for sale.
A bounce house, slides and an obstacle course will be set up for children.
Fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
Ward’s annual Fourth of July celebration starts at 4:30 p.m. when the vendors open for business and the car and motorcycle show begins.
The opening ceremony at 5 p.m. will feature the Little Rock Air Force base honor guard almost immediately followed by a lawn mower and lawn tractor driving competition.
The River Rats, a bluegrass band from Mountain View, will perform until 8:30 p.m. following the opening ceremony.
Vendors will have funnel cakes and fresh-squeezed lemonade for sale but the city will give away hamburgers and bottled water.
Dancers from Carla’s Dance of Ward will perform at 6:30 p.m. and the fireworks show will start at 9:15 or dark.
South Bend Fire Rescue will have a fireworks show at 4144 Hwy. 294, Military Road, on Thursday beginning with a 6:30 p.m. supper.
Sonny’s Auto Salvage is sponsoring the event.
Jimmie White Park, 115 Cheyenne in north Jacksonville off T.P. White Drive is July’s Park of the Month.
A family fun day is planned there from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturday, July 13. Admission is free. All ages are welcome.
There will be free food and lots of fun, according to Marlo Jackson, information and marketing manager for Jacksonville Parks and Recreation. She said there will be something for everyone.
Beebe will host its Fourth of July celebration beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Beebe City Park baseball fields with a fireworks show at dusk.
The evening will feature two musical performances by Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers and Wine and Roses.
There will be free hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, water and slush puppies served.
Face painting and temporary tattoos will also be offered.
The swimming pool will be open at no charge and lifeguards will be on duty.
The Army’s Adventure Simulators will visit the Jacksonville Museum of Military History at 100 Veterans Circle from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
The group will offer free simulators for driving M1A1 Abrams tank, flying an Apache helicopter, a timed shooting event with a marksmanship trainer and a bomb squad exercise using an electronic ordnance disposal robotic arm.
There is no charge for admission to the museum that day.
The Army’s Adventure Simulators will also bring their 70-by-25-foot semi truck to Sherwood’s 14th annual Fourth of July Celebration from 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave.
There will be a kid zone with a bounce house and fireworks start at 9 p.m.
The city will provide free hot dogs, water, chips and giveaways while supplies last.
The Sherwood Sharks swim team will be selling additional items.
The entertainment is Patriotic Pamy, Paul Morphis, Fragile Elite and Top of the Rock Chorus. Top of the Rock will be inside the building while the other musical acts will be outside on a second stage.
Shuttles will be available from Sylvan Hills High School.
The new Crossroads Cow-boy Church and Two Bar Two Arena at 3071 Hwy. 5 in El Paso will be dedicated during a Fourth of July celebration with fireworks at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Participants are invited to enjoy food, fellowship and performances by the Crossroads Cowboy Church Band and other musical groups.
TOP STORY >> The burden of service
By STAFF SGT. RUSS SCALF
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Lugging his bags to the curb, contemplating innumerable what ifs, Tech. Sgt. Aaron Drain pauses for a moment and reassures his wife, Heather, that everything will be all right. Holding back her tears, she whispers softly that she loves him.
As midnight approaches, one of the military’s oldest rituals is renewed as Drain kisses his wife and their two sons goodbye and leaves for war.
“Saying goodbye is a hard emotion to capture,” said Drain, “especially because there is always the chance that it could be your last one. That goodbye hurts for at least a month. The first time I deployed, once Heather was gone, I cried for at least 15 minutes. I hid that emotion from her, I guess to try to be the strong one, but I think it might have hurt more than anything.”
For this rotation, Drain widened his outlook on preparation, making a concerted effort to provide every resource available to his recently expanded family.
Just three weeks before his departure, the couple celebrated the arrival of their second child, Everett.
“She just had a baby; she’s still healing,” said Drain. “If I put myself in her shoes, I’m basically abandoning her. I’m still here financially, but what good is that sometimes?”
Situations like Drain’s present a clear illustration of the resiliency that airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base exhibit every day in service to the nation. Regardless of length or location, the men and women fulfilling these deployment obligations have given up some measure of normalcy to do so.
“The hardest part about deploying is most definitely leaving your family,” said Drain. “Everett, my newest son, is three weeks old; he’ll never remember this, but leaving her with that responsibility, by herself, should not be like that. I’m going to potentially miss his first smile, probably, him sitting up, things like that. Possibly crawling, those are big milestones in a young child’s life, and I’m going to miss probably all of them. Ayden, he’s 4, so he gets that I’m leaving, but he doesn’t get exactly what’s going on or where I’m going. We try to explain it to him, war. It might be a little much for him at 4 years old, but what else do you tell him, work? You just do the best you can to explain it to him, war. It might be a little much for him at 4 years old, but what else do you tell him, work? You just do the best you can to explain it to him.”
For Drain, a flight engineer with the 53rd Airlift Squadron, this deployment represented an opportunity to improve on several missteps made during his first deployment.
Early in the life of his eldest son, Ayden, Drain was tapped for a deployment to Iraq.
“The first time I went, I had maybe a month’s notice,” said Drain. “I said, ‘Hey honey, I’ve got to deploy.’ It was good for my career, but I failed to see where it was good for my family, or make it good for my family by discussing it with her. I failed big time. That was one thing I knew I would not let happen this time.”
He attributes undue stress on the relationship during the deployment to a lack of communication.
“One of the biggest things is communication,” Drain said. “The first time, in Iraq, we just didn’t talk about anything. I went over there, and it all just blew up because we never talked about it. We got it solved, we figured it out, but some couples don’t, and they never recover. Communication is number one; everything will fall apart otherwise.”
Another focal point for Drain was the comfort of his family during his absence.
“During this deployment, my preparations started much earlier,” Drain said. “It really started at the first hint of the possibility of deploying. The first step was talking with Heather. We knew the baby was coming, so making sure she could handle it was important.”
He continued, “After that, we started looking around the house to see what needed to be fixed or could potentially go bad. We replaced some appliances, made some repairs and took care of finances. I wanted her to be happy. The last thing you want on the road is to worry about their comfort.”
As dawn approached, the airmen sat quietly. Crammed into the darkest corners of the base passenger terminal, the fatigue of preparation had set in. Some made small talk, but most spent their final moments on station in muted meditation. Some had embraced the expedition at hand; while others were adrift, transfixed by familiar reflections.
For Drain it was both.
“There are so many things that could go wrong,” he said. “All I could think about is how I could have prepared my wife and family better. There comes a point, though, where you have to focus energy on what is in front of you and what you are doing. For me it was that point. I was sad for leaving my family. They are the most important thing to me, but if you can’t or don’t shift gears to the task in front of you, you could really get people hurt, or worse.”
To see a video clip of this story, visit the Little Rock Air Force Base YouTube page.
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Lugging his bags to the curb, contemplating innumerable what ifs, Tech. Sgt. Aaron Drain pauses for a moment and reassures his wife, Heather, that everything will be all right. Holding back her tears, she whispers softly that she loves him.
As midnight approaches, one of the military’s oldest rituals is renewed as Drain kisses his wife and their two sons goodbye and leaves for war.
“Saying goodbye is a hard emotion to capture,” said Drain, “especially because there is always the chance that it could be your last one. That goodbye hurts for at least a month. The first time I deployed, once Heather was gone, I cried for at least 15 minutes. I hid that emotion from her, I guess to try to be the strong one, but I think it might have hurt more than anything.”
For this rotation, Drain widened his outlook on preparation, making a concerted effort to provide every resource available to his recently expanded family.
Just three weeks before his departure, the couple celebrated the arrival of their second child, Everett.
“She just had a baby; she’s still healing,” said Drain. “If I put myself in her shoes, I’m basically abandoning her. I’m still here financially, but what good is that sometimes?”
Situations like Drain’s present a clear illustration of the resiliency that airmen at Little Rock Air Force Base exhibit every day in service to the nation. Regardless of length or location, the men and women fulfilling these deployment obligations have given up some measure of normalcy to do so.
“The hardest part about deploying is most definitely leaving your family,” said Drain. “Everett, my newest son, is three weeks old; he’ll never remember this, but leaving her with that responsibility, by herself, should not be like that. I’m going to potentially miss his first smile, probably, him sitting up, things like that. Possibly crawling, those are big milestones in a young child’s life, and I’m going to miss probably all of them. Ayden, he’s 4, so he gets that I’m leaving, but he doesn’t get exactly what’s going on or where I’m going. We try to explain it to him, war. It might be a little much for him at 4 years old, but what else do you tell him, work? You just do the best you can to explain it to him, war. It might be a little much for him at 4 years old, but what else do you tell him, work? You just do the best you can to explain it to him.”
For Drain, a flight engineer with the 53rd Airlift Squadron, this deployment represented an opportunity to improve on several missteps made during his first deployment.
Early in the life of his eldest son, Ayden, Drain was tapped for a deployment to Iraq.
“The first time I went, I had maybe a month’s notice,” said Drain. “I said, ‘Hey honey, I’ve got to deploy.’ It was good for my career, but I failed to see where it was good for my family, or make it good for my family by discussing it with her. I failed big time. That was one thing I knew I would not let happen this time.”
He attributes undue stress on the relationship during the deployment to a lack of communication.
“One of the biggest things is communication,” Drain said. “The first time, in Iraq, we just didn’t talk about anything. I went over there, and it all just blew up because we never talked about it. We got it solved, we figured it out, but some couples don’t, and they never recover. Communication is number one; everything will fall apart otherwise.”
Another focal point for Drain was the comfort of his family during his absence.
“During this deployment, my preparations started much earlier,” Drain said. “It really started at the first hint of the possibility of deploying. The first step was talking with Heather. We knew the baby was coming, so making sure she could handle it was important.”
He continued, “After that, we started looking around the house to see what needed to be fixed or could potentially go bad. We replaced some appliances, made some repairs and took care of finances. I wanted her to be happy. The last thing you want on the road is to worry about their comfort.”
As dawn approached, the airmen sat quietly. Crammed into the darkest corners of the base passenger terminal, the fatigue of preparation had set in. Some made small talk, but most spent their final moments on station in muted meditation. Some had embraced the expedition at hand; while others were adrift, transfixed by familiar reflections.
For Drain it was both.
“There are so many things that could go wrong,” he said. “All I could think about is how I could have prepared my wife and family better. There comes a point, though, where you have to focus energy on what is in front of you and what you are doing. For me it was that point. I was sad for leaving my family. They are the most important thing to me, but if you can’t or don’t shift gears to the task in front of you, you could really get people hurt, or worse.”
To see a video clip of this story, visit the Little Rock Air Force Base YouTube page.
TOP STORY >> Paper wins 31 awards
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
The Leader was honored as the best large weekly in the state for the sixth year in a row.
The announcement came at the Arkansas Press Association convention Saturday in Eureka Springs.
Besides garnering the coveted “general excellence” award again, the Leader took home 31 writing, photography and design awards.
Plus staff writer Sarah Campbell was honored as the best young journalist among all the state’s weekly newspapers.
In all, The Leader took seven first-place awards, 12 second, nine thirds and two honorable mentions.
The Leader took first in beat reporting with Sarah Campbell getting the honors, sports column writing by Ray Benton, editorial writing by Jonathan Feldman, general-interest column writing by Garrick Feldman, single news and single feature photography by David Scolli and best freelance writing by Peg Kenyon.
The judges called The Leader a “great paper that has excellent use of lines and white space.”
The judges, from the Texas Press Association, called Campbell’s Sherwood beat reporting “great work covering a beat and finding compelling issues.”
Judges said of Benton’s sports column, “Fans’ priorities are out of order:” “Chastising fans takes guts, especially rabid college boosters. This was concise and potent. Good job.”
Jonathan Feldman’s editorial, “Not helping Jacksonville,” had the judges saying, “Courageous and rational statement of both fact and opinion — the essence of an editorial.”
In reviewing Garrick Feldman’s general-interest column, “Principal is walking tall,” the judges said, “Love the insight into this principal. Your community is served well.” Feldman also nabbed second place honors in the political/news column with “First and last Vietnam casualties.”
Staff photographer Scolli took best in show with his single news photograph, “School remembers” young fire victims and his single feature photo, “Hugs and kisses,” about a girl and her mother on the first day in school.
Judges said his news photo “showed a good depiction of emotion for the victims.” Judges were attracted to Scolli’s feature photo because of the emotion.
“Who could not be drawn to this picture? Good crop. Good placement. Nice press work,” the judges said. Scolli also won third place for best sports feature photograph, “Coach Hide” and honorable mention in the sports action photograph category.
The Texas judges complimented Kenyon’s freelance article, “JPD hasn’t forgotten,” saying it was “very well written and excellent work.”
The newspaper took second in the best front page competition.
Besides being named young journalist of the year and garnering first place in beat reporting, Campbell placed second in news stories with her article, “Driver has criminal past;” and second in investigative reporting with “Confusion continues over alarms.”
Staff writer Rick Kron earned second place in feature stories with his “School remembers fire victims.” Kron and senior staff writer John Hofheimer also placed third in in-depth series reporting with their articles on the life and death of the North Belt freeway.
Kron and Hofheimer took second place in the state in coverage of politics. He and other staff members joined forces to also place second in medical and health coverage.
Aside from his editorial accolades, publisher Garrick Feldman also took second place in beat reporting with his Little Rock Air Force Base coverage. The judges said his work was an “excellent job in keeping readers abreast of a subject important to the community.”
Sports writer Jason King grabbed second place honors in the sports news category with his article, “Cabot grad gets taste of calling.” He also brought home a third-place award for sports column writing with his “No champions” article.
Freelance writer Stephen Steed took second place in the freelance arena with his article, “Long FDA Probe.”
Benton and his sports staff also took home a second place award in special issue or section competition with their annual high school football section.
The sports staff placed third in the battle for the best sports page. Benton took third in the sports news story competition with “Morris bids adieu as champ” and third in sports features with “Coach Hicks—63 years of service.”
Editor Jonathan Feldman placed third in headline writing with “At 80, still roofing and tough as nails.”
Staff writer Joan McCoy took third place in the news story category with “Stalker leaves jail, kills woman.”
The newspaper won a third-place ribbon for its coverage of business and agriculture.
Managing editor Eileen Feldman won honorable mention for her editorial, “If we cease to grieve.”
Leader staff writer
The Leader was honored as the best large weekly in the state for the sixth year in a row.
The announcement came at the Arkansas Press Association convention Saturday in Eureka Springs.
Besides garnering the coveted “general excellence” award again, the Leader took home 31 writing, photography and design awards.
Plus staff writer Sarah Campbell was honored as the best young journalist among all the state’s weekly newspapers.
In all, The Leader took seven first-place awards, 12 second, nine thirds and two honorable mentions.
The Leader took first in beat reporting with Sarah Campbell getting the honors, sports column writing by Ray Benton, editorial writing by Jonathan Feldman, general-interest column writing by Garrick Feldman, single news and single feature photography by David Scolli and best freelance writing by Peg Kenyon.
The judges called The Leader a “great paper that has excellent use of lines and white space.”
The judges, from the Texas Press Association, called Campbell’s Sherwood beat reporting “great work covering a beat and finding compelling issues.”
Judges said of Benton’s sports column, “Fans’ priorities are out of order:” “Chastising fans takes guts, especially rabid college boosters. This was concise and potent. Good job.”
Jonathan Feldman’s editorial, “Not helping Jacksonville,” had the judges saying, “Courageous and rational statement of both fact and opinion — the essence of an editorial.”
In reviewing Garrick Feldman’s general-interest column, “Principal is walking tall,” the judges said, “Love the insight into this principal. Your community is served well.” Feldman also nabbed second place honors in the political/news column with “First and last Vietnam casualties.”
Staff photographer Scolli took best in show with his single news photograph, “School remembers” young fire victims and his single feature photo, “Hugs and kisses,” about a girl and her mother on the first day in school.
Judges said his news photo “showed a good depiction of emotion for the victims.” Judges were attracted to Scolli’s feature photo because of the emotion.
“Who could not be drawn to this picture? Good crop. Good placement. Nice press work,” the judges said. Scolli also won third place for best sports feature photograph, “Coach Hide” and honorable mention in the sports action photograph category.
The Texas judges complimented Kenyon’s freelance article, “JPD hasn’t forgotten,” saying it was “very well written and excellent work.”
The newspaper took second in the best front page competition.
Besides being named young journalist of the year and garnering first place in beat reporting, Campbell placed second in news stories with her article, “Driver has criminal past;” and second in investigative reporting with “Confusion continues over alarms.”
Staff writer Rick Kron earned second place in feature stories with his “School remembers fire victims.” Kron and senior staff writer John Hofheimer also placed third in in-depth series reporting with their articles on the life and death of the North Belt freeway.
Kron and Hofheimer took second place in the state in coverage of politics. He and other staff members joined forces to also place second in medical and health coverage.
Aside from his editorial accolades, publisher Garrick Feldman also took second place in beat reporting with his Little Rock Air Force Base coverage. The judges said his work was an “excellent job in keeping readers abreast of a subject important to the community.”
Sports writer Jason King grabbed second place honors in the sports news category with his article, “Cabot grad gets taste of calling.” He also brought home a third-place award for sports column writing with his “No champions” article.
Freelance writer Stephen Steed took second place in the freelance arena with his article, “Long FDA Probe.”
Benton and his sports staff also took home a second place award in special issue or section competition with their annual high school football section.
The sports staff placed third in the battle for the best sports page. Benton took third in the sports news story competition with “Morris bids adieu as champ” and third in sports features with “Coach Hicks—63 years of service.”
Editor Jonathan Feldman placed third in headline writing with “At 80, still roofing and tough as nails.”
Staff writer Joan McCoy took third place in the news story category with “Stalker leaves jail, kills woman.”
The newspaper won a third-place ribbon for its coverage of business and agriculture.
Managing editor Eileen Feldman won honorable mention for her editorial, “If we cease to grieve.”
SPORTS STORY >> Piranhas challenge sharks
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The overwhelming numbers advantage led to another easy win for the Sherwood Sharks swim team on Saturday at the Harmon Center, but the Cabot Piranhas out-did all other Shark opponents this year, scoring 496 points against a Sherwood team that has not lost a Central Arkansas Swim League meet in more than 10 years. The Piranhas total was 198 points more than Sherwood’s next nearest competitor.
The Lonoke Sharkrockets also made a strong showing, scoring 100 points with a vastly outnumbered squad. Sherwood scored 1077 points for the lopsided win.
Cabot got many of its points in the freestyle relays, winning five of the seven to become the first team to take a majority of the free relays from Sherwood in many, many years. The meet saw several swimmers jump from the gold division, which was the highest division until this year, to the new standard platinum division.
The first to pull off the feat was Sherwood’s A.J. Clements, whose time of 18.03 in the 25-yard freestyle moved him into elite company in the 8-under division. Sherwood’s Michael Potts was already a platinum swimmer, and continues at a blistering pace with a meet best time of 16.84.
Carson Taylor of Sherwood jumped to platinum in the boys 12-under freestyle, winning the gold race with a time of 29 seconds flat. He would’ve been third in the two-person platinum race, but only by the thinnest of margins. Cabot’s Tristan Bowen’s time of 28.97 beat Sherwood’s Joseph Potts by one-one hundredth of a second, meaning just three-one hundredths separated the top three swimmers. The boys 12-under division will be an exciting one to watch at the CASL Meet of Champs on July 20.
Cabot’s Kyla Genenbacher was the only platinum swimmer in the girls 10-under freestyle, but she improved her time to 34.72 seconds, almost a full two seconds faster than the next best time in the meet.
Sherwood’s Christopher Heye jumped to platinum in the boys 18-under backstroke, swimming faster than two of the three previously platinum qualified racers. Heye’s time of 28.19 was more than two seconds faster than his own seed time, and only two-one hundredths of a second slower than Cabot’s Seth Fox. Heye also became his division’s only platinum swimmer in the breaststroke with a winning time of 30.35.
Shark 10-year-old Stanley Phillip jumped to platinum in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 45.90, almost three seconds faster than his seed time. Nicholas Heye swam in the gold division, but turned in the fastest official time, possibly with the help of a disqualifying foul by Bowen, who was swimming in the platinum race. Nicholas’ time of 39.40 was four-one hundredths better than Cabot’s platinum swimmer Jason Bongfeldt. Jessica Bongfeldt bested the girls 10-under breaststroke field by almost six seconds with a time of 41.31.
Andrew Rodriguez joined three Shark teammates in the platinum division in the 14-under breaststroke, winning the gold race with a 36.74 finish, still slower though than teammates Thomas Heye, Josh Hale and Jordan Woodson, who finished 1-2-3 in the platinum race.
CASL teams take the holiday weekend off, and will be back in action on July 13 for the last regular-season meet of the year. Sherwood travels to Bryant while Lonoke hosts Cabot and Otter Creek.
Leader sports editor
The overwhelming numbers advantage led to another easy win for the Sherwood Sharks swim team on Saturday at the Harmon Center, but the Cabot Piranhas out-did all other Shark opponents this year, scoring 496 points against a Sherwood team that has not lost a Central Arkansas Swim League meet in more than 10 years. The Piranhas total was 198 points more than Sherwood’s next nearest competitor.
The Lonoke Sharkrockets also made a strong showing, scoring 100 points with a vastly outnumbered squad. Sherwood scored 1077 points for the lopsided win.
Cabot got many of its points in the freestyle relays, winning five of the seven to become the first team to take a majority of the free relays from Sherwood in many, many years. The meet saw several swimmers jump from the gold division, which was the highest division until this year, to the new standard platinum division.
The first to pull off the feat was Sherwood’s A.J. Clements, whose time of 18.03 in the 25-yard freestyle moved him into elite company in the 8-under division. Sherwood’s Michael Potts was already a platinum swimmer, and continues at a blistering pace with a meet best time of 16.84.
Carson Taylor of Sherwood jumped to platinum in the boys 12-under freestyle, winning the gold race with a time of 29 seconds flat. He would’ve been third in the two-person platinum race, but only by the thinnest of margins. Cabot’s Tristan Bowen’s time of 28.97 beat Sherwood’s Joseph Potts by one-one hundredth of a second, meaning just three-one hundredths separated the top three swimmers. The boys 12-under division will be an exciting one to watch at the CASL Meet of Champs on July 20.
Cabot’s Kyla Genenbacher was the only platinum swimmer in the girls 10-under freestyle, but she improved her time to 34.72 seconds, almost a full two seconds faster than the next best time in the meet.
Sherwood’s Christopher Heye jumped to platinum in the boys 18-under backstroke, swimming faster than two of the three previously platinum qualified racers. Heye’s time of 28.19 was more than two seconds faster than his own seed time, and only two-one hundredths of a second slower than Cabot’s Seth Fox. Heye also became his division’s only platinum swimmer in the breaststroke with a winning time of 30.35.
Shark 10-year-old Stanley Phillip jumped to platinum in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 45.90, almost three seconds faster than his seed time. Nicholas Heye swam in the gold division, but turned in the fastest official time, possibly with the help of a disqualifying foul by Bowen, who was swimming in the platinum race. Nicholas’ time of 39.40 was four-one hundredths better than Cabot’s platinum swimmer Jason Bongfeldt. Jessica Bongfeldt bested the girls 10-under breaststroke field by almost six seconds with a time of 41.31.
Andrew Rodriguez joined three Shark teammates in the platinum division in the 14-under breaststroke, winning the gold race with a 36.74 finish, still slower though than teammates Thomas Heye, Josh Hale and Jordan Woodson, who finished 1-2-3 in the platinum race.
CASL teams take the holiday weekend off, and will be back in action on July 13 for the last regular-season meet of the year. Sherwood travels to Bryant while Lonoke hosts Cabot and Otter Creek.
SPORTS STORY >> Cabot Red knocks off Benton’s Jr. Sport Shop
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Red Centennial Bank junior American Legion team took advantage of Benton Sport Shop’s mistakes in the field en route to a 5-3 win Monday at the Cabot Sports Complex.
Cabot took a 1-0 lead after the first inning thanks to two of Benton’s five errors in the game. Two-hole hitter Josh Kelpine reached base on an E6 after the Benton shortstop dropped Kelpine’s high fly ball. A sacrifice bunt by Kayde Ridgeway moved Kelpine to second base for the second out of the inning.
The inning appeared to be over as cleanup hitter Jarrett Pitchford hit a routine grounder to shortstop. However, the throw to first base off the mark and Kelpine scored to give the Red team a 1-0 lead.
Benton responded in the top of the second inning with all three of its runs scored. It was the only inning that the Sport Shop team could find any offensive rhythm against winning pitcher Seth Cummings, who pitched all seven innings and gave up four hits, three walks, and recorded three strikeouts.
“Well, it’s been two weeks since I’ve seen them due to the dead period,” said Cabot Red coach David Smith of his team. “This is the first time I’ve gotten to do anything with them since that time frame, but the strong point that I’ve seen was Seth Cummings on the mound – hitting his spots, locating his pitches and things of that nature.
“He got a lot of ground balls, a lot of bloop pop flys. That second inning they got a couple of hits off of him and scored three runs, of course, we helped them out a little bit there.”
Cabot answered its next at bat in the bottom of the second with three runs of its own to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Tyler Fowler walked to start the inning. Wesley Brown singled to right-centerfield the next at bat and leadoff hitter Braden Jarnagin reached on another Benton E6 with two outs that allowed Fowler to score Cabot’s second run of the game.
Kelpine followed with an infield single to shortstop to drive in Brown, which tied the game at 3-3. With runners at the corners, Kelpine stole second base and on the Benton catcher’s throw to second, Jarnagin stole home to give Cabot the lead.
The score remained 4-3 until the fifth inning when the Centennial Bank team set the final score. Kelpine singled to the gap in left field to lead off the inning and scored two batters later on a right-field single by Pitchford that put Cabot up 5-3.
Cabot narrowly outhit Benton 5-4. The Red Centennial Bank team finished with three errors in the field, but Benton’s five errors were the more costly.
“Throughout the game there were quite a few mistakes,” Smith said. “They made some errors and we capitalized on them. In the past when a team would make mistakes we didn’t capitalize on them and we took advantage of them today, which helped us out.”
Kelpine was the only player for either team with multiple hits. He went 2 for 2 at the plate, while Pitchford, Brown and catcher Lino Garcia had one hit apiece.
The Red Centennial Bank team (5-9) will play another home game today against Sheridan at 6 p.m.
Leader sportswriter
The Cabot Red Centennial Bank junior American Legion team took advantage of Benton Sport Shop’s mistakes in the field en route to a 5-3 win Monday at the Cabot Sports Complex.
Cabot took a 1-0 lead after the first inning thanks to two of Benton’s five errors in the game. Two-hole hitter Josh Kelpine reached base on an E6 after the Benton shortstop dropped Kelpine’s high fly ball. A sacrifice bunt by Kayde Ridgeway moved Kelpine to second base for the second out of the inning.
The inning appeared to be over as cleanup hitter Jarrett Pitchford hit a routine grounder to shortstop. However, the throw to first base off the mark and Kelpine scored to give the Red team a 1-0 lead.
Benton responded in the top of the second inning with all three of its runs scored. It was the only inning that the Sport Shop team could find any offensive rhythm against winning pitcher Seth Cummings, who pitched all seven innings and gave up four hits, three walks, and recorded three strikeouts.
“Well, it’s been two weeks since I’ve seen them due to the dead period,” said Cabot Red coach David Smith of his team. “This is the first time I’ve gotten to do anything with them since that time frame, but the strong point that I’ve seen was Seth Cummings on the mound – hitting his spots, locating his pitches and things of that nature.
“He got a lot of ground balls, a lot of bloop pop flys. That second inning they got a couple of hits off of him and scored three runs, of course, we helped them out a little bit there.”
Cabot answered its next at bat in the bottom of the second with three runs of its own to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Tyler Fowler walked to start the inning. Wesley Brown singled to right-centerfield the next at bat and leadoff hitter Braden Jarnagin reached on another Benton E6 with two outs that allowed Fowler to score Cabot’s second run of the game.
Kelpine followed with an infield single to shortstop to drive in Brown, which tied the game at 3-3. With runners at the corners, Kelpine stole second base and on the Benton catcher’s throw to second, Jarnagin stole home to give Cabot the lead.
The score remained 4-3 until the fifth inning when the Centennial Bank team set the final score. Kelpine singled to the gap in left field to lead off the inning and scored two batters later on a right-field single by Pitchford that put Cabot up 5-3.
Cabot narrowly outhit Benton 5-4. The Red Centennial Bank team finished with three errors in the field, but Benton’s five errors were the more costly.
“Throughout the game there were quite a few mistakes,” Smith said. “They made some errors and we capitalized on them. In the past when a team would make mistakes we didn’t capitalize on them and we took advantage of them today, which helped us out.”
Kelpine was the only player for either team with multiple hits. He went 2 for 2 at the plate, while Pitchford, Brown and catcher Lino Garcia had one hit apiece.
The Red Centennial Bank team (5-9) will play another home game today against Sheridan at 6 p.m.
SPORTS STORY >> Strikeout streak lifts Sherwood Gwatney
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Gwatney GMC Bears, which consists of next year’s Sylvan Hills varsity players, handed Lake Hamilton a 3-0 loss on Monday. The Bears aren’t playing in a league this year, instead playing as an extended high school team and facing teams that range from other extended high school teams, to showcase teams to American Legion teams. The team has compiled a non-tournament record of 5-3 and went 0-1-2 in a showcase tournament in Jonesboro.
Assistant coach Chris Foor says the decision not to play American Legion this year has resulted in a lot of benefits.
“It’s been a great experience,” Foor said. “I think overall, for the age group of our kids, they’re playing some of the better talent. We’re seeing the highest level of competition in the state you could see.”
The key thing that Sylvan Hills has seen develop since summer ball began has been pitching. Three arms that coaches knew they would be relying on have gotten better, and another one is emerging rapidly.
The only player the Bears lost from last year’s state-tournament team was ace hurler J.D. Miller. The No. 2 pitcher in that rotation was Conner Poteet, and he has emerged as the clear No. 1 right now.
“His velocity is approaching the mid 80s right now,” Foor said. “His breaking ball is getting much better and he’s always had a great change up. He’s been really, really strong for us. He’s improved so much.”
After Poteet, coaches believe that Hunter Heslep and Marcus Long are both capable of starting in the No. 2 spot. Sylvan Hills went to Heslep more often as a spot or nonconference starter last year, using Long mainly in relief. But Foor says he’s confident in either one.
“Heslep was hurt early in the year so we went to him a lot more a lot out of needing to get him back and working at full strength,” Foor said. “Whereas with Marc, he was the guy we could rely on if we needed someone to pitch in both games. Maybe give us two innings in one game and another one or two in the next. Marcus’ velocity has gone up quite a bit too.”
Sophomore-to-be Joseph Craft has also improved in leaps and bounds since summer began, and he dazzled at times on the mound in earning Monday’s win.
After enduring a shaky start in which he gave up a run and had runners on second and third with no outs in the second inning, Craft got his second visit of the inning from coach Denny Tipton, who apparently spoke magic words. After the mound conversation, Craft struck out the next three batters, then fanned three-straight batters in the third inning.
He gave up a walk, a hit and hit a batter in the fourth, but not in a row. In between he got a groundout, a strikeout and a pop up to get out of the frame without allowing a run. He finished his four innings with eight strikeouts, three walks, a hit batter, three base hits and one earned run.
“He didn’t even know how to pitch until we started working with him in eighth grade,” Foor said. “He’s grown so much. We also have another young pup who’s showing us a lot, and that’s Carson Sanders. We feel like we’re going to have a pretty strong pitching staff and even some pretty good depth to it. With so many guys showing this jump in velocity as well as in mental maturity, we feel pretty good about right now.”
Jacob White has shown deftness in the field. He started at centerfield in the spring, but has swapped positions with Brandon Baioni and has played shortstop much of the summer.
“We’re experimenting with things like that, trying to develop some depth if need be and learning where we can play guys,” Foor said. “Jacob is really one of the better athletes on the team. We could put him just about anywhere on the field and he would compete as one of the better players at that position.”
Charlie Roberts leads the team in hitting with a batting average that approaches .500 so far this summer. All his junior classmates are swinging strong bats as well.
“All our kids that will be juniors were at least spot starters as freshmen,” Foor said. “So we’ve got experience coming back. Brandon (Baioni) has been starting at shortstop for us since he was a freshman. He really hit well for a freshman then got hurt a little bit last year. But he’s back to full strength and he’s swinging it really well now. And Joseph Craft is also swinging a really strong left-handed bat.”
The Bears begin play in a showcase tournament in Little Rock on Thursday. The split-site event takes place at Lamar Porter Field and Curran Conway Field on the campus at UALR.
Leader sports editor
The Gwatney GMC Bears, which consists of next year’s Sylvan Hills varsity players, handed Lake Hamilton a 3-0 loss on Monday. The Bears aren’t playing in a league this year, instead playing as an extended high school team and facing teams that range from other extended high school teams, to showcase teams to American Legion teams. The team has compiled a non-tournament record of 5-3 and went 0-1-2 in a showcase tournament in Jonesboro.
Assistant coach Chris Foor says the decision not to play American Legion this year has resulted in a lot of benefits.
“It’s been a great experience,” Foor said. “I think overall, for the age group of our kids, they’re playing some of the better talent. We’re seeing the highest level of competition in the state you could see.”
The key thing that Sylvan Hills has seen develop since summer ball began has been pitching. Three arms that coaches knew they would be relying on have gotten better, and another one is emerging rapidly.
The only player the Bears lost from last year’s state-tournament team was ace hurler J.D. Miller. The No. 2 pitcher in that rotation was Conner Poteet, and he has emerged as the clear No. 1 right now.
“His velocity is approaching the mid 80s right now,” Foor said. “His breaking ball is getting much better and he’s always had a great change up. He’s been really, really strong for us. He’s improved so much.”
After Poteet, coaches believe that Hunter Heslep and Marcus Long are both capable of starting in the No. 2 spot. Sylvan Hills went to Heslep more often as a spot or nonconference starter last year, using Long mainly in relief. But Foor says he’s confident in either one.
“Heslep was hurt early in the year so we went to him a lot more a lot out of needing to get him back and working at full strength,” Foor said. “Whereas with Marc, he was the guy we could rely on if we needed someone to pitch in both games. Maybe give us two innings in one game and another one or two in the next. Marcus’ velocity has gone up quite a bit too.”
Sophomore-to-be Joseph Craft has also improved in leaps and bounds since summer began, and he dazzled at times on the mound in earning Monday’s win.
After enduring a shaky start in which he gave up a run and had runners on second and third with no outs in the second inning, Craft got his second visit of the inning from coach Denny Tipton, who apparently spoke magic words. After the mound conversation, Craft struck out the next three batters, then fanned three-straight batters in the third inning.
He gave up a walk, a hit and hit a batter in the fourth, but not in a row. In between he got a groundout, a strikeout and a pop up to get out of the frame without allowing a run. He finished his four innings with eight strikeouts, three walks, a hit batter, three base hits and one earned run.
“He didn’t even know how to pitch until we started working with him in eighth grade,” Foor said. “He’s grown so much. We also have another young pup who’s showing us a lot, and that’s Carson Sanders. We feel like we’re going to have a pretty strong pitching staff and even some pretty good depth to it. With so many guys showing this jump in velocity as well as in mental maturity, we feel pretty good about right now.”
Jacob White has shown deftness in the field. He started at centerfield in the spring, but has swapped positions with Brandon Baioni and has played shortstop much of the summer.
“We’re experimenting with things like that, trying to develop some depth if need be and learning where we can play guys,” Foor said. “Jacob is really one of the better athletes on the team. We could put him just about anywhere on the field and he would compete as one of the better players at that position.”
Charlie Roberts leads the team in hitting with a batting average that approaches .500 so far this summer. All his junior classmates are swinging strong bats as well.
“All our kids that will be juniors were at least spot starters as freshmen,” Foor said. “So we’ve got experience coming back. Brandon (Baioni) has been starting at shortstop for us since he was a freshman. He really hit well for a freshman then got hurt a little bit last year. But he’s back to full strength and he’s swinging it really well now. And Joseph Craft is also swinging a really strong left-handed bat.”
The Bears begin play in a showcase tournament in Little Rock on Thursday. The split-site event takes place at Lamar Porter Field and Curran Conway Field on the campus at UALR.
SPORTS STORY >> Carlisle's Rountree takes over JHS ladies
By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville reached a short distance into Lonoke County to pluck one of its more successful coaches to take over the helm of the defending state champion girls’ basketball program. Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson on Friday offered the position to former Carlisle boys coach William Rountree, who has never had a losing season in his eight years of leading the Bison boys.
Rountree takes over a JHS girls program fresh off its first-ever state championship, led by recently resigned Katrina Mimms, and features four returning starters from that team. The one starter lost was perhaps the best player in the state, in 6-foot-3 guard-forward Jessica Jackson, who will suit up for the Arkansas Razorback women this fall. Coincidentally, Jackson’s father is from Carlisle.
Though only 30 miles separate the two schools, they are different in many ways. Jacksonville’s enrollment is almost quadruple of Carlisle’s, and is in an urban setting whereas Carlisle is a farming community.
Rountree embraces the opportunity, and the change that comes with it.
“Different is cool with me,” said Rountree. “I’m good with different. Any time you’re doing something new, it brings back the idea that we try to teach as educators of being lifelong learners. I’m very excited about this opportunity and am very much looking forward to it.”
Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson interviewed accepted dozens of applications and interviewed 14 candidates before deciding on the former head Bison.
“He was the best interview,” began Wilson. “He’s led successful programs and I was impressed with his attitude and work ethic. He’s committed for the long haul and he presented a good plan for maintaining a successful program. He’s personable and we’re going to have a lot of new coaches in our girls program that will have to work together. He seemed like just the right fit to lead all this transition.”
Though he’s spent the last five years coaching boys, Rountree doesn’t come to Jacksonville without experience coaching girls. His coaching career began in 1989 in Gravette as the head baseball coach, as well as head junior high boys football and basketball. After two years there, he left for Omaha, Ark., where he spent one year as the boys head basketball coach, and one year coaching the boys and girls high school and junior high teams.
After spending one year in the private sector, Rountree returned to coaching in 1996 as head boys basketball coach at Deer. After two years there, he took the boys and girls senior and junior high coaching positions at Winslow, and stayed there for six years. He spent the last three as high-school principal as well.
He spent eight of his most successful seasons coaching boys high school and junior high basketball at Carlisle starting in 2003 and interrupted by one season at Sylvan Hills and one in Cross County from 2006-08.
His first three years at Carlisle saw three conference and two district tournament championships, as well as two junior high conference and district titles.
“Of the 12 conference and district tournaments we played in those three years, we won nine of them,” Rountree said.
Rountree left Carlisle for two years while going through a divorce. While he says he developed good relationships and learned a lot during his time away from Carlisle, he calls those two years his only regret in his coaching career.
“It’s nothing against Sylvan Hills,” Rountree said. “I got to know Kevin Davis and Bee Rodden, and they’re wonderful people and great coaches. I just regret that I left, really, over nothing more than hurt pride. I had a pretty talented team coming back and we were on a great run. That’s really the only thing I regret about my whole career.”
Rountree came back to Carlisle, where he’s been for the last five seasons. It took this year’s team a few weeks to find its rhythm, with most of the starters still playing for the semifinal football team weeks into the season. Once it did hit its stride, it advanced all the way to the regionals, including a win over then No. 1 ranked Clarendon.
Rountree learned of the opening at Jacksonville while talking to Pulaski County athletic director Danny Ebbs, who Rountree has known for years and calls one of his mentors. After some consideration and conversations with his wife, he decided to apply.
“I jumped on the website, applied, and was fortunate enough to be called for an interview,” Rountree said. “I was extremely impressed with the athletic director Jerry Wilson. I met with coach Joyner (JHS boys coach Victor Joyner) and I was very impressed with him before I met him. I’ve seen some of his teams play and I know what kind of quality coach they have there. Coach Mimms has been very gracious and helpful and getting me information she thinks will benefit me. Everything has just been great so far. Everything has been all positive. I couldn’t be happier or more excited about this.”
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville reached a short distance into Lonoke County to pluck one of its more successful coaches to take over the helm of the defending state champion girls’ basketball program. Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson on Friday offered the position to former Carlisle boys coach William Rountree, who has never had a losing season in his eight years of leading the Bison boys.
Rountree takes over a JHS girls program fresh off its first-ever state championship, led by recently resigned Katrina Mimms, and features four returning starters from that team. The one starter lost was perhaps the best player in the state, in 6-foot-3 guard-forward Jessica Jackson, who will suit up for the Arkansas Razorback women this fall. Coincidentally, Jackson’s father is from Carlisle.
Though only 30 miles separate the two schools, they are different in many ways. Jacksonville’s enrollment is almost quadruple of Carlisle’s, and is in an urban setting whereas Carlisle is a farming community.
Rountree embraces the opportunity, and the change that comes with it.
“Different is cool with me,” said Rountree. “I’m good with different. Any time you’re doing something new, it brings back the idea that we try to teach as educators of being lifelong learners. I’m very excited about this opportunity and am very much looking forward to it.”
Jacksonville athletic director Jerry Wilson interviewed accepted dozens of applications and interviewed 14 candidates before deciding on the former head Bison.
“He was the best interview,” began Wilson. “He’s led successful programs and I was impressed with his attitude and work ethic. He’s committed for the long haul and he presented a good plan for maintaining a successful program. He’s personable and we’re going to have a lot of new coaches in our girls program that will have to work together. He seemed like just the right fit to lead all this transition.”
Though he’s spent the last five years coaching boys, Rountree doesn’t come to Jacksonville without experience coaching girls. His coaching career began in 1989 in Gravette as the head baseball coach, as well as head junior high boys football and basketball. After two years there, he left for Omaha, Ark., where he spent one year as the boys head basketball coach, and one year coaching the boys and girls high school and junior high teams.
After spending one year in the private sector, Rountree returned to coaching in 1996 as head boys basketball coach at Deer. After two years there, he took the boys and girls senior and junior high coaching positions at Winslow, and stayed there for six years. He spent the last three as high-school principal as well.
He spent eight of his most successful seasons coaching boys high school and junior high basketball at Carlisle starting in 2003 and interrupted by one season at Sylvan Hills and one in Cross County from 2006-08.
His first three years at Carlisle saw three conference and two district tournament championships, as well as two junior high conference and district titles.
“Of the 12 conference and district tournaments we played in those three years, we won nine of them,” Rountree said.
Rountree left Carlisle for two years while going through a divorce. While he says he developed good relationships and learned a lot during his time away from Carlisle, he calls those two years his only regret in his coaching career.
“It’s nothing against Sylvan Hills,” Rountree said. “I got to know Kevin Davis and Bee Rodden, and they’re wonderful people and great coaches. I just regret that I left, really, over nothing more than hurt pride. I had a pretty talented team coming back and we were on a great run. That’s really the only thing I regret about my whole career.”
Rountree came back to Carlisle, where he’s been for the last five seasons. It took this year’s team a few weeks to find its rhythm, with most of the starters still playing for the semifinal football team weeks into the season. Once it did hit its stride, it advanced all the way to the regionals, including a win over then No. 1 ranked Clarendon.
Rountree learned of the opening at Jacksonville while talking to Pulaski County athletic director Danny Ebbs, who Rountree has known for years and calls one of his mentors. After some consideration and conversations with his wife, he decided to apply.
“I jumped on the website, applied, and was fortunate enough to be called for an interview,” Rountree said. “I was extremely impressed with the athletic director Jerry Wilson. I met with coach Joyner (JHS boys coach Victor Joyner) and I was very impressed with him before I met him. I’ve seen some of his teams play and I know what kind of quality coach they have there. Coach Mimms has been very gracious and helpful and getting me information she thinks will benefit me. Everything has just been great so far. Everything has been all positive. I couldn’t be happier or more excited about this.”
SPORTS STORY >> NLR wins tournament title
By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
North Little Rock’s senior American Legion team dominated every team in its path on the way to the Jacksonville American Legion Classic tournament championship as the Colts closed the tournament with a dominant 12-1 mercy-rule win over Hot Springs Lakeside in the title game Sunday at Dupree Park.
The Colts (22-1) opened the tournament with a 9-3 win over the tournament host on Wednesday, came back Friday and scored 11 unanswered runs in the third inning of their second-round game against Conway to win 11-0 in four innings, and scored 11 more runs in the third inning of the championship game against Lakeside to all but clinch the tournament title.
The only downside to North Little Rock’s play in the tournament was that it took a couple of innings for the lineup to find any rhythm at the plate, but when it did, it was like a positive snowball effect.
“I’m disappointed that when we get runners on second and third and we have less than two outs, particularly when we have one out, you’ve got to put the bat on the ball and we’ve had trouble doing that several times this year,” said Colts coach Robert Hopkins.
“We’ve been hammering on that a little bit when that’s happened, and next inning they came out and responded with a big inning. That’s kind of how it’s been. They see the pitcher once around and then they seem to get it going after that.”
The Rams (8-7) scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning, but North Little Rock responded its next at bat in a huge way. Nine-hole hitter Will Hopkins led off the top of the third with a single to left field and leadoff hitter Justin Weigle followed with a single to centerfield.
Dylan Huckaby grounded out the next at bat, but Dylan Boone followed with his second stand-up double to right-centerfield, which scored both Hopkins and Weigle to give the Colts a 2-1 lead.
Boone scored the next at bat on a single to centerfield by cleanup hitter Nick Cleveland. Designated hitter Landon Hearnes followed with a single to the gap in left field and J.D. Miller drove in Cleveland with a single to the same spot.
Left-fielder Jack Partlow then came to the plate and grounded into a 4-2 fielder’s choice, but catcher Gunner Allen drove in Miller the next at bat with a single to the right-field gap, which gave the Colts a 5-1 lead.
Hopkins then came back to the plate for the second time in the inning and hit a routine grounder to second base, but reached safely on an E4. Weigle made the Rams pay for it the next at bat with a double off the top of the fence in left field, which allowed Cody Hattabaugh, Allen’s courtesy runner, and Hopkins to score to make it an 8-1 game.
Weigle advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored the next at bat on a single to the left-field gap by Huckaby. Boone followed with his third stand-up double of the game, this one to right-centerfield, to score Huckaby.
With Cleveland at the plate, Boone advanced to third and scored on a pair of passed balls to make it an 11-1 game. Miller set the final score in the top of the fourth with a solo home run that towered over the fence in left-centerfield.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing,” Hopkins said. “The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this team, which I’ve preached ever since I’ve coached Legion, is the two things you can control is the pitching and your defense, and our pitching and defense has been stellar, knock on wood, all year long.
“It was again in this tournament and we’ve got lots of moving parts still. We haven’t had our full complement of players except for one time against Benton at the start of the year. So I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the pitching staff has performed and our defense has just been excellent. If you do that and you scrap together a few runs here and there good things happen.”
The game was called at the conclusion of the fifth inning because of the sportsmanship rule. Connor Eller earned the win on the mound for North Little Rock. He gave up one run on four hits and recorded two strikeouts. He gave up no walks.
Boone’s three doubles led all batters. He also had three RBIs. Allen, Miller and Weigle had two hits each, while Huckaby, Cleveland, Hearnes and Hopkins had one hit apiece. The Colts outhit the Rams 13-4.
In the second round against Conway, Boone got the win on the mound as he gave up just three hits and recorded four strikeouts. Like Eller in the title game, he gave up no walks.
Hopkins led all hitters in that game, going 3 for 3 at the plate. Huckaby was 2 for 3 with four RBIs, and Miller, Eller, Allen and Evan Johnson each had one hit.
The Colts play at Paragould today before traveling to St. Louis on Friday for another tournament. They’ll play a total of four games on Friday and Saturday, and depending on how they do in those games, they could play Sunday.
Leader sportswriter
North Little Rock’s senior American Legion team dominated every team in its path on the way to the Jacksonville American Legion Classic tournament championship as the Colts closed the tournament with a dominant 12-1 mercy-rule win over Hot Springs Lakeside in the title game Sunday at Dupree Park.
The Colts (22-1) opened the tournament with a 9-3 win over the tournament host on Wednesday, came back Friday and scored 11 unanswered runs in the third inning of their second-round game against Conway to win 11-0 in four innings, and scored 11 more runs in the third inning of the championship game against Lakeside to all but clinch the tournament title.
The only downside to North Little Rock’s play in the tournament was that it took a couple of innings for the lineup to find any rhythm at the plate, but when it did, it was like a positive snowball effect.
“I’m disappointed that when we get runners on second and third and we have less than two outs, particularly when we have one out, you’ve got to put the bat on the ball and we’ve had trouble doing that several times this year,” said Colts coach Robert Hopkins.
“We’ve been hammering on that a little bit when that’s happened, and next inning they came out and responded with a big inning. That’s kind of how it’s been. They see the pitcher once around and then they seem to get it going after that.”
The Rams (8-7) scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning, but North Little Rock responded its next at bat in a huge way. Nine-hole hitter Will Hopkins led off the top of the third with a single to left field and leadoff hitter Justin Weigle followed with a single to centerfield.
Dylan Huckaby grounded out the next at bat, but Dylan Boone followed with his second stand-up double to right-centerfield, which scored both Hopkins and Weigle to give the Colts a 2-1 lead.
Boone scored the next at bat on a single to centerfield by cleanup hitter Nick Cleveland. Designated hitter Landon Hearnes followed with a single to the gap in left field and J.D. Miller drove in Cleveland with a single to the same spot.
Left-fielder Jack Partlow then came to the plate and grounded into a 4-2 fielder’s choice, but catcher Gunner Allen drove in Miller the next at bat with a single to the right-field gap, which gave the Colts a 5-1 lead.
Hopkins then came back to the plate for the second time in the inning and hit a routine grounder to second base, but reached safely on an E4. Weigle made the Rams pay for it the next at bat with a double off the top of the fence in left field, which allowed Cody Hattabaugh, Allen’s courtesy runner, and Hopkins to score to make it an 8-1 game.
Weigle advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored the next at bat on a single to the left-field gap by Huckaby. Boone followed with his third stand-up double of the game, this one to right-centerfield, to score Huckaby.
With Cleveland at the plate, Boone advanced to third and scored on a pair of passed balls to make it an 11-1 game. Miller set the final score in the top of the fourth with a solo home run that towered over the fence in left-centerfield.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing,” Hopkins said. “The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this team, which I’ve preached ever since I’ve coached Legion, is the two things you can control is the pitching and your defense, and our pitching and defense has been stellar, knock on wood, all year long.
“It was again in this tournament and we’ve got lots of moving parts still. We haven’t had our full complement of players except for one time against Benton at the start of the year. So I couldn’t be more pleased with the way the pitching staff has performed and our defense has just been excellent. If you do that and you scrap together a few runs here and there good things happen.”
The game was called at the conclusion of the fifth inning because of the sportsmanship rule. Connor Eller earned the win on the mound for North Little Rock. He gave up one run on four hits and recorded two strikeouts. He gave up no walks.
Boone’s three doubles led all batters. He also had three RBIs. Allen, Miller and Weigle had two hits each, while Huckaby, Cleveland, Hearnes and Hopkins had one hit apiece. The Colts outhit the Rams 13-4.
In the second round against Conway, Boone got the win on the mound as he gave up just three hits and recorded four strikeouts. Like Eller in the title game, he gave up no walks.
Hopkins led all hitters in that game, going 3 for 3 at the plate. Huckaby was 2 for 3 with four RBIs, and Miller, Eller, Allen and Evan Johnson each had one hit.
The Colts play at Paragould today before traveling to St. Louis on Friday for another tournament. They’ll play a total of four games on Friday and Saturday, and depending on how they do in those games, they could play Sunday.
Monday, July 01, 2013
EDITORIAL >> Support FestiVille
Our traveling correspondent Rick Kron reports the latest from the festival beat:
The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce got out of the festival business two years ago, stating it was too costly and involved too much work. So after a one-year gap, the city’s parks and recreation department picked up the festival idea and came up with last weekend’s FestiVille.
The department earned an A for effort, but the outcome was a much lower grade.
But the question comes back to where was the Jacksonville chamber? Amy Mattison, the head of the chamber, simply said the chamber wasn’t asked.
Wasn’t asked?
Since when does the chamber have to be asked, invited, requested or cajoled into helping with a citywide event?
In all the years that the chamber ran the festival, it gained a ton of expertise that would have helped the parks department avoid some of last weekend’s mistakes.
Now someone else said the chamber’s job is to focus on economic development, and that is true. But helping with citywide events puts the Jacksonville name out in pubic in a positive vein. The chamber did very little publicity for the event — not even a booth handing out pencils, fans and other Jacksonville souvenirs — and had it rallied its members to participate, the festival would have scored a much bigger hit. The chamber should have put this great divide it has with city officials aside and joined forces for the good of Jacksonville. Instead the gap has just widened—and developers and businesses do look at the political climate and relationships within a city — and Jacksonville’s is troubling.
The chamber was not the only important entity missing.
Where were the advertising and promotion commission, most of the aldermen and the major businesses in town? Where were Little Rock Air Force Base and the schools?
Again, they may not have been asked, but someone should have stepped up and said, “Hey, how can we help? How can we be involved?”
With all the restaurants in town, there should have been a Ronald McDonald, a Little Caesar or the Wendy’s girl running around the festival grounds handing out coupons good only at Jacksonville eateries.
The A&P commission, which funneled thousands of dollars into the festival, should have had a booth handing out information and Jacksonville coupons.
One of the local banks could have sponsored a sand pile money dig for children.
A school band or two should have performed. Political leaders should have spoken onstage about the great plans for the city or at least visited with vendors and customers as aldermen Barbara Mashburn and Mary Twitty did. Mayor Gary Fletcher was there Saturday afternoon and his secretary was a volunteer on Friday.
Everyone knew this was uncharted territory for the parks and recreation department and those in the know should have stepped forward whether asked or not.
There’ll be another FestiVille, and one can only hope festivalgoers won’t have to cross a great divide to get to the events.
The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce got out of the festival business two years ago, stating it was too costly and involved too much work. So after a one-year gap, the city’s parks and recreation department picked up the festival idea and came up with last weekend’s FestiVille.
The department earned an A for effort, but the outcome was a much lower grade.
But the question comes back to where was the Jacksonville chamber? Amy Mattison, the head of the chamber, simply said the chamber wasn’t asked.
Wasn’t asked?
Since when does the chamber have to be asked, invited, requested or cajoled into helping with a citywide event?
In all the years that the chamber ran the festival, it gained a ton of expertise that would have helped the parks department avoid some of last weekend’s mistakes.
Now someone else said the chamber’s job is to focus on economic development, and that is true. But helping with citywide events puts the Jacksonville name out in pubic in a positive vein. The chamber did very little publicity for the event — not even a booth handing out pencils, fans and other Jacksonville souvenirs — and had it rallied its members to participate, the festival would have scored a much bigger hit. The chamber should have put this great divide it has with city officials aside and joined forces for the good of Jacksonville. Instead the gap has just widened—and developers and businesses do look at the political climate and relationships within a city — and Jacksonville’s is troubling.
The chamber was not the only important entity missing.
Where were the advertising and promotion commission, most of the aldermen and the major businesses in town? Where were Little Rock Air Force Base and the schools?
Again, they may not have been asked, but someone should have stepped up and said, “Hey, how can we help? How can we be involved?”
With all the restaurants in town, there should have been a Ronald McDonald, a Little Caesar or the Wendy’s girl running around the festival grounds handing out coupons good only at Jacksonville eateries.
The A&P commission, which funneled thousands of dollars into the festival, should have had a booth handing out information and Jacksonville coupons.
One of the local banks could have sponsored a sand pile money dig for children.
A school band or two should have performed. Political leaders should have spoken onstage about the great plans for the city or at least visited with vendors and customers as aldermen Barbara Mashburn and Mary Twitty did. Mayor Gary Fletcher was there Saturday afternoon and his secretary was a volunteer on Friday.
Everyone knew this was uncharted territory for the parks and recreation department and those in the know should have stepped forward whether asked or not.
There’ll be another FestiVille, and one can only hope festivalgoers won’t have to cross a great divide to get to the events.
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