Archive - Sports Article
April 20th, 2011
BAUXITE â After giving up four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Harmony Grove coach Brandon Kelly called timeout and met with his players on the mound.
âI pulled the infield in and told them nobody was hurt,â Kelly said. âThe lead wasnât safe, so it was time to bear down and get out of it.â
Harmony Grove relief pitcher Bodie Harris would get out of the inning by picking off Bauxiteâs Austin Harris at first base and striking out Tanner Bates to end the inning.
April 19th
BAUXITE â In what was an otherwise even matched game Monday, a disastrous fifth inning resulted in the Miners losing their second straight game going into todayâs Senior Day against Harmony Grove.
Bauxite (11-11, 2-4 4A-7) fell 10-3 to Mayflower (3A) Monday after losing 11-4 to Nashville (4A) Friday.
However, head coach Michael Mattox said, with the 4A-7 District Tournament approaching next week, âAll it takes is one game to sparkâ a winning streak.
The Sheridan Yellowjackets are in a bad funk right now and arenât hitting or playing as well as they were to begin the season.
Their skid continued Monday night with a 5-3 loss to Lakeside at home.
âWe just arenât playing real well right now,â Sheridan coach Mike Moore said. âWe got some things going mentally. We are thinking too much and trying too hard.
âWe need to simplify some things and get back to some basics and fundamentals.â
April 18th
For Glen Rose head baseball coach Chase Meyers, junior Brandon Kettell is the âkind of kid everyone loves to coach.â
âHe is extremely smart on and off the field,â Meyers said.
The 17-year-old son of Melissa and Flynn Kettell, who plays second base and bats second for the Beavers, is what his head coach calls an âoverachiever.â
âIn my book, that is about the best compliment you can give a person, because it means that he has worked to get where he is,â Meyers said.âHe is not blessed with amazing talent or ability, but he excels where others do not.â
April 15th
Benton handed Pine Bluff an 11-1 loss in five innings Friday.
Head coach Mark Balisterri said, "Believe it or not, it was a tough game for us."
Balisterri said, after winning big against El Dorado, Vilonia and McClellan, he didn't want his players to get cocky.
"You do that and sometimes you start thinking, 'Hey, we're great and can't be beat.' Well, they didn't do that," he said.
Sophomore Coulton Lee pitched all five innings for the Panthers, allowing one run in the first inning. He struck out eight batters while giving up two hits, one walk and one hit-by-pitch.
The Beavers took care of business Friday, beating 3A-5 rival Fountain Lake 16-2 in five innings.
Glen Rose (10-6, 4-1 3A-5) is now tied with Jessieville for second place in the conference. Arkansas Baptist, who handed the Beavers their only conference loss, remains undefeated in 3A play.
The Beavers have two conference games left. They travel Thursday to Episcopal and then host Jessieville Monday, April 25.
Although head coach Chase Meyers wants to beat Jessieville in the teams' makeup game, he doesn't want his team looking ahead.
BRYANT â In a battle for control of the 7A Central Conference, the Lady Hornets fell short Thursday.
Bryant lost 2-1 to conference rival North Little Rock with all three runs coming off solo home runs.
After being down 1-0 through five innings, the Charging Wildcatsâ bats came to life and North Little Rock hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth to take the lead, which the Lady Hornets could never regain.
Head coach Debbie Clark said, âIt was all momentum. I could see it in front of my face, and I couldnât do anything about it.â
The Miners beat St. Joseph 8-7 Thursday thanks to a walk-off home run by senior Kyler Hickey in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Bauxite (11-9, 2-3 4A-7) travels to face conference leader Nashville today. Head coach Michael Mattox said, âI know we can play with them.
âWe just have to play solid defense and have a big effort on the mound.â
Sophomore Chris Revas is scheduled to start as pitcher today with junior Ryan Weng, who only threw 76 pitches during Tuesdayâs outing against Pulaski Robinson, a likely relief, Mattox said.
April 14th
The Arkansas Junior High School Rodeo Association will host an event Saturday at the Saline County Fairgrounds.
The junior rodeo, which will be broken into two performances (9 a.m. and 1 p.m.), serves as the regional finals that count toward points for the year-end finals.
AJHSRA Board of Director Jim Lee of Benton said the top four from each event will be invited to the national finals, which will be held Monday, June 27, through Saturday, July 2, at Gallup, New Mexico.
For Fridayâs game against Pine Bluff, the goal is simple: Donât underestimate the Zebras.
Coach Mark Balisterri said that Wednesday, even though the Panthers beat them 10-0 earlier this season.
âIf we go out there and play our game and donât let them hang around, then we should be good,â Balisterri said. âMy main concerned is being focused for the game.
âPine Bluff is Pine Bluff, and they have been beating people for years. Even when they are down, they always beat people they arenât supposed to beat.â
Point and case is Pine Bluffâs 6-3 win over El Dorado Tuesday night.
