Another successful season of Upward Basketball will come to a close this Saturday, March 7 starting at 1 p.m. in the Waldron Nazarene Church gym. Fifty six participants ranging from pre-K through sixth grade will gather to play their final games of the season.
According to league director Harold Riedel, who oversees the program with the help of his wife Evelyn and their daughter Geneva, “this is our 12th season of Upward, and it’s been one of the best groups ever. We’ve had great coaches and the kids have played really well.”
The unique part of Upward, whose mission statement is “to serve Jesus Christ through sports,” is the devotions that take place during halftime of every game and practice session. Topics include self-control, commitment, joy, and there is an entire devotion on John 3:16.
The program is non-denominational, and is hosted by hundreds of different churches across the country. The Waldron program has had more than 700 participants since starting in 2008. Many kids have started at age four and progressed through the entire program. Harold Ridel stated, “it’s very interesting to watch them start out and improve each year they play. Many Upward players progress into school ball and have done very well.Upward is a great introduction to the game, as they learn while they play. We hope everyone will come out this Saturday to support the kids and enjoy the games.”
There is no charge to enter the gym, and there is a concession stand stocked with soft drinks, burgers, hot dogs, and candy. More information on the program is available on their Facebook page, Waldron Arkansas Upward Basketball.
Reverend Wally Beckman is the Pastor at the Waldron First Church of the Nazarene.
The annual Ashdown Softball Tournament is about to be underway. With games starting tonight, the Waldron Lady Bulldogs will compete with 11 other schools for the grand championship title. The Lady Bulldogs will go into tournament play with a 1-1 record with their win coming from Dardanelle and their loss stemming from Booneville. To start things off, Waldron will face Liberty-Eylau on Friday at 7 p.m. The Liberty Independent School District is located in Texarkana where the Lady Leopards currently hold a season record of 0-3-1.
“We haven’t played Liberty before and I know very little about them,” explained coach, Bailey Moore. “My focus for the Ashdown Tournament is to lock down a lineup. We have been very up in the air trying to match our offensive strengths to our defensive strengths. Every year, we use this tournament to experiment with our lineup. Moving our batters round, locking in a defense. This helps us prepare for our conference play by allowing us to see different competition. As players, the girls get lots of extra reps and as coaches, we get to see several different options at a lineup. It’s always very beneficial to us!”
The 1st Annual Leopard Invitational Tournament being held in DeQueen is currently underway. The Mansfield Tigers and the Waldron Bulldogs are part of eight teams showing off their baseball skills in the three-day tournament. The Bulldogs competed in the first round on Thursday night against Horatio. “The game didn’t go in our favor with a 9-1 final score,” explained coach, Mark Brigance. “We had some help on offense in the first inning capitalizing on two walks and two hit batters. That plated Braden Williams for us off Patrick Poor’s hit by the pitch.”
“Jayden McConnell pitched 2 and 1/3 innings. He did everything we asked of him and didn’t walk anybody. Payton Brown didn’t allow a passed ball and Caden Fuller pitched the remaining 1 and 2/3 shortened ballgame. Due to tournaments rules, the game lasted 4 and 1/2 innings because of an eight-run rule sportsmanship. Horatio is a solid team and you have to give them credit for playing really good small ball.” The Bulldogs will play again on Friday night at 7:30 against Foreman.
The Tigers will start tournament play today at 3:30 against Lincoln. This season, Mansfield holds a young roster whose pitching is “already showing a lot of promise but we have got to get our bats going,” stated coach, Tim Cothran. The Tigers sit 0-1 after a loss to Mena but are putting in the work daily in preparation for the 2019-2020 season. After today’s game, the Tigers will go on to face either Broken Bow or Genoa Central. “We could play multiple games Saturday. If we lose the first two games we are done but as long as we are winning, we are playing up to the finals.”
The day three afternoon session of the Class 3A state basketball tournament is now in the books, and the last of the first round games in both the boys and girls brackets have been completed. The second round, or quarterfinals will begin tonight with a girls bracket quarterfinal at 7 p.m. followed by a boys bracket quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m.
The results of today’s final first round games that were played this afternoon are:
GIRLS BRACKET
Lamar 53, Harding Academy 52
Mayflower 47, Trumann 42
BOYS BRACKET
Osceola 76, Little Rock Episcopal 52
Mayflower 69, Bald Knob 62
Resident Press will have an update of tonight’s evening session quarterfinal games tomorrow for our readers. RP will also preview Friday afternoon’s quarterfinal game with the Charleston Lady Tigers taking on the Central Arkansas Christian Lady Mustangs.
Stay with Resident Press for all of the coverage of the Class 3A state basketball tournament.
Day three of the Class 3A state basketball tournament is underway with afternoon session games. In the first game of the day, Lamar defeated Harding Academy 53-52 to advance to the quarterfinals. Lamar will play Valley Springs in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 4 p.m.
The schedule for the rest of today’s action is:
GIRLS BRACKET
Mayflower vs. Trumann, 4 p.m.
BOYS BRACKET
Osceola vs. Little Rock Episcopal, 2:30 p.m.
Mayflower vs. Bald Knob, 5:30 p.m.
The quarterfinals will begin in tonight’s evening session. Two quarterfinal games in the boys and girls brackets will be played at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
In the first quarterfinal, the Hoxie Lady Mustangs will take on the Mountain View Lady Yellowjackets at 7 p.m. The winner of this match will advance to the semifinals on Saturday to play for a trip to Hot Springs.
In the second quarterfinal, the Rivercrest Colts will take on Elkins in the boys bracket. The winner will advance to Saturday’s semifinal game.
Stay with Resident Press today for additional coverage of action from the Class 3A state basketball tournament in Charleston.
It was day two of the state 3A basketball tournament, and the host team, the Charleston Lady Tigers finally had their chance to take the court and begin their tournament quest for a girls basketball state championship. The first opponent for the Lady Tigers was the Centerpoint Lady Knights.
In front of a near-capacity crowd at Tiger Center, starters from both teams were introduced with a spotlight introduction. The energy in the building was rising. After the National Anthem, the Tiger Center sound system blasted the song, “Welcome to the Jungle”, and the partisan Charleston crowd erupted. The game was on, and the Lady Tigers fed off of the energy from the crowd. What a great atmosphere! Way to go Charleston fans!
Charleston ran to a quick, double-digit lead in the first quarter. The Lady Tigers were splashing shots from the outside, and their characteristically tenacious, swarming defense was too much for the Lady Knights. But Charleston’s shooting cooled off in the second quarter, and the Lady Tigers lead evaporated. Centerpoint not only caught up with the Lady Tigers, but managed to take a brief one point lead late in the second quarter. Charleston’s shooters then began to come back to life and by the end of the first half, Charleston enjoyed a small lead.
The Charleston crowd, led by a great student section, recharged the Lady Tigers. Again, feeding off of the energy from the crowd, Charleston broke the game open with a huge third quarter run. At one point, the Lady Tigers had outscored Centerpoint 18-7 in the third quarter. The Lady Knights grew increasingly frustrated with the game slipping away, and with the tight defensive pressure applied by Charleston. In fact, a Centerpoint player, unhappy with a play in which the Lady Tigers aggressively went after a loose ball, apparently voiced her displeasure to the point she was given a technical foul. The Centerpoint player was visibly angry and shaken, and was taken out of the game by her coach. She did not return to the game. Charleston’s defensive intensity and the partisan Charleston crowd were huge factors in the game. The Lady Knights clearly struggled with the raucous environment of the game. The state tournament will test any team’s mental toughness.
From that point in the game, Charleston was clearly in control. The Lady Tigers slowed their offense to run time off of the clock, but were still looking to score if the opportunities were presented. The Lady Tigers experience was showing, and the end result of the night was perhaps the most dominant performance of any team so far in the state tournament. Charleston made a statement Wednesday night that they are here and they intend to compete for a spot in the championship game in Hot Springs. That will be a tough road with a date with a very good Central Arkansas Christian team on Friday, and, if the Lady Tigers can win that game, would more than likely play Mountain View in the semi-finals with the winner of that game going to the championship game in Hot Springs. Charleston has to be careful not to look too far down the road. They need to bring the same intensity and focus on Friday afternoon against CAC that they did last night. If they do, they will be in good shape. I am sure Charleston coach Jason Rucker would love to put the magic of last night into a bottle and use it every day in the tournament. On Wednesday, Charleston looked like the team to beat in the state tournament. And the Charleston fans were a big part of the Lady Tigers dominant performance.
Charleston will play in the quarterfinals on Friday at 1 p.m. versus Central Arkansas Christian. CAC soundly defeated Walnut Ridge in their first round game. Resident Press will have a preview of this game tomorrow morning. Charleston fan deserve a lot of credit for showing up big last night. They contributed to a decisive home court advantage for the Lady Tigers and it was a difference maker in the outcome of the game. And now, the Lady Tigers need you to show up Friday for their 1 p.m. quarterfinal game. Ask your employers, spouses, etc., for permission to go to the game! I am sure the Lady Tigers will respond to your support, just as they did last night!
So now, for Charleston, the team must regroup and come down from the emotional high it had last night, along with the celebration of their first state tournament win this year. They have to forget about the game and move on to their next opponent. Preparation is so critical for a team, and Charleston cannot afford to have a lapse in concentration as they prepare for CAC. This is a tournament that is loaded with great teams, and each team has to be respected. That translates to a good practice today with full attention on CAC.
The Charleston game was clearly the highlight event of day two of the state tournament. There were other very important games played Wednesday in the tournament, and here is a recap of yesterday’s scores.
GIRLS BRACKET
Mountain View 56, West Helena Central 43
Rose Bud 54, Ashdown 39
Charleston 50, Centerpoint 29
BOYS BRACKET
Elkins 59, Prescott 43
Dumas 55, Bergman 35
Monticello Drew Central 59, Clinton 53
Click here to view or download an updated copy of the girls state tournament bracket.
Click here to view or download an updated copy of the boys state tournament bracket.
For teams playing their first round game today, it has been several days, approximately five days, since some of them have played their last games in the regional tournament. For those teams it will be interesting to see if they have benefited from the extra rest and preparation time, or, if they have cooled off from streaks they enjoyed in the regional tournaments. This is part of what makes the state tournament so exciting!
Day three of the state tournament will resume today with the Lamar Lady Warriors playing their first round game against Harding Academy. The day will include the first two quarterfinal matches that will be held during the day’s evening session of the tournament.
One final note, Resident Press would like to thank the Charleston school district for their outstanding support and hospitality that has helped make it possible to bring updates to our readers from the state tournament. RP will publish updates again on today’s afternoon session, and will have an evening session wrap-up tomorrow morning. Stay with Resident Press for the latest from the Class 3A state tournament in Charleston!
Tiger Center was rocking Wednesday night as a near-capacity crowd saw the Lady Tigers defeat Centrpoint 50-29 to advance to the second round of the Class 3A state tournament. Charleston will play Central Arkansas Christian on Friday at 1 p.m.
Resident Press will have more on the Lady Tigers victory tomorrow afternoon as well as highlights from other games played on Wednesday.
Resident Press is your source for the latest news and updates from the state 3A basketball tournament!
After a relatively quiet first day in the Class 3A state basketball tournament where most of the higher seeds won first round games, day two started today with an upset in the very first game. Today’s crowd watching the tournament on the campus of Charleston High School saw the fourth-seeded Rose Bud Lady Ramblers upset the Ashdown Lady Panthers in the first game of the afternoon session.
Rose Bud who’s last game was a loss to Charleston in the Waldron regional, dominated the game in the second half to run away with a 54-39 victory. Rose Bud advances to the second round where they await the winner of Thursday’s game between Mayflower and Trumann.
The remaining schedule of games for today’s afternoon tournament session is:
Monticello Drew Central vs. Clinton (Boys), 2:30 p.m.
Mountain View vs. West Helena Central (Girls), 4:00 p.m.
Elkins vs. Prescott (Boys), 5:30 p.m.
Tonight, the evening session will include the following games:
Centerpoint vs. Charleston (Girls), 7 p.m.
Dumas vs. Bergman (Boys), 8:30 p.m.
The feature game tonight will be the tournament host Charleston Lady Tigers playing a first round game versus Centerpoint at 7 p.m. Resident Press will publish an update tonight on the Charleston game and all of the other latest scores in what should be an exciting Day 2 of state tournament action! Stay with Resident Press for the latest on the road leading up to the crowning of new state champions in the Spa City on March 13th!
The Waldron Bulldogs sit 1-0 in their 2019-2020 baseball season after controlling their season opener against the Mena Bearcats on Monday night. The Bulldogs maintained a tight grip on the Bearcats during the entirety of the game sending Mena home with a 5-1 loss. “This first win was a good way to start the season,” explained head coach, Mark Brigance. “It gets the momentum going since baseball is a huge momentum sport.”
Taking their places on the pitching mound were seniors Seth Hunt and Payton Brown and sophomore Jayden McConnell. Hunt pitched four shut out innings to 18 batters striking out seven. McConnell worked two innings of relief throwing out 19 pitches to six players, and Brown closed the seventh inning with 16 pitches striking out three Bearcats.
Catching for the Bulldogs was Brown who “caught one stealing” and junior Braden Williams who “handled the catching allowing no pass balls on the day.“ Williams also scored two runs for his team. Junior, Caden Fuller, hit one off the right field wall to lead off the third inning. And “best on the day at the plate was Hunt, who went three for four with two doubles.” Waldron earned a total of seven putouts on the game with senior Ruben Valdez along with Brown each bringing in two and Hunt, McConnell, and sophomore Blake Owens scoring one apiece.
The next round for the Bulldogs will be on Thursday, March 5 at 3:30 p.m. in Horatio as part of the DeQueen Tournament.
For their softball season opener of the 2019-2020 school year, the Waldron Lady Bulldogs took on the Lady Sand Lizards at Dardanelle on Tuesday night. After seven innings with the third, fourth, and fifth innings seeing all the action, Waldron went home with a 4-3 win over Dardanelle. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs took a huge 17-9 loss against the Lady Sand Lizards so to say that this victory was much deserved and hard-earned would be an understatement. This was the first time since head coach Bailey Moore started with the Lady Bulldogs in 2016, that they have beat Dardanelle.
Although all of the girls kicked butt to win this battle, it was returning starting senior, Bayleigh Lipham who stole the show. “Bayleigh had an excellent game,” exclaimed Coach Moore. “She led the team with 2/3 at the plate and a 1000 OBP (on-base percentage). She also only had one passed ball out of 120 pitches. Bayleigh was a wall behind the plate!” Lipham also earned a run for her team along with seven putouts while on field duty.
Bayleigh Lipham
Also returning to the action are juniors Rheagan Sanford and Saige Mahar who each scored a run along with Sanford grabbing two putouts as well as Kadance Espinoza with four. Sophomores Ashtyn Moore, Kelsey Yother, and Jayden Manning combined for a total of eight putouts. And senior Ysaline Beguin picked up an assist. Junior Ashton Young is returning as pitcher this season and she is already off to a good start by keeping the opponents from running her field. Young catapulted out 120 pitches to 33 batters striking out six of them.
“We made some in-game adjustments at just the right time. I moved my previous 2nd baseman, Jayden Manning, to left field and she made a diving catch to hold runners and keep us in the game. I also moved my centerfielder, Ashtyn Moore, to right and she made a huge play taking the ball off of a hop and throwing the tying run out at home along with several other good catches! We struggled at the plate. We did just enough to keep us alive but we were sure rusty, to say the least. We faced a very good Dardanelle pitcher and she picked on some of our weaknesses. We plan to continue working on our offense and getting some practice in new defensive positions. The weather hasn’t allowed us to be outside much and it sure showed but this team has grit. We plan to keep improving from here on out!”
It’s back on the road again for the Lady Bulldogs as they prepare to take on the Booneville Lady Bearcats on Thursday, March 5 at 4:30 p.m.
