Golden Arrows Baseball and Softball ready for Regionals
Both the Golden Arrow baseball team and the Lady Arrow softball teams entered the 2A-4 District Tournament as a three seed. They both performed well advancing to their championship game. However, both teams came up just short of capturing the title. The girls lost to the Hackett Lady Hornets in a re-match in which the Lady Arrows won the previous meeting. For the boy, this was a rubber match. The boys team split with Hector in the two meetings earlier in the season. Saturday’s games did not go the way that the Arrows had planned and there was obvious disappointment. The Arrows will have to have a short memory though as Monday starts preparations to play for a Regional title and a State bid.
Both Arrow coaches have expressed pride in their teams and the manner in which they competed. Coach Headley had this to say about this past weekend and the upcoming regional tournament, “I am very proud of the way our guys competed in the district tourney. They really battled and showed a lot of perseverance and mental toughness. I’m looking forward to getting a couple of practices in before we go to Harrison to take on Cotter in the first round of regionals”. The Golden Arrows will be the two seed in regionals and will take on the Cotter Warriors at 5:30 in Harrison Arkansas on Thursday May 2nd 2019.
Coach Vire, also proud of his team, feels that they will be able to compete at a high level. He also, is hoping to see Hackett again for a rubber match. He said, “First, I do want to congratulate Hackett on the season they are having and on winning the championship last night, they deserved it but hopefully we can meet up again on Saturday and see who can break the tie.
Getting the two seed is good and sets us up pretty well for this week. If we come out and put the ball in play, like we did during the District Tournament, I feel good about this week. We are going to have to do a better job of making the routine plays and backing up our pitcher. When you get to this time of year you can’t give teams extra batters by not making the routine plays, that will always come back to bite you as we saw last night. We will get to work this week and be good to go Thursday. Our goal is to Qualify for State and make a run for a State Championship. This week should be a fun and exciting week to be an Arrow!” The Lady Arrows will also play in Harrison at 5:30 on Thursday. They will meet up with Yellville-Summit.
Local Churches Honor Emergency Responders
On Saturday evening, April 27, the Mansfield United Methodist Church in partnership with the Mansfield First Baptist Church, hosted their annual banquet to honor local emergency responders.
UMC Pastor Richard Rogers said “for the past five or six years we have been able to honor and thank our public servants.”
Approximately 25 members of the police and fire department attended with their families. They were treated to a buffet style meal, with drinks and desserts.
Following the meal, Pastor Rogers presented the Roger Ball Awards. The members of both the police and fire department vote on which of their peers should receive that annual award.
This year’s award for the police department went to officer Stacy Wieburg. Retired Police Chief Boyd Farmer was also honored with a plaque.
The award for the fire department went to Fire Chief Stephen Haysmer. Retired Assistant Fire Chief Rick Thomas was also honored with a plaque.
The ladies from both churches worked tirelessly to ensure the event was a success. A special thanks to MFBC Pastor Phillip Slaughter and to all who
Lady Arrows beat Danville in District Tournamnet. Next Up Hackett for the 2A-4 Championship!
Photos by Amanda Hall and Felica Owen
Lavaca Lady Arrows and the Danville Lady Little Johns meet for the 3rd time this year. They had split the first two meetings. Last nights rubber match was for a chance to advance to the 2A-4 Championship game. This time Lavaca took the early lead scoring in the first two innings and never looking back. The Lady Arrows went on to win by a score of 7-2. Lavaca fired up the offense in the first inning when Jessica Flanagan doubled driving in Brianna Winchester. Flanagan would also score on a RBI ground ball from Kinzee Jo Brown. BethAnn May scored another in the 2nd inning on a Brianna Winchester RBI double to center field. The Arrows added 2 more on the 5th and 6th innings to put the game away. In all, Lavaca totaled 11 hits. Brianna Winchester, May, and Morgan Taylor each had multiple hits for the Lady Arrows. Winchester led Lavaca with three hits in five at bats.
BethAnn May again was solid on the mound and earned the win. She went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out ten. Allie Bottoms took the loss for Danville. She allowed nine hits and seven runs over five and a third innings, striking out five and walking one.
Both teams will advance next week to the State 2A Regional Tournament. The Lady Arrows, will play for the District championship at 12 noon today against Hackett. This promises to be a great game. Lavaca won the first meeting with Hackett by a narrow margin of 3-2. Look for this to be a pitching battle with two stellar hurlers in the circle. It very well come down to who blinks first.
Arrows Advance to District finals after 2-1 win against Danville.
Photos by Amanda Hall
The 2A-4 district semifinals were everything you would expect them to be for the Lavaca vs Danville game. It was a pitchers duel extraordinaire. Jimmy Hall took the mound for the Arrows to face off against Dalton Reagan for the Little Johns. Hall surrendered one run on two hits over six and two-thirds innings, striking out 11. For Danville, Reagan lasted seven and two-thirds innings, allowing three hits and one run while striking out 15 and walking zero.
Lavaca took the early 1-0 lead when Jayger Wagner scored on a passed ball in the top of the fourth. The lead, however, was short lived. Danville evened things up at one in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lavaca stole the lead late for the final time in the top of the ninth when Kaw-Liga Brewer singled on a 2-2 count, scoring one Jimmy Hall. Offensively, Jayger Wagner led the Arrows going 2-for-4 at the plate.
The pitching was strong on both sides. The Golden Arrows pitchers struck out 13, while Danville pitchers sat down 17. Colby Clunn was credited with the victory for Lavaca. He pitched two and a third innings, out of the bull pin, allowing no hits and zero runs while striking out two. Hale took the loss for Danville. He went one and one-third innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out two and walking one. Behind the great pitching, the Arrow’s defense played very well. Catcher Colby Clunn threw out 3 would be base runners attempting to steal; one at 2nd base and twice at 3rd.
Both teams played their hearts out and look forward to making a strong run at the State Regional Tournament in Harrison next week. The Golden Arrows however, can’t focus on that just yet. They will take the field in Hackett one more time tomorrow at 12 noon to battle the Hector Wildcats for the 2A-4 District Championship. The two teams split the first two meetings this year and this promises to be another great matchup.
Hackett Hits Homers To Championship
The semi-final round of Districts was short, sweet, and to the point, as the Hackett Lady Hornets absolutely crushed the Hector Lady Wildcats. In just four innings the Lady Hornets put up an astonishing 16 points on the board to Hectors 1, winning the game.
Hackett has now upgraded to 20-5 on the season and come tomorrow the girls are hoping to add another win to their record. With one level left to face in District, the Lady Hornets are looking to face either Danville or Lavaca in the championship round in Hackett.
Autum Neal scored two hits, two runs, two runners batted in, one steal, and one putout. Audrie Chaney totaled two runs, one hit, one RBI, one steal, and four putouts. Madeline Freeman secured three runs, two hits, and one assist. Jamye Durham netted one run, one hit, and one RBI.
Madi Taylor snagged one run, one hit, two RBI, and two putouts. Sarah White obtained one run, one hit, one RBI, one steal, one assist, and five putouts. Shayla Foster grabbed two runs, two hits, one steal, and one RBI. And definitely on top of her game was Kayla Richardson who dominated with four runs, four hits, two RBI, three steals, one home run, and one assist. Also pitching she threw out 58 pitches to 17 batters striking out 6.
It was a great night to say the least for the Lady Hornets. The girls are ready to bring home the gold in tomorrows game and prove the naysayers wrong. Yeah, they’re a small team from a small town. But these are the Bad News Hornets for any team that steps up to the plate to face them.
Four Tigers Advance Out of District Meet
Comparatively speaking, the results of the 2019 Mansfield track season fell below it’s usual high standards. For exactly two decades, the Tigers have enjoyed large helpings of district and state success. This year, a modest dip in performance along with an influx of larger sized schools into the conference put Mansfield in unfamiliar territory.
Despite the challenges, Mansfield managed to advance four athletes into the April 30th state championships in Green Forest. The small band of Tiger track and field stars found their way to that next round through all-district marks achieved at the 3A Region 1 West conference meet held at Mansfield on April 22.
Going on to compete at the class 3A state finals from Mansfield will be Sadie Roberts, Bri Sanderson, Makayla Strutton, and Sara Willadsen.
Roberts, just a freshman, claimed her ticket by clearing 4’ 11” in the high jump for second place in the conference championship. The young vertical leaper actually tied Jaden Kirkendoll, the district winner out of Waldron, with the same height. However, a series of early misses by Roberts pushed her into the lower overall placement.
Bri Sanderson, a sophomore thrower off the men’s team, made it to the state stage because of his 109’ 7” discus toss. The mark placed Sanderson into second place in the conference standings and advanced him to the Green Forest meet.
Strutton, a sophomore off the Lady Tiger roster, found her way to the state finals by the narrowest of margins.
With identical 100m hurdle times recorded at 18.30 seconds, Strutton and Joyce Ferguson of Waldron basically tied for second place. Another move of the computer mouse running the video review displayed the pair were separated by a thousandth of a second.
Strutton’s slight edge sent her to the state meet. Ferguson’s one thousandths of a second too much time left her home with a third place decision.
Willadsen, the only senior off the Tiger stat sheet to advance, did so with a personal best 13.81 second run in the 100m dash.
“Sara has been our hardest working player all season,” said long time Mansfield coach John Mackey. “How appropriate that she had to do it the hard way by winning the next to the last heat. All the faster runners were in the third heat. Sara had to post a fast time then play the waiting game.”
The fully automated timer perched above the finish line at Tiger Stadium sandwiched Willadsen’s time between 13.79 ran by winner Chloe Morrow of Cedarville and 13.87 ran by third place recipient Katie McBroom also of Cedarville.
Overall, Mansfield’s girls finished fourth in the team standings. Waldron won. West Fork was runner-up, and Cedarville came in third.
To Mansfield’s detriment, a reclassification by the Arkansas Activities Association sent the conference’s top two finishers into the Tiger’s league this 2019 season. Both those institutions competed in class 4A last season. Moreover, two more towns that competed as class 4A schools a year ago entered the district to make exactly half the conference former big school foes.
The Tiger men fell all the way to seventh in the conference standings. Waldron, Elkins, and West Fork, all former big schools, took the top three places.
Mansfield’s men endured a rough end to a promising start of the season. Injury to key starters and normal attrition depleted the Tiger roster. The group put up a strong fight despite only having a dozen disciples left to man the shores.
Renden Emery scored the most for the men through two jumps and both hurdle races. Jacob Brown threw his way to a third place discus mark. Ethan Chapman, Mikeal Harrison, Victor Steffen, and Artem Zirka placed through the distance events.
Randall Claude, Dru Buckner, and Logan Yoss covered the relays. Zayne Dugan and Shawn Brown added to the throws campaign.
The Lady Tigers had Willadsen and Strutton serve as their top two scorers. Large production also came from the team’s top thrower Brooke Wright.
Delilah McKusker, Shelby Cole, and Lennon Woods helped in the relays and hurdles.
Faith Rainwater, Hope Rainwater, and McKenzie Griffin scored in the distance events. Alyssa Berry, Cole, Roberts, and Willadsen all pointed in the pole vault.
Athletes that finished as a top two advancer in any event at the conference track meet earned All-District honors. Roberts, Sanderson, Strutton, and Willadsen fit that bill.
Third place medalists moved into honorable mention status. Wright and Jacob Brown donned those capes.
MVFD Assistant Chief Retires after 25 Years
Members of the Mansfield Fire Department and their families gathered on Thursday evening, April 25, to honor retiring Assistant Chief Rick Thomas.
Thomas has served on the department for the past 25 years, giving of himself and of his time generously to serve the community. His family, including his wife Crickett, daughter Katelin and grandson Dayton were all present for the celebration.
Mansfield Fire Chief Stephen Haysmer presented Thomas with a custom plaque and a 25 year service pin. Afterwards, dispatch sent out a page congratulating Thomas on his years of service with the department.
Haysmer said “it has been a pleasure working with him, and he will be greatly missed.”
Lady Tigers Are The Seven Inning Queens
Through the ups and downs that the season has had to offer, the Mansfield Lady Tigers never once gave up. Whether it was 20 degrees outside or their games got canceled or they played four games in five days, not once did you hear the Lady Tigers complain. They put a smile on their face, threw on their gear, and got the job done.
Mansfield has had four straight wins with zero plans of stopping now. The Lady Tigers started their District play on Wednesday, April 24 against Greenland. After completely dominating the Lady Pirates 10-0, the Lady Tigers leveled-up to the next round of play against West Fork. Last night, Tiger versus Tiger, scratched and clawed to keep their spot in District play.
But there can only be one and it was the Mansfield Lady Tigers that came out victoriously. Keeping the score tied for the first four innings, Mansfield refused to lose and secured the lead for a 6-5 win. Now sitting in the semi-finals, the 13-13 Lady Tigers will face the Charleston Lady Tigers tonight, April 26 in Greenland at 6 p.m. “Our team is playing good softball right now,” expressed Coach Kent Elmore. “Our girls are leaving everything on the field and cherishing every opportunity given to them. It has been really fun to see this team grow throughout the season.”
Picture provided by Kandis Howard
SCSO’s Drug Take Back Day
SCSO in partnership with Barling PD will be participating in Drug Take Back Day this Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm at Barling City Hall, 307 Fort Street. The Take Back will accept any unused prescription medication. After the drugs are collected they will be gathered by DEA for safe disposal.
The last Drug Take Back Day in October of last year collected almost 500 tons of unused prescriptions nationwide.
Drug Take Back Day is a safe and responsible way to dispose of unused medications. It is not safe or environmentally friendly to dispose of these prescriptions on your own. Also, it is not safe to leave these medications in your home as they can be become abused, misused, or stolen.
If you miss your opportunity to participate on Saturday, citizens are reminded that there is an unused prescription depository at the Fort Smith and Greenwood Sheriff’s Offices. Since October of last year SCSO has already collected several hundred pounds of medicine through these safe boxes.
Let’s make our community safer by all participating in cleaning out our medicine cabinets this Saturday.