This time of year it is easy to focus on the senior class, those students and student/athletes who are finishing out their high school careers. However, there are those whose careers are just getting started that deserve equal recognition. Freshman Anna Todaro is one of those. Anna is a three-sport athlete at Lavaca Junior High School this year. She played volleyball, basketball, and ran track. In track, she was able to move up and compete, as a freshman, at the high school level once the junior high season had ended. Anna qualified for State in the long jump. After a long basketball season Anna entered the State tournament nursing a pulled back muscle. She did not let that slow her down though. Anna gutted it out and placed fifth overall posting a jump of 15 feet, 10.5 inches.

Anna is the daughter of Shannon and Rob Todaro. Shannon coaches Volleyball and Girls track. So, expectations are obviously high and work ethic is just a way of life. Anna’s basketball coach, Jonathan Vire had the following to say about Anna, “She is a great kid. I’m glad I was able to coach her this year. Anna was a great asset to our Jr. High team and was a very crucial ingredient to the success we had. She was a great teammate and leader for us, the young girls really looked up to her. I am proud of her and excited to see what the future holds for her. Every day she came in with a great attitude and I never had to worry about her not practicing or playing hard and with that it made the rest of the girls follow her lead and go hard.”

Lavaca High School is graduating some great kids this year. However, they also have some great kids moving up to take their place and the circle goes round and round. Lavaca should be very proud of Anna’s accomplishments. Something tells me that fifth in the State is just the beginning. Congratulations Anna, I can’t wait to see what the future hold for you.

Photo by Johnna Morgan

Congratulations to the Lavaca Lady Arrows for qualifying for the Arkansas State Championship Tournament. The Lady Arrows will enter the tournament as the number two seed after a crazy week in Harrison. The Lady Arrows had to wait out the rain, but were finally able to take to the diamond in the 2A West regional this past weekend. First up for Lavaca was Yellville-Summit. The Ladies made short order of Yellville putting them away in only three innings by a score of 16-1. The Lady Arrows had 8 hits, 8 walks, 10 RBI’s. BethAnn May was, as usual, brilliant on the mound only giving up 2 hits and 1 walk….and they were off and rolling.

In the Semi final game, Lavaca would face off again with Hector. Lavaca was 0-2 against Hector this season and this was a game for redemption. By time this battle had ended Lavaca had indeed found redemption, beating Hector 4-3. This was an exciting come from behind win late in the sixth inning. The lady Arrows were down 2-0 when Morgan Taylor had a leadoff single to start things off. Brianna Winchester then doubled moving Taylor to third. Sierra Lamb then doubled to center field scoring both Winchester and Taylor to tie the game at 2. Brooklynn O’Kelley singled, moving Lamb to third. Then Kinzee Jo Brown tripled to score both Lamb and O’Kelley to take a 4-2 lead going into the final inning. The defense held and Lavaca found themselves in the championship game against their arch rival, Hackett, once again.

The championship game was a back and forth game. Hackett took an early 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning, but Lavaca battled back in the 4th to claim a 3-2 lead. The bottom of the 4th the Lady Hornets retook the lead 4-3, only to have it agin be erased in the 5th. when Lavaca put 3 more on the board taking a 6-4 lead. Hackett pulled away for good in the bottom of the fifth when they posted 8 more runs. Lindsey Morgan added another run for the Lady Arrows when see hit a bomb that left the yard in the top of the sixth to round out the scoring. Arrows took the loss 12-7.

The Lady Arrows ended the Regional tournament as the Regional Runners-up and the two seed going into the State tournament which starts on Thursday in Mountain Home. The loss to Hackett was heart breaking but the Lady Arrows are still playing and will have to have a short memory as they prepare to take on Melbourne in round one. They will take the field at 12:30. They already have so much to be proud of, but I know that they still have much that they want to accomplish this year. I know that they will be fired up and ready to prove that they are far from done. Good Luck Lady Arrows!

What a ride it’s been for the Lavaca Golden Arrows Baseball team as of late. After a disappointing loss to the Hector Wildcats in the District finals, and a multi-day rain delay, the Arrows finally were able to take the field at the 2A West Regional Tournament. The Arrows entered the tournament as the number two seed and took on Cotter to start things off. The Arrows out hit Cotter 17-5 to take a 10-4 win and send Cotter home early. The win guaranteed the Arrows a bid in the State tournament, but “a bid” is never good enough.

Next up was a semi-final game with the Flippin Bobcats. The Bobcats entered the tournament as the one seed from their conference. Colby Clunn took the mound for the Arrows and set down the Flippin Bobcats one batter at a time. Clunn stuck out 11 on his way to a two hit shut out to advance to the championship game. The Golden Arrow offense was fueled on eight hits which produced eight RBI’s. The Arrows also took advantage of six fielding errors by the Bobcats. Jimmy Hall lead the team at the plate. He went 3 of 4 and had 4 RBI’s. Jayger Wagner also had a multiple hit day with 2.

With the win, The Arrows were set up to face the Hector Wildcats yet again. As stated earlier, the Wildcats beat Lavaca in the District Championship. However, The Arrows were the only team to beat the them this year. This game however, had everything stacked in Hectors favor, or so it seamed. Hector had saved their Ace pitcher, Cody Day, for the final game. What they didn’t know, what no one knew, was that Lavaca had a pitcher in their arsenal named Wyatt Kiene that was waiting for just such an opportunity. Wyatt commanded the mound the entire game going the distance. He only gave up 4 runs on 7 hits. Kiene was extremely efficient averaging 68% strikes and 58% of batters faced, only saw 3 pitches or less. The Arrow offense rallied behind him giving him a cushion and answering each time Hector tried to make some noise. Lavaca had two big innings. The second inning was started by a Tyler Hobbs a two out double that scored Tyler Armistead and Trevon Moore. Then Jayger Wagner singles scoring Hobbs. Later in the inning Kaw-Liga Brewer reached on an error, scoring Wagner. Then in the fifth, the Arrows put the game away for good scoring 5 more. The scoring in this inning also started in with 2 outs. Jimmy Hall singled scoring Tyler Hobbs, Brewer singled, Trey Castor was hit by pitch, and Tyler Armistead drew a bases loaded walk. Dylan Ellison singled to right field scoring Brewer and Castor, and then Armistead takes home on a wild pitch to round out the scoring.

With the win the Lavaca Golden Arrows are the 2A West Regional Champions! They are the number one seed going into the Arkansas 2A State Championship Tournament. They will play on Thursday May 9th at 10am in Mountain Home Arkansas. Stay Tuned for detailed information.