Stories from Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Trumann Parks and Recreation are accepting teams for the new Chicago 16" softball leagues. This softball league is an alternative to regular adult softball leagues. They will have a spring Co-ed and Men's division. Games will start in mid April and will be played on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Participants can register as teams or as an individual. Call 870-761-1426 for more information.

Bay's Kail Harris struck out 14 Cedar Ridge batters as the Yellowjackets (2-4) posted a 9-4 victory over Cedar Ridge this past Monday in high school baseball action. Harris went all seven innings giving up four runs on eight hits. Hunter Purcell collected three hits for Bay and Jake Martin slammed a three-run homerun for 'Jackets.

Marked Tree shut out Harrisburg 15-0 in high school girls' softball this past Monday in Harrisburg. Peyton Carter gave up no hits while striking out 10 for the Lady Indians (9-4). Jay Perry had three hits and four RBIs while Poohnu Perry collected 2 RBIs on two hits. Kelsey Pitts added two hits and two RBIs as well.

Aaron Scales' single in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Byron Scales to give EPC a 3-2 win over BIC in a 2A-3 conference game in high school baseball. Caleb Harston pitched all seven innings to get the win for EPC (5-8, 3-2). He gave up two runs on six hits and struck out eight. Byron Scales led EPC at the plate with two hits and a run scored. Hunter Hinton added a base hit and RBI for the Warriors.

Trumann took two wins from Gosnell this past Tuesday in 4A-3 high school girls' softball action. Trumann shut out Gosnell 12-0 in the opener and won 5-2 in the second game. Hannah Walters got the win in both games. The Lady Wildcats sent 16 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning with 11 of those batters scoring runs. Sarah Halfacre was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the first inning. Sammie Jo Williams doubled to score Halfacre. Walters scored pinch runner Haven Taylor with an RBI single. Macy Hicks singled and stole second to put runners on second and third. Kelly Guthrie drew a walk to load the bases. Julia Jones walked to score pinch runner Neely Blagg. Megan McGowan laid down a bunt single to score Hicks. Morgan Taylor walked to score Guthrie before Halfacre cleared the bases with a three-run double. Williams added an RBI single to score Halfacre. Haven Taylor scored on a base hit by Hicks. Hicks scored on a passed ball to make it 11-0. Trumann added its final run in the bottom of the second. McGowan singled to start the inning and moved to third on a base hit by Williams. McGowan scored on an error to make it 12-0. Walters pitched all five innings giving up four hits, walking one and striking out three. Williams had three hits and two RBIs, Hicks two hits and two runs scored, McGowan two hits, two runs scored and a RBI, Halfacre drove in three runs and scored two times and Haven Taylor scored twice for the Lady Wildcats. In the second game, Hicks had three hits and Walters collected two hits. Jones drove in two runs with a double for the Lady 'Cats. Walters allowed two runs on five hits while recording four strikeouts in five innings of work.

Marked Tree and Trumann played in the championship game of the Extra Inning Classic 1A-4A division this past Saturday at Westside. Marked Tree came out on top with an 11-6 win to claim the title. Marked Tree (11-5) got to the finals by beating Salem in their opening game 7-4. Gunner Pitts slammed a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie. Jagger McCrary earned the win for the Indians. The Indians downed McCrory 7-6 before blanking Rivercrest 10-0 to reach the finals. Against Rivercrest, Bryant Anderson hit two homeruns and had six RBIs to lead the Indians offensively. Brody McCrary picked up the win for Marked Tree. Trumann opened the tournament with a 6-4 win over Newport. Jay Ryan Woods was the winning pitcher for Trumann as Nate Maxwell had two RBIs to lead Trumann at the plate. The Wildcats beat EPC 12-7 in their first game Friday. Dillin Vincent knocked in three runs with two hits for Trumann. Zach Vinson got the win for the Wildcats. Caleb Harston took the loss for EPC. Aaron Scales and Zach Newson each had a hit and RBI for EPC. Trumann edged Harding Academy 4-2 to reach the championship game Saturday evening. Maxwell earned the win with Woods getting a save for Trumann. Michael Criss belted a solo homer for Trumann as Cameron Jones and A.J. Winningham had an RBI each. In the championship game, Marked Tree jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Taylor Wages opened the game with a double before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Pitts plated Wages with a ground out before Anderson belted a solo homerun to give the Indians a 2-0 lead. Dylan Hunt doubled to open the second inning. He would advance to third on a passed ball before scoring on Jaden Bell's sacrifice fly out for a 3-0 lead. Pitts walked to lead off the third inning for Marked Tree. Pitts stole second base and scored when Anderson reached on a throwing error. Anderson took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jagger McCrary ground out to put the Indians up 5-0 after 2 ½ innings of play. Jones drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the third for Trumann. Jones stole second base and eventually scored on a passed ball to put Trumann on the board. The score after three innings is 5-1 Marked Tree. The Indians scored four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 9-1 lead. Brody McCrary drew a walk before Wages reached on an error. Pitts scored them both with a single. Pitts swiped second base before Anderson worked a base on balls. Pitts and Anderson both scored in the inning on wild pitches. The Wildcats didn't go quietly as they scored five times in the bottom of inning to cut the lead to 9-6. Jones walked to start things off before advancing to third on a wild throw on a pick-off attempt. Vincent's RBI single scored Jones. Justin Liles reached on an error and Maxwell walked to load the bases. Vinson scored Vincent with a RBI single before Criss plated Liles and Maxwell with a single. Taylor Wilson had an RBI sacrifice fly scoring Vinson. Hunt doubled to open the top of the seventh inning. Bell walked and was replaced by pinch runner Bubba Phillips. The runners advanced a base on a passed ball. Wages scored both runners with a two-out single to push the Marked Tree lead to 11-6. Trumann was retired in order to end the game. Wages picked up the win for Marked Tree going five innings, giving up six runs on three hits while walking five with six strikeouts. A.J. Winningham took the loss for Trumann. Offensively Marked Tree got two hits each from Wages, Pitts and Anderson. Pitts drove in three and Wages plated two. Anderson scored three times. Trumann got hits by Vincent, Vinson and Criss. Criss had two RBI with Vincent, Vinson and Wilson each recording an RBI.

The Cops for Kids Easter egg hunt will be this Saturday, March 31, from 10am to noon at Cedar Park. The hunt will be at noon with drawings for a girls bike and a boys bike immediately afterward. There will be a bounce house and a slide. The Easter Bunny will also be there, and there will be a hay ride with the Easter Bunny. Hot dogs, chips, and drinks will be served...