PREP NOTEBOOK

Gentry Has Strong Showing

Decatur senior Evan Owens clears 11 feet during pole vault competition in Gravette on Thursday, March 28, 2013.
Decatur senior Evan Owens clears 11 feet during pole vault competition in Gravette on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

PREP NOTEBOOK

Gentry Has Strong Showing

By Paul Nielsen

[email protected]

GRAVETTE — Gentry had a strong effort in finishing second at the Gravette Lions Invitational track and field meet on Thursday, thanks to the one-two punch of Kevin Parish and Jerod Cousins.

Parish (36) and Cousins (29) combined to score 64 of the Pioneers’ 97 points.

Parish dominated the sprint events in winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes, crossing in 11.11 seconds, and 23.31, respectively. He also picked up points in the triple jump and high jump.

“Parish is a great senior,” Gentry coach Daniel Ramsey said. “He is a great sprinter that won at a meet with some 7A schools. He has worked hard through the winter and he is ready to go at this point.”

Cousins is using the track season to prep for the season-ending decathlon and he had three second-place finishes in the 110-hurdles, the discus and the pole vault. He was fourth in the triple jump.

“Cousins is a good multi-event guy, and I think he is going to do a good job at the decathlon this year,” Ramsey said. “He does real well in the throws, the disc and the shot.”

— PAUL NIELSEN

Cardinals Off To Perfect Start

So far, Farmington can do no wrong on the baseball diamond.

The Cardinals, ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 4A Arkansas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll, are 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the 4A-1 Conference this season. Farmington picked up a pair of wins this week, defeating Gentry 19-3 on Tuesday and Prairie Grove 4-3 on Thursday.

The win against the rival Tigers was a showdown of Class 4A’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 ranked teams in the Arkansas coaches poll. Levi Strope worked seven innings on the mound to improve to 3-0.

“We got the winning hit in the last inning,” Farmington coach Jay Harper said. “It was a great ballgame.”

Harper said solid pitching combined with hitting up and down the lineup has been the key to the hot start.

“Levi Strope, Keaton Austin and Brandon Pittman are our three main pitchers, and we’ve done a good job of hitting the ball,” Harper said. “We’ve gone down the (River) Valley and won a couple of tournaments against teams we’ll see in regionals and that will help us.

“So it’s going well so far.”

Farmington visits Berryville on Monday and returns home for a nonconference game against Stilwell, Okla. on Tuesday.

— VERNON TARVER

No Letup For Busy Baseball Tigers

Prairie Grove (8-3, 1-1) has remained busy after returning home from Orlando, Fla., where the Tigers spent spring break playing in a tournament.

The Tigers beat Ozark 10-2 on Tuesday, but lost 4-3 to Farmington on Thursday in 4A-1 Conference games. Prairie Grove was then scheduled to face Pottsville on Friday night and Little Rock Central today in nonconference games. The Tigers host Lincoln on Monday as they return to conference play.

“We came out a little flat against Ozark after getting back from Orlando, but it was good to get a win in our conference opener,” Prairie Grove coach Mitch Cameron said.

The Class 4A Tigers went 2-2 while playing some top competition in Florida. Prairie Grove won 12-7 over Tulsa Bishop Kelly and 5-3 over Stigler, Okla. but lost twice to Homewood, Ala., 4-3 and 7-6.

“We competed really well and didn’t make a lot of errors,” Cameron said. “Homewood is ranked No. 6 in Alabama and we lost two one-run games that we could’ve won.”

— RICK FIRES

Upcoming Events