Player of the Year GABBI SCOTT
SCHOOL Gravette
CLASS Sophomore
HEIGHT 5-5
POSITION Outfield
THE SCOOP Scott put together one of the most prolific seasons in virtually every offensive category ever this season in leading the Lady Lions to conference and regional tournament championships, and to the Class 4A state semifinals. ... Her staggering offensive numbers this season included a .598 batting average with 56 hits, 59 runs scored and 26 RBIs. ... Scott was the table-setter for Gravette out of the lead-off spot and impacted the game by turning walks into triples with a staggering 50 stolen bases. ... Scott stole five bases in a state quarterfinals win. ... With fellow sophomore Callie Kildow out for the season in a freak basketball injury, Scott and several others took over and led the team to a stellar season.
DID YOU KNOW Scott comes across as somewhat shy, but actually, she is the player who keeps her teammates loose in the dugout as the team's jokester. Scott helps keep the mood in the dugout light but is not a believer in the choreographed chants that many softball teams use, calling those "sort of cheesy."
QUOTABLE "Whenever we found out that Callie's leg was broken and she wouldn't be playing with us this season, it kind of gave us the idea that we had to pick ourselves up and play like she's not gone and like we had been playing," Scott said.
-- Chip Souza • @NWAChip
Coach of the year TAOS JONES
SCHOOL Gravette
THE SCOOP Jones was sitting at home listening to the Gravette girls basketball state tournament game when he heard star sophomore pitcher Callie Kildow was injured. Jones said he hoped the injury was an ankle sprain, but it turned out to be a season-ending broken leg. But Jones rallied the team and put together a stellar season that ended with a loss in the Class 4A state semifinals. ... Gravette won the 4A-1 Conference tournament as a No. 3 seed and edged defending state champion Pottsville in the 4A-North regional championship 5-4 in 8 innings. ... Gravette posted a 23-7 record on a team built primarily of underclassmen, led by sophomore lead-off hitter Gabbi Scott and sophomore pitcher Bailey Elmore.
DID YOU KNOW Jones is an avid fisherman on the rivers and streams in the area during the offseason.
QUOTABLE "It's one of those things that the show has to go on. You can't spend too much time thinking about that; you've just got to pick up and go on. That's what these kids did. We had some kids waiting in the wings. Bailey (Elmore) was just waiting for her opportunity. We knew that we were going to go with our number two and number three pitchers a lot more this season anyway, that was the plan going in. It just happened a little quicker than what we expected," said Jones on how the team responded to Callie Kildow's season-ending injury.
-- Chip Souza • @NWAChip
Newcomer of the Year JADYN HART
SCHOOL Paris
CLASS Freshman
HEIGHT 5-6
POSITION Pitcher/shortstop
THE SCOOP In her first season of high school softball, Hart put up numbers that most players don't generate in a career. ... Hart led the Lady Eagles to a 27-10 record and the Class 3A state quarterfinals before bowing out to eventual state champion Harmony Grove. ... She pitched Paris to the 3A Region I championship with a 7-1 win over Charleston in the finals. ... Hart's staggering offensive numbers included a .598 batting average with 64 hits, 50 runs scored, 55 RBIs, 14 doubles and 12 home runs. She also had 26 stolen bases. ... When not playing shortstop, Hart moves to the pitching circle, where she posted a 6-2 record with a 1.16 ERA and 232 strikeouts in 102 2/3 innings. ... Plays for Rapid Impact in the summer. ... Was named to the all-state team along with teammate Sydney Ward.
DID YOU KNOW Hart grew up in Magazine and was a student in Booneville schools from kindergarten through last year when her father, Donald Hart, was hired as the softball coach at Paris.
QUOTABLE "I started travel ball when I was nine, and that's when I started really liking softball. I started pitching when I was seven, and I've had my ups and downs with that and wanted to quit. But I'm glad I kept with it. I started out playing teeny-weeny T-ball when I was three, and I've never stopped. I also play basketball, but softball is what I like most," Hart said.
-- Chip Souza • @NWAChip
All-State Softball Teams
Class 4A
Macie Welch - Baptist Prep
Bailey Buffington - Bauxite
Daniele Singleton - Bauxite
Taylor Sledd - Bauxite
Taylor Kelley - Berryville
Jacy Harris - Brookland
Ashlyn Matthews - Brookland
Caitlin McClain - Brookland
Kaylie Pullin - Crossett
Jorika Alvarez - Dardanelle
Abby Lee - Dardanelle
Bailey Elmore - Gravette
Gabbi Scott - Gravette
Kloey Harlson - Harrisburg
Jehlian Wright - Harrisburg
Hollie Webb - Lincoln
Molly Harrison - Lonoke
Madison Pool - Lonoke
Abby Leming - Malvern
Emmalee Satterlee - Monticello
Madi Miller - Nashville
Raley Potter - Nashville
Stephanie Chase - Pea Ridge
Abbie Cain - Pottsville
Aspen Campbell - Pottsville
Skylar Campbell - Pottsville
Kaylie Pennington - Pottsville
Kylie Scott - Prairie Grove
Kyleigh Vines - Southside Batesville
Jillian Goodwin - Star City
Anna Wynn - Star City
Hallie Siems - Stuttgart
Erin Williams - Stuttgart
Olivia Greenwell - Trumann
Anissa Henry - Warren
Class 3A
Mary Kate Brown - Atkins
Kynlee Brimer - Bald Knob
Madi Pierce - Bald Knob
Hanna Smith - Bald Knob
Lucy Shelly - Cedarville
Lacy McKenzie - Charleston
Tori Bradford - Clinton
Sophia Hollingsworth - Elkins
Savanah Binkley - Genoa Central
Britney Carter - Genoa Central
Holly Crutchfield - Glen Rose
Leighton Withers - Harmony Grove Haskell
LeAnn Beasley - Horatio
Macy Belcher - Horatio
Jaedyn Brown - Hoxie
Charly Temple - Junction City
Caroline Nicodemus - Mansfield
Latationa Johnson - McGehee
Reagan Rapert - Melbourne
Kadyn Johnson - Mountain View
Jadyn Hart - Paris
Sydney Ward - Paris
Bailey Camp - Perryville
Bailee Henard - Rivercrest
Lauren Shempert - Rivercrest
Jenna Hipp - Rose Bud
Joley Mitchell - Rose Bud
Abbi Crawford - Smackover
Lexi Gilbert - Smackover
Kaitlyn Peavy - Tuckerman
Maura Moore - Valley Springs
Baylee Davis - Walnut Ridge
Class 2A
Meagan Allen - East Poinsett County
Raylei Merrell - Foreman
Kayla Richardson - Hackett
Kacie Reede - Harmony Grove Camden
Elizabeth Foot - Hazen
Bethann May - Lavaca
Courtney Stone - Magazine
Harley Daniels - Marked Tree
Lexie Eppes - McCrory
Carli Whitehead - McCrory
Savanna Plourde - Mountainburg
Madison Humphry - Murfreesboro
Kenley Hawk - Palestine‐Wheatley
Tylar Vernon - Pangburn
Drue Thomas - Parkers Chapel
Kindi Puckett - Poyen
Roo Pumphery - Poyen
Kassie Rhodes - Quitman
Emily Williams - Quitman
Macy Ratliff - Rison
Erin Cameron - Salem
Allyson Walsh - Salem
Maegan Ward - Spring Hill
Destiny Watkins - White County Central
Class 1A
Halli Holland - Acorn
McKinley Carr - Armorel
Mallory Hartley - Bay
Kaleah Davis - Concord
Kendall White - Concord
Lizzie White - Concord
Alexis Dear - County Line
Bailey Reynolds - Deer
Delaney Eckert - Dierks
Cheyenne Massey - Hartford
Ally Huitt - Hermitage
Christian Marshall - Hermitage
Abby Orrick - Hillcrest
Leah Shellnutt - Jasper
Kelis Huebner - Lead Hill
Betsy Sindland - Lead Hill
Bethany Dobbins - Maynard
Addison Black - Mount Ida
Madison Smith - Mount Ida
Kyndal Hardy - Mount Vernon‐Enola
Morgan Smith - Nemo Vista
Kendrick Bailey - Omaha
Cas Yocham - Omaha
Sidney Kuykendall - Ouachita
Maddie Hobbs - Rector
Bailey Perry - Rural Special
Gabbie Welch - Rural Special
Graci Thomas - Sacred Heart
Gracie Blaschke - Scranton
Amber Fox - Scranton
Maggi Huddleston - SS Bee Branch
McKenzie Boyett - Taylor
Jasmyn Copeland - Taylor
Lindsey Downs - Taylor
Mallory Guffey - Viola
Shaylee Harber - Viola
Keyaira Moore - Viola
Bailey Wright - Wonderview
Halie Courtney - Woodlawn
Kaylee Hinson - Woodlawn
Sports on 06/15/2018