The high school volleyball season is about to get underway, and "The Drive with Brad Bobo" opened up the First National Bank High School Coaches' Corner on Tuesday to look at one of the teams in Craighead County. Here's our visit with Jonesboro Westside head coach Devin Montg .
Twelve teams from across the state of Arkansas converge on Morrilton this week for the 2021 4A state softball tournament. This year’s tournament is the first in two years following the cancellation of last season due to COVID-19.
The tournament begins today with game one scheduled for 10 a.m. Stuttgart will play in Friday’s quarterfinal round. The Lady Ricebirds play the winner of Pea Ridge and Camden Fairview at 12:30 p.m.
The state finals will be played in Benton next weekend.
2021 4A State Tournament Bracket
Game One: Brookland (22-9) vs Dardanelle (18-9)
Brookland enters the tournament as the no. 3 seed from the 4A East Regional. Stuttgart defeated Brookland 9-8 in the tournament’s semifinal game. The Bearcats finished second in the 4A-3 conference in 2021.
The Stuttgart Lady Ricebirds, the 2021 4A East Regional Champions.
Call the Stuttgart Lady Ricebirds the comeback kids. Better yet, call them the champs. Twice on Saturday, Stuttgart came from behind to pick up wins in the 4A East Regional, defeating Brookland in the semifinals and Valley View in the championship game. As a result, Stuttgart claimed the 4A East Regional title and a first-round bye in this week’s 4A state tournament.
The Championship Game: Stuttgart 5 Valley View 4
The regional final pitted the top two seeds against one another at Bearcat Field in Brookland, Arkansas.
Stuttgart advanced to the final with a 9-8 win over Brookland earlier in the day, while Valley View knocked off Jonesboro Westside 13-0. The game also pitted the two best pitchers in the tournament against each other, Stuttgart’s Emma Banks and Valley View’s Riley Smith.
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Already guaranteed a share of the 4A-5 conference crown, Stuttgart hosted Little Rock Mills on Thursday for a conference doubleheader at Gina Bailey Field at the Reinsch Sports Complex. With the contests, Stuttgart combined for 26 hits to sweep Mills off the prairie and complete their 2021 league schedule unblemished.
Game One: Stuttgart 15 Little Rock Mills 0
Ally Anderson at first base.
After not pitching in the Ladybirds’ previous four outings, Emma Banks got the start in the circle and picked up her 16th win of the season by going 2.0 innings, striking out all six batters she faced. Ashlyn Eason came on in relief and struck out the three batters she saw in her 1.0 inning. The duo combined to deliver a perfect game in three innings as none of Mills’ batters reached the basepaths.
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The Beautiful Game is featured on Tuesday’s edition of “The Drive with Brad Bobo”, as we head just down Southwest Drive to Valley View High School. Ron Teat coaches both the soccer sides for the Blazers, and both are on big rolls of late. The boys went through a four-match losing streak after winning their opener, but are now 11-4-1 (2-0, 4A-North Conference) after an Monday’s 8-0 over Jonesboro Westside. The Lady Blazers (13-1/5-0) have won 12 straight matches after a 1-1 start.