State sports briefs

Payton Stumbaugh, the 2014 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps girls track athlete of the year.
Payton Stumbaugh, the 2014 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps girls track athlete of the year.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

More money for UA's Van Horn, 2 assistants

Arkansas assistant baseball coaches Dave Jorn and Tony Vitello received raises July 1 based on their work in helping the Razorbacks reach the College World Series, and Coach Dave Van Horn earned an extra $37,500 for the trip to Omaha, Neb.

The base salaries for both assistant coaches increased to $160,256 upon approval by Athletic Director Jeff Long, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette learned through a Freedom of Information Act request. Vitello's new deal includes a $15,000 guarantee from the Razorback Foundation as part of a service agreement, while Jorn's includes a $10,000 guarantee from the Razorback Foundation.

Van Horn earned more than $87,000 in bonuses this year -- $50,000 for winning his 500th game with the Razorbacks on April 5 and the $37,500 for reaching the College World Series. He makes a base salary of $246,535 and a total package of $715,035 and is likely in line to receive an increase in compensation after taking the Razorbacks to the College World Series for the fourth time in his 13 seasons as head coach.

Vitello was hired in the summer of 2013 at an initial salary of $150,000 per year plus an additional $15,000 from the Razorback Foundation. Jorn's base salary had been $152,625.

Former Razorback Clay Goodwin, the program's director of operations, received a salary raise to $50,800, plus a $4,200 car stipend.

-- Tom Murphy

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Hogs' Williams headed to SEC media days

Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams was announced by the SEC on Thursday as one of the Razorbacks' three player representatives at SEC media days July 13-16 in Hoover, Ala.

Williams and two teammates will join Coach Bret Bielema at the unofficial kickoff to the college football season, which has drawn more than 1,200 credential requests each of the past two years. Arkansas has not released the names of its other attendees.

Williams led Arkansas with 1,190 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns last season. He bypassed a chance to enter the NFL early to return for his senior season.

The Razorbacks will appear at media days July 15, along with Missouri, Alabama and Kentucky. Greg Sankey, who will be making his media days debut as commissioner, will open the proceedings on July 13, and he'll be followed by Auburn, Florida and Vanderbilt on the opening day. South Carolina, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Tennessee will attend day two, and the final day will feature LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss.

-- Tom Murphy

GOLF

Fourth of July Classic starts

The 79th annual Fourth of July Classic tees off today at War Memorial Golf Course in Little Rock with 104 participants, including last year's champion Chris Jenkins.

Jenkins, who won the title last year by a stroke over Tyler Reynolds and Beau Glover, will attempt to break Jay Fox's record of six Classic championships. Past champions Wes McNulty and Tracy Harris are included in the field.

Match-play participants will tee off at 7 a.m., while the 35 open-division golfers begin at 11 a.m. The tournament concludes Sunday.

-- Frankie Frisco

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Arkansas adds two coaches

Arkansas Coach Courtney Deifel announced Thursday the hiring of assistant coaches Yolanda McRae and Boo Gillette De Oliveira to her first-year staff.

McRae, a former player and assistant coach at Georgia, worked on Deifel's staff as the hitting coach at the University of Maryland. She also has been an assistant at Georgia Tech and Virginia.

De Oliveira, a three-time team captain at Wisconsin, worked the past two seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Arizona State. She has served previously as an assistant at Division III Edgewood College, Purdue and North Carolina.

-- Tom Murphy

RECREATION SOFTBALL

Busch/Pepsi Softball Classic begins today

The 36th annual Busch/Pepsi Softball Classic begins today and runs through Sunday at Sherwood Sports Complex and Burns Park in North Little Rock.

There are five divisions, with the top division featuring 20 teams competing to earn points for the World Series of Softball this fall in Orlando, Fla. There also are divisions for Men's C, D and E and a women's division. The women's division champion will earn a direct berth to the Women's World Series in Orlando.

The 17th class of the Arkansas Softball Hall of Fame will be inducted at 6 tonight at the Sherwood Sports Complex, with dinner scheduled for 5 p.m. Rick Stocker, Randy Wilson, Jim Fulks, Conrad Battreal, Shawn Hamilton and Bob McMahan are the men's inductees. The women's inductees are Dara Tyler, Rhonda Bucheroth, Jesse McFarland, Clinton Hill and Milton Piper.

There also will be a home run derby and a hit the spot contest that begins at 5:30 p.m. today at Sherwood Sports Complex.

Admission is $5 per day, with children 12 and younger admitted free. Weekend passes are $10.

-- Jeremy Muck

TRACK AND FIELD

Stumbaugh to transfer to Arkansas from OU

SPRINGDALE — “We got her back.”

That was the reaction from former Springdale Har-Ber track coach Brett Unger about Payton Stumbaugh’s decision to transfer to Arkansas after spending her freshman year at Oklahoma.

“I was happy Payton decided to go where she wanted after high school and that was OU,” Unger said. “But people around here have probably dreamed of seeing Payton in a Razorback uniform and it’s going to happen.”

Stumbaugh said she won’t have to sit out a year like most NCAA Division I transfers after receiving a full release from the Sooners. Stumbaugh finished sixth in the heptathlon for Oklahoma at the Texas Relays and 10th in the pentathlon at the Big 12 Indoor championships.

“I made my decision to transfer about midway through the track season,” said Stumbaugh, who was selected Overall Arkansas Female Athlete of the Year as a senior at Har-Ber. “I decided if I wanted to further my track career, I needed to do that at the University of Arkansas. I am super excited.”

Stumbaugh set 16 school records at Har-Ber and was named Gatorade Athlete of the Year three times for Arkansas. She’ll join an Arkansas women’s team that won the national indoor championship and finished fourth in the outdoors this past season.

“It’ll be good to see her wearing a hog instead of OU on the front of her shirt,” Unger said.

— Rick Fires

BASEBALL

Areas players get Xtra Innings invites

Four area high school baseball players have been selected to participate in the 12th annual Xtra Innings Summer Classic, which will take place Monday and Tuesday in Jonesboro. Carson Johnson and Logan Carr, both of Springdale High, were chosen, along with Jacob Williams of Bentonville and Joey Savin of Fayetteville. The event is held to highlight some of the top underclassmen in Arkansas. College baseball coaches and professional baseball scouts will be on hand from all over the region. Players will participate in a pro-style workout with batting practice and fielding, along with being timed in the 60-yard dash. They approximately 80 players are also put on four teams. The teams will play three games each, one 10-inning game using wood bats and two 7-inning games using aluminum bats.

— Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB

Sports on 07/03/2015

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