Springdale High honored its 2012 state championship soccer team during halftime of the boys game between the Bulldogs and Springdale Har-Ber at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
The 2012 team brought home the first of three state championship plaques under coach DJ Beeler and the fourth for the school overall. Springdale finished 19-1 in 2012 after beating Little Rock Catholic 3-0 in the Class 7A state championship game at Razorback Field in Fayetteville.
"It was just an overall dominant season for us," said Jorge Gonzales, who led Springdale in scoring and contributed two of the three goals in the championship game against Little Rock Catholic. "I've never played with a better group of guys. I've never played on a team with chemistry like that and it went really well."
Gonzales is Springdale's all-time single-season leading scorer with 36 goals in 2012. But the Bulldogs had several skilled players that season including Nelson Landaverde, who went onto play Division I soccer at Valparaiso in Indiana. Little Rock Catholic entered the championship game in 2012 as the two-time defending state champions but Springdale was extra motivated after being eliminated in the semifinals the previous year by the Rockets.
"So far, it's the most talented team I've ever had," Beeler said. "We had really good players and the way the season ended in 2011, in a game we felt like we should've won, left a sour taste in their mouths. That was a real motivation going into the 2012 season and they were able to get it done."
-- Rick Fires
PREP SOCCER
SHILOH CHRISTIAN
Lady Saints on the move
The Shiloh Christian girls have exceeded expectations with a young team that includes only three seniors and a combined seven freshmen and sophomores.
The Lady Saints (8-1-2, 6-1) need only a win today at Clarksville to clinch the championship in the Class 4A-1 West and earn a No. 1 seed for the conference tournament.
"We've worked really hard on possessing the ball," said Denise Bonanno, third-year coach for the Lady Saints. "That's led to more opportunities offensively and a lot more shots on goal."
Two of Bonanno's three daughters play on the team. Junior Brooklynn Bonanno is a junior goalie while Bella Bonanno is a freshman midfielder and leading scorer for Shiloh Christian. Senior forward Regan West is the second-leading scorer while freshman Gabby Bradshaw is a top playmaker for the Lady Saints.
Shiloh Christian has won four consecutive entering today's matchup at Clarksville. The only league loss for the Lady Saints came on April 5 in a 2-1 decision to Dardanelle.
-- Rick Fires
PREP SOFTBALL
ROGERS
Lady Mounties lean on deep pitching staff
Rogers coach Mike Harper has a luxury few high school coaches can relate to -- an abundance of elite pitchers. That depth is why the Lady Mounties are in the fight for the 6A-West Conference championship, sitting one game behind Bentonville with four games remaining.
Staff ace Ella Beeman, a junior right-hander, is 6-2 with one save and a 0.982 ERA with 82 strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Kandence Janney is 7-0 with a 1.200 ERA and 49 strikeouts, and sophomore left-hander Ava Johnson is 1-0 with one save and 20 strikeouts with a 1.400 ERA.
All three are also position players when not gripping and whipping ball past batters in the circle. Beeman is batting .370 with 19 RBIs, and Janney is hitting at a .327 clip with 11 RBIs.
In a start against Fayetteville last week, Johnson was stellar with 15 strikeouts in a complete-game win. She earned her first save of the year on Friday in a 4-2 win against Farmington, tossing two perfect innings.
Johnson said she's had games with more than 15 strikeouts in travel ball, including a perfect game, but playing with two other elite-level pitchers has helped her raise her level of performance.
"It's good to watch the others pitchers work, but when you get the opportunity you need to step up and take advantage of it," she said. "Let them know that you're there."
Rogers is 15-3 overall and 9-1 in the 6A-West, one game behind Bentonville. The two teams square off on Thursday at home.
-- Chip Souza
PREP TRACK
BENTONVILLE
Lady Tigers excel in McDonald's Relays
Bentonville's girls closed out their regular season at the McDonald's Relays in Fort Smith and came away with the team title with 225.5 points.
The Lady Tigers, however, had a much different goal in mind.
"It was a chance to run against some different people and try to get some other people qualified for the state meet," Bentonville coach Randy Ramaker said. "As far as a mindset, we were trying to solidify some relays as far as handoffs and looked sharp in those.
"We wanted to get some more of our jumpers qualified, and we still hadn't qualified some kids in some of the distance races where I thought we had a chance. It was a good meet, and we got some things done."
Ramaker liked what he saw in the triple jump, where Joli Ducharme went 36 feet, 4.5 inches during a legal wind and became an automatic qualifier for the state meet in that event. Celeste Puga did likewise in the long jump by going 17-9.5, and Allison Fermstrom capped a good night of running by winning the 100-meters hurdles and breaking 1 minute in the 400.
What may have stood out the most for Ramaker happened in the 800 as Sophia Hinkebein and Devyn O'Daniel turned in state qualifying times. Hinkebein won the event in 2 minutes, 19.05 seconds -- the best time among Northwest Arkansas runners -- while O'Daniel was right behind her at 2:19.58.
Bentonville, and the other 6A-West schools, now turn their attention to Thursday's conference meet at Fayetteville.
-- Henry Apple
BASEBALL
ROGERS
Mounties have 6A-West title in reach
There has been a lot on the line when Rogers and Springdale Har-Ber played each other recently.
The two teams played for the 6A-West title last year, then eventually met a third time in Benton for the Class 6A state championship. Now the conference title is on the line again when the teams meet for their two-game series, with today's game being at Rogers and Tuesday's game scheduled for Springdale.
"We played some big games with them last year," Rogers coach Matt Melson said. "You look at the records, and they've had a great year and they're super-talented. We'll have to find a way to deal with that pitching staff, and their hitters as well.
"We're excited about the prospects of having a big series with them. It seems like the last few years, it's been a big deal every time we've played them."
Rogers (19-4, 10-0) enters the series with a two-game lead and four conference games remaining. It means the Mounties can clinch a tie of the 6A-West title with a series split or win the outright championship with a sweep, while Har-Ber (19-6, 8-2) needs a sweep to tie Rogers in the standings and actually get a tiebreaker advantage over the Mounties.
Melson said he wasn't sure how he would set up his pitching staff for the series. Braxton Haywood has been Rogers' No. 1 starter, but left-handers Madden Dillard and Ty Anderson have also started conference games, while Gael Salinas and Losh Lawing have also seen time on the mound.
"It could go whatever way," Melson said. "I'm excited about the games because I know they are usually tight. No matter what happens, I think it will be a big catalyst for us to play a big, tight, pressure-packed game heading into the state tournament."
-- Henry Apple