FOUNTAIN LAKE — The Bryant Hornets won two of their five games at a 7-on-7 football competition at Fountain Lake on Saturday. The three losses were by a total of 8 points.

The Hornets will play a league 7-on-7 football competition at North Little Rock on July 20 with games against Augusta, Little Rock Central, North Little Rock and Morrilton to wrap up the summer. Fall practice begins Monday, Aug. 3.

Bryant opened with a 16-14 loss to Hot Springs Lakeside then dropped a 22-20 loss to Lake Hamilton when a last-second touchdown pass from Jimi Easterling to Caleb Thomas was waved off when it was ruled the snap came after the buzzer ending the game. After a 13-9 loss to Pulaski Academy, Bryant pounded the host team 37-7 then knocked Conway out of a championship final with a 20-14 win.

SHERWOOD, Ark. – Bryant's Amie Hubbard slugged a solo home run, her four the of the season, to help the Arkansas Razorbacks softball team to a 6-2 victory over Centenary at the Sherwood Sports Complex on Wednesday, April 15.

Hubbard, who helped the Bryant Lady Hornets reach the Class 7A State finals her senior season in 2005, also walked and scored in the game. She contributed a sacrifice bunt as well.

In addition, Kayla Johnson ascended to the top of Arkansas’ all-time runs scored list. The senior infielder finished the night 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. In the circle, Miranda Dixon improved to 16-6 with a complete-game performance. The Razorbacks improve to 7-0 all-time in games played in Sherwood.

CEDAR RAPITS, Iowa — Bryant's Kaleb Jobe is one of nine Arkansas high school baseball players to be named to the 2009 Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Southeast Regional All High School Senior Team. Jobe was listed among those receiving Honorable Mention.

Two Arkansans were named to the Southeast Region 2nd Team, Ben Crumpton of Hot Springs Lakeside and D.J. Baxendale from Sylvan Hills.

Joining Jobe among the Honorable Mention players were Paul Anzalone of El Dorado, Tyler Cameron of Parker's Chapel, Duncan Collins of Trinity Christian of Texarkana, Matthew Henry of Fort Smith Southside, Art Slaton of Lakeside and Matt Vinson of Alma.

By Mark Hart

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Bryant Lady Hornets softball team began pool play at the Riverdale Lady Warrior Southern Invitational High School Softball Tournament on Thursday, March 26.

In their opening game, they absorbed a 5-3 loss to the host Riverdale Lady Warriors. But they bounced back with a 4-0 win over the Point Pleasant, Va., Lady Knights.

The tournament was plagued much of the day on Wednesday and Thursday with rain but, after a change in fields, play got under way in the evening with clear skies.

Friday night’s pool games, the Lady Hornets were set to play against Baylor, Tenn., and Bolton, Tenn., high schools are uncertain as more rain is in the forecast.

By Rob Patrick

BRYANT, Ark. — Productive outs: Moving a runner from second to third with a grounder to the right side; a sacrifice bunt; putting the ball in play on a hit-and-run; producing a flyball to the outfield with a runner at third and less than two outs — those little things can make a team that's not hitting productive on offense. They can also turn a team that hits pretty well into a very productive offense.

There have been times this season when the Bryant Hornets were an example of the former, scratching out runs with execution on offense backed by solid defense and effective pitching. But, on Thursday, March 26, they proved to be a prime example of the latter, combining productive outs and 10 hits with a determined pitching effort, most notably from sophomore right-hander Caleb Milam, to overcome a few uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns.

The result was an 8-3 win over the Texarkana Razorbacks at Bryant High School Field.

Milam picked up his first varsity victory with four innings of relief in which he allowed just one run, scattering six hits and working around a trio of Hornet errors. Ben Wells closed out the game retiring all five batters he faced and getting out of a two-on, no-out fix with an inning-ending doubleplay.

Offensively, the Hornets used three sacrifice bunts, two sacrifice flies and — though it didn't play into the scoring — executed a hit-and-run perfectly along the way.

By Rob Patrick

Bringing the experience and the knowledge gained from a major college career and four full seasons of professional baseball, Jay Sawatski has joined the staff of instructors at Diamond Sports in Bryant.

A left-handed pitcher, Sawatski reached the Minnesota Twins’ AAA affiliate in Rochester, N.Y., late in the 2007 season, just a step away from the Major Leagues. In 2008, he was pitching for Class AA New Britain, Conn., when he suffered a strained flexor mass, which eventually brought a premature end to his promising career as a player.

He returned to central Arkansas and is now passing on what he learned along the way.

“I’m happy to be here,” Sawatski said after completing a lesson Tuesday with Brandon Oman, a sophomore at Little Rock Catholic. “I had a friend that worked for Coach (Pat) Harrison (coordinator of instruction at Diamond Sports) and said nothing but good things. But I’ve known him for a little while. So, I called him about doing lessons. He said they were moving out here, so I came out and I’ve been enjoying it.

FAYETTEVILLE — Members of the Bryant High School track team will make their indoor debut on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the annual ATCA High School Indoor Classic at the University of Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center.The meet, which features teams from every classification in the state, starts at 11 a.m. with field events. Running events will start at 2:30 p.m.

“This is a huge meet,” noted Lady Hornets track coach Danny Westbrook. “On Feb. 28, the state indoor meet will be just 5A, 6A and 7A competing in a combined competition.”

“We are pretty banged up right now,” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “Daniel Hall, who was third in the state outdoor 400 last year, is out with a ruptured disc in his back. Homer Coleman, who was looking like he was going to push Hall in the 400, suffered a hamstring injury, and our best pole vaulter, Drew Persinger, has an abdominal injury. Hopefully, we can have them back for the state indoor meet and, if not, for the outdoor season.”