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.

BAUXITE — On the verge of suffering a second consecutive loss on the same day, the Bryant Black Sox Junior American Legion team put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning then held on to forge a 7-5 victory over Little Rock Continental Express in pool play at the Benton Tournament held at Bauxite High School on Saturday.

With Sunday's games washed out by rain, the Sox were unable to play their third pool game to earn a shot at the championship round of the event. The Sox will return to action on Sunday, May 31, with a doubleheader rematch with Continental Express.

A two-out error opened the door for the Bryant rally. Landon Pickett and Evan Jobe had drawn walks to start the frame but two outs later, they had only advanced to second and third. After fouling off a 2-2 pitch to stay alive, Reese O'Rourke put the ball in play. The fly to right was mishandled and both runs scored to give the Sox a 4-3 lead.

Chris Joiner, who was 3-for-3 in the game, cracked a single to left to keep the inning going then Lucas Castleberry drove in a run with a single. And when the ball was misplayed in center, the Sox again had runners at second and third. Caleb Milam followed with a bouncer that got past the Continental third baseman and both Joiner and Castleberry scored to put the Sox in front 7-3.

BENTONVILLE — As is the case for the first day of the Class 7A State baseball tournament, today's games to open the Class 7A State softball tournament have all been moved to one location due to inclement weather. All first-round games were set to be played at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville instead of half there and half at Memorial Park.

Play was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with Springdale Har-Ber, the fourth seed from the West, playing against Van Buren, the fifth seed from the Central. Following games were set for 5:45, 7:30 and 9:15 p.m.

As of now, the schedule on Saturday remains the same through there is an 80 percent chance of rain in Bentonville. Bryant, the top seed from the Central, is set to open against the winner of the Har-Ber vs. Van Buren contest at noon at Memorial Park.

Here are the updated brackets:

JONESBORO — The Bryant Lady Hornets shut out all three of their opponents on their way to capturing the championship of the Northeast Arkansas Invitational soccer tournament at Joe Mack Campbell Park on Saturday, April 11.Bryant captured the title with a 2-0 win over 7A-Central Conference rival North Little Rock.

They opened the tournament with a 9-0 romp against Marion then advanced to the championship game by edged Valley View, 1-0, after Valley View upset a strong Searcy team in the opening round.

JONESBORO — An early red card in their second round game at the Northeast Arkansas Invitational left the Bryant Hornets short-handed against the Searcy Lions on Saturday. Though they battled to a scoreless tie the rest of the half, the Hornets were victimized by three Searcy goals in the second half that proved decisive.

Searcy went on to win the tournament championship with a 1-0 win over North Little Rock.

The Hornets came back to play the host Jonesboro team in the third-place game and the two teams dueled without a goal until the Hurricane managed to get shot from around the 18 to go in with about five minutes to go to forge the 1-0 victory.

Bryant had opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Bolton, Tenn., to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Hornets 7-10 overall this season, commence an important week of 7A-Central Conference action when they host Cabot on Tuesday, April 14. On Thursday, April 16, they’ll travel to North Little Rock in hopes of duplicating their 3-1 win over the Charging Wildcats on March 17.

Bryant and Cabot have yet to play this season due to a rainout on March 12. They’ll play again in Cabot to finish the regular season on Thursday, April 23.

SHERIDAN — Plagued for the second game in a row by a slew of illegal pitches, the Bryant Lady Hornets overcame the adversity and the Sheridan Lady Jackets to capture third place in the Sheridan Invitational Tournament on Saturday.

The Lady Hornets opened with an 8-0 win in five innings over Watson Chapel then, for the second day in a row, lost in extra innings to the Lady Wolves of Lake Hamilton, 3-1. In the third-place game, Bryant trailed 4-3 going into the seventh inning but rallied for two runs and the victory. Peyton Jenkins drove in Kayla Sory with the winning run.

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 Kirk Stewart

Springtime in Bryant means that youth baseball teams are preparing for opening day. It seems that the Thompson Electric Rangers are more than ready.

The Rangers entered the Little Oaks 9-and-under live arm tournament and came back home with a championship. They defeated Union Bank 5-2 in the championship game to wrap up the tournament a perfect 4-0.

Team members include Austin Dulling, Garith East, Reese Graham, Logan Grant, Sawyer Holt, Matthew Sandidge, Noah Southard, Ethan Thompson and Cooper Wright.

By Kirk Stewart

A trip to Memphis resulted in a high intensity soccer thrill ride for members of the Bryant Soccer Association. The coed U12 team, the Bryant Bad Dogs, made their way into the finals of the 8v8 Gold Division in Blues City Blowout 2009 in Memphis, March 13-15. The final game pitted the Bad Dogs against Bartlett SC 97 from Tennessee. The game ended in regulation with a 2-2 tie. At the end of the first 5-minute overtime, the game was still tied which forced another overtime.

The score remained locked at the end of the second overtime period as well. The tournament rules state that at the end of the second overtime period, a kicks-from-mark penalty-type shootout. A champion still could not be crowned as the game remained knotted.

Finally, the game went into a sudden death shootout. Bryant goal keeper Alex Denker made several dramatic bid saves in sudden death and, at last, Jack Buck made the goal that sealed the victory and the tournament championship for the Bad Dogs.

By Kirk Stewart

The 2009 Little Oaks tournament in Mabelvale came down to two 9-and-under teams from Bryant. In the pitching machine tournament, the Diamond Sports Diamondbacks and River Valley Pool White Sox squared off in the finals of the winner's bracket on Saturday, March 7.

Diamond Sports' first baseman Brandon Hopkins hit a solo homer over the left field fence to break a 3-3 tie, but River Valley rallied to win 8-4 and advance to the championship game.

The Diamondbacks then faced the Heartland Bank Cardinals, who earlier had posted a 9-7 win over the Thompson Electric A's, in the finals of the loser's bracket. Diamond Sports held on for an 11-8 win as they survived a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth inning by getting consecutive force outs at the plate to end the game, each going from pitcher Will McEntire to catcher Ryan Lessenberry.

In a rematch with River Valley Pools in the finals, Diamond Sports jumped to a 5-0 lead heading into the third inning. The White Sox rallied for two runs in the third and then got three more, all with two outs, in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game.

Still tied heading to the bottom of the fifth, River Valley claimed the championship by a score of 6-5 when Kale Kimbrough singled and then scored when Jessie Windemaker lined a ball up the middle that eluded the centerfielder and rolled all the way to the fence.

Thanks to Madison McEntire for the tournament update.