TEXARKANA, Texas -- What a week for Pleasant Grove.
Possibly for the first time in school history, the Hawks' boys track-and-field team won the District 15-4A title and appeared to be the dominant program at the meet as they held on to a commanding 71-point lead going into the final event of the night.
"They just came with an unbelievable faith in themselves," said PG track coach Ty Taylor. "Our standards are to go full tilt and to be the best in state. We upheld that today."
In baseball, Pleasant Grove picked up its second win of the season against second-place Liberty-Eylau.
The game would end early in the fifth inning by the mercy rule, with the Hawks claiming the 14-1 triumph to remain unbeaten in district play.
Pleasant Grove's tennis mixed doubles team took down top-seeded team from Anna to clinch the championship at the Region 2-4A tennis tournament in Longview, Texas.
With the win, Jack Humphrey and Rose Anderson advance to the state competition on April 25-26 in San Antonio.
"Overall this was our strongest regional performance in PG history," Hawks head coach Erik Pickett said. "We triumphed and had heartbreak all in the same day.
SUNDAY
PG girls soccer earns two superlatives
Pleasant Grove's varsity girls soccer program earned two superlatives and four first-team selections on this year's 15-4A All-District team.
Rylie Williams was named the district's Offensive Player of the Year and Lady Hawks teammate Emma Boehmke the Midfield Player of the Year.
Sulphur Springs' Rowan Faircloth was crowned the Most Valuable Player and fellow Lady Wildcat Isabelle Thesing is the Defensive Player of the Year. Sulphur Springs' staff is also the Coaches of the Year.
SAU wins 3 games, sweeps A-Tech
Chris Lyles, a Texas High graduate, crushed a solo home run for Southern Arkansas University in the second inning of Game 3 against Arkansas Tech and the Muleriders completed a 3-game sweep with a 5-3 victory last weekend.
SAU's Chris Sutton, also a Texas High graduate, walked in one plate appearance in Game 3 and scored a run.
MONDAY
TEXARKANA, Ark. -- Mayhli Drumm booted two goals to propel Arkansas High's varsity girls to a win in a conference soccer match on Monday.
Karla Montalban scored the Lady Backs' first goal on a corner kick from Mia Ruleas.
Drumm's first goal came on an Emil Shipp assist, and her second was a power boot from 25 yards out.
GC's Haworth sets record in high jump
Trey Haworth of Genoa Central set a school and Senior Dragon Relay Meet record with a leap of 6-8 in the boys high jump on Monday.
Dalton Wood of Fouke placed second with jump of 6-1 feet and Kirby Whiseant from Fouke was third as he leapt 6-feet.
In the boys competition, De Queen's team earn first place with 213 points, followed by second-place Ashdown with 160.5, Genoa Central with 116.5, Fouke with 70, Arkansas High (68) and Prescott (20) in sixth.
El Dorado took home the big gold trophy in the girls competition with 230 points, De Queen was second (160), Genoa Central placed third (114), Ashdown fourth (105), Fouke fifth (14) and Blevins and Prescott tied for sixth (7).
TUESDAY
Texas High kept its slim playoff hopes alive with an upset victory over Longview, 3-2, at Tiger Field Tuesday evening.
Texas High improves its overall record to 11-8 and is 4-5 in District 15-5A action, while Longview is 14-10 on the season and falls to 6-3 in district play.
Lady Hawks sail past Lady Pirates
Pleasant Grove continued its march toward a playoff berth with an 8-4 win over Pittsburg Tuesday night.
Sophomore Abby Runion went the distance in the circle, giving up four runs – none earned – while spreading out seven hits. She struck out two while walking one.
The Lady Hawks struck for four runs in the first and never trailed. Freshman left fielder Addy Dial had two hits and two RBIs. Hailey Allen hit a two-run home run. Senior shortstop Adi Koller had two hits, including a triple, and scored a run.
Texas High's regional qualifiers competed in the Region 2-5A tennis tournament on Tuesday.
Girls singles standout Marlee Bledsoe was victorious in her first-round match before losing in the quarterfinals.
The storyline was similar in girls doubles as the Tiger teams of Lakyn Austin and Grace Wilson along with Katherine Sandefur and Jane Kate Mitchell won their first-round contests but each fell in the quarterfinals.
Arkansas High's softball team rolled to a 7-2 victory over Lake Hamilton, while the Razorbacks' baseball squad sneaked past the Wolves, 6-5, on Tuesday in conference play.
Arkansas High (5-8, 3-6) held Lake Hamilton (6-9, 3-6) scoreless over the final six innings and the Lady Backs got past the Lady Wolves at Razorback Field in a 5A-South Conference game.
PG topples L-E in district game
No. 6 Pleasant Grove moved into the driver's seat for the District 15-4A championship by dropping second-place Liberty Eylau, 14-1, at Hawk Field Tuesday night.
Expectations of a close battle between the district's two best squads evaporated in the second inning when the Hawks broke open a 1-1 tie by sending 16 batters to the plate and bringing 12 of them home. Hunter Rose smashed a three-run home run and Brenton Clark had a grand slam to lead the charge.
Rose also had an RBI-double in the first. Cade Martin lined a two-run single in the second.
The game was stopped in the middle of the fifth by the mercy Rule, an anomaly in a series that has of late been a backyard brawl with championships at stake.
AHS JV takes home second at meet
Arkansas High's junior boys track team took home second place Tuesday in the 5A-South Junior Conference Meet at Lakeside High School.
"It was a great performance by the junior boys Razorbacks," Arkansas High track coach Sirl Wright said. "The meet came down to the last race between three teams. We had several outstanding performances, and we had defeated all teams in previous competition. Lakeside just had some outstanding distance runners to cut our lead."
WEDNESDAY
Arkansas High moved up a spot in the SB Live Super 7 rankings as it went from fifth last week to fourth this week.
"The Razorbacks flexed their muscles in a sweep of Sheridan last week," the website states. "Luke Paxton and Ty Waid led the offensive charge in a 15-10 win in game one. Waid took the mound on Friday and shut down the Yellowjackets to preserve the sweep."
Arkansas High is coming off a 6-5 victory over Lake Hamilton on Tuesday.
This week's Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll also changed.
Pleasant Grove moved up to No. 6, a three-spot jump from last week's No. 9 ranking and Liberty-Eylau fell out of the top rankings.
THURSDAY
In what may have been a first for the school, Pleasant Grove literally ran away with the boys district title Wednesday night at Liberty-Eylau High School.
Results were still being tabulated at press time, but the Hawks held a commanding 71-point lead going into the final event, the 4x400m relay, which they won. The outcome seemed apparent early. PG seemed to have twice as many athletes at the event as any other school, and they came with contagious enthusiasm.
"They just came with an unbelievable faith in themselves," said PG track coach Ty Taylor. "Our standards are to go full tilt and to be the best in state. We upheld that today."
Several THS athletes qualify for district finals
Texas High will be well represented in the finals of the District 15-5A track and field meet today at Mount Pleasant High School.
Jascey Jones will compete in the girls 100-meter and 400-meter races for the Tigers.
In the boys division, Erick Miles will run the 110-meter hurdles, Jaidun Coleman will race in the 400 meters and Tamarcus Gray along with Tradarian Ball will compete in the 200 meter dash for Texas High.
Also in the finals are the boys 400 meter relay team (T. Ball, W. Winkfield, T. Powell, T. Gray), three competitors (J. White, C. White, M. Pruitt) in the boys 800 meters and the 800-meter relay team (W. Winkfield, T. Ball, T. Gray, J. Arnold).
Texas High will have three runners (J. White. C. White, M. Likins) in the 1600 meters, along with the team of J. Coleman, E. Likins, J. Arnold and K. Jolly in the 1600-meter relay.
The girls 800 meters will be run by three Tiger hopefuls (D. Hernandez, C. Loomis, Z. Richardson), with the same three competitors going for gold in the 1600 meters.
William Winkfield, who placed second in the boys long jump, and Anasia Wilcox, who was second in the girls shot put, have each earned qualification for the 15/16-5A area track meet Thursday at Whitehouse High School.
Macie Lee's pitches were unhittable.
Lee was in full control in the circle for Arkansas High Thursday night as she tossed a no-hitter and the Lady Backs shut out Hope, 9-0.
Lee struck out 10 and allowed only four base runners in her complete game victory. She also finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI singles.
The Lady Backs (6-8, 3-6) were sparked by senior Laiken McKnight, who came through with an early opposite-field RBI double in the first inning after a lead-off single by Aniya Arnold.
THS grad Brown, 2 others set to enter portal
Three Texas underclassmen, including Texas High graduate Derrick Brown, will enter the transfer portal April 15 when the 15-day window for entry begins.
Rivals.com was the first to report on Wednesday.
Sophomore wide receiver Brenan Thompson, redshirt freshman edge defender Brown and redshirt freshman linebacker Trevell Johnson informed Texas head football coach Steve Sarkisian of their decision to transfer three days before the Longhorns' Orange-White spring game at Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin.
PG pair win regionals, advance to state
Pleasant Grove's mixed doubles tennis team of Jack Humphrey and Rose Anderson defeated the No. 1 seeded team from Anna of Calvin Ncube and Morgan Sharp, 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 to clinch the championship at the Region 2-4A tennis tournament at Longview High School.
Humphrey and Anderson advance to the state competition which will be held April 25-26 in San Antonio at the Annemarie Tennis Center.
Lilly Pace took on No. 1 seed Bailee Lane in the girls singles championship match and fell short, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Pace had to play against Laney Sanders in a playback match afterward and just fell short. Pace finished third.
"Overall this was our strongest regional performance in PG history," Hawks head coach Erik Pickett said. "We triumphed and had heartbreak all in the same day.
FRIDAY
Hawks hammer Paris for 20th victory
Pleasant Grove notched its 20th baseball win of the season with an 11-1 win at home Friday night over Paris to stay unbeaten and alone atop District 15-4A.
The Hawks improved to 20-5-1, 11-0 in district. PG was led by a masterful complete game on the mound from Hunter Rose, whose off-speed pitches looked to be batting-practice goodies down the middle before dropping like a bowling ball off a table.
"It was just a changeup," said the soft-spoken freshman. "It worked well early, so I kept using it."
Pleasant Grove's Hunter Rose is congratulated by teammates last week after belting a three-run homer in the second inning of a rivalry, district baseball game against Liberty-Eylau at Hawk Field. (Photo by Kevin Sutton)