River Valley Democrat-Gazette

6 days ago | rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Leland Barclay

ALMA -- Even though Alma dropped its first two 5A-West Conference games to Greenwood, Brian Fry knew the Airedales were on the way to a great season. Alma lost 5-4 and 2-1 to Greenwood in the new two-day, home-and-away series. Greenwood scored runs in its last trip to the plate in both games to win. "When they played two one-run games, they realized how good they could be," Fry said. "Greenwood is always a great, traditional school.

6 days ago | rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Leland Barclay

The progression over a year, from his freshman to sophomore season, was evident for Ty Holt. The Greenwood catcher grew both physically and mentally into one of the top catchers in the state. "I worked hard last summer," Holt said. "I got faster and I noticed a big, huge difference this year."Holt worked his way up into the top of the batting order in addition to becoming a defensive difference behind the plate. "Definitely, the weight and the strength has gone up," Holt said.

6 days ago | rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Leland Barclay

VAN BUREN – Weston Wilcox and his Van Buren teammates didn't panic when the Pointers started the 5A-West season winless in two conference series and just 1-5 in the first six conference games. "We were 1-5 in conference," Wilcox said. "That's what the Pointers do sometimes, the last three years we had a rough starts. We always finish pretty well. As a team, we're always confident. We know things are going to fall our way.

6 days ago | rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Leland Barclay

While everybody around them expected a letdown this season, the Panama Razorbacks were not -- especially senior Tyler Simkins. "We feed off that," Simkins said. "We feed off the negativity. Everyone was doubting us. It went well.

1 week ago | rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Shane Monaco

FORT SMITH -- Members of the Sebastian County Quorum Court could soon approve a 65% tax abatement for a proposed battery storage facility near Fort Smith.