4A favorites??

[KREWSAWHEWSKI]

At this point, you have to consider the contenders from last season and how many seniors they lost.  Mena has been top dog in 4A for the last few years, but they lost a great group of seniors.

IMO Nashville has to be in the conversation as they only lost a couple of seniors of last season's semifinal team. 

Who else is in the mix in 4A?

[BLUEBLOOD]

At this point, you have to consider the contenders from last season and how many seniors they lost.  Mena has been top dog in 4A for the last few years, but they lost a great group of seniors.

IMO Nashville has to be in the conversation as they only lost a couple of seniors of last season's semifinal team. 

Who else is in the mix in 4A?

I'm not sure about the other 4A teams and what they have coming back.  Graduation hit Mena hard and several players went to play at the next level.

I was able to see Nashville a couple times this fall.  They are the real deal.  Very strong top to bottom.  They should definitely make the late round of the state tournament in 4A.

[Eaglemaniac]

Crossett returns 7 starters. New Coach in town andots of excitement. Big holes to fill though at 3rd and first. Should make a strong run this year.

[BrianfromCarlisle]

Bauxite

[BLUEBLOOD]

Bauxite

What happened to Bauxite in the playoffs last year?  They had a great regular season, then lost to Nashville in Regionals and then first round exit in state tournament.  Who did they lose to graduation?

[chubbyninja]

This is gonna sound crazy but Gravette has a strong group of freshman this year. Two freshman pitchers that are gonna be tough. They might be a dark horse.

[BLUEBLOOD]

This is gonna sound crazy but Gravette has a strong group of freshman this year. Two freshman pitchers that are gonna be tough. They might be a dark horse.

A freshman pitcher has a tough path to carry a team.  If they have solid defense and plenty of offensive production, it can be done.  Good luck to Gravette.

[RazorHog13]

Could Pea Ridge be a potential darkhorse? 

[chubbyninja]

Pea ridge will do decent in conference play.  I believe S. Chase is one of their pitchers they lean on a bit.

[RedKnight]

Nashville, Mena, Pocahontas, and Bauxite should be on the list IMO.
What about Lincoln? They beat Bauxite in a really good game in the first round of the state tournament last year? Did they loose much to graduation?

[chubbyninja]

Lincoln lost couple good players in  M. Reed  and Pitcher A. Rothrock. I think Rothrock did the majority of the pitching for their team....don't quote me on it.

[500 hitter]

Nashville and Bauxite should be the cream of the crop. With Nashville taking the W. I believe they wont meet until deep in the state tournament or in the finals. With the new divisions these two wont get the pleasure for conference play as in years past. Nashville can only stop themselves. Good luck to all.

[BLUEBLOOD]

Nashville and Bauxite should be the cream of the crop. With Nashville taking the W. I believe they wont meet until deep in the state tournament or in the finals. With the new divisions these two wont get the pleasure for conference play as in years past. Nashville can only stop themselves. Good luck to all.

They may not play in regular season, but they will play in district tournament to determine seeding for regionals.  They are both still members of the 7-4A.

http://members.ahsaa.org/public/userfiles/Baseball.Softball/Conferences/SB_Conferences_17.pdf

[500 hitter]

Got ya.I didn't study those situations. Thanks for the info.

[BLUEBLOOD]

Got ya.I didn't study those situations. Thanks for the info.

I've been waiting all fall/winter to talk softball.  How is Mena gonna be this year?  I know they lost major contributors to graduation.

[500 hitter]

Don't know, on paper Mena looks like they will have a reloading year. I do know they have one of their pitchers back, but they lost their D! catcher that was super good. What about Brookland and some of the teams from the east??Haven't heard much from that part of the state.

[ARHSRumors]

Mena will be nothing like they have been in past years. Have a pitcher and outfielder returning, from their dominant teams past few years. Other than those two, it'll be a start from scratch situation for the Ladycats.

[Wendell Robinson]

Gravette is going to be really good for the next 4 years. One of their freshman pitchers has already received multiple D1 offers(Arkansas,Oklahoma, Oklahoma St, Syracuse, Washington St to name a few) and was named to a top 100 national recruiting list.

[500 hitter]

Good for her. Might have to find my way up there to watch her pitch.

[chubbyninja]

I actually heard Gravette has another freshman pitcher that is also tough. (Besides the D1).  They played in same travel organization for years.

[500 hitter]

Time to start the season. We will see who the contenders really are in a short time.

[Wendell Robinson]

Gravette beat Springdale Har-Ber 4-3 tonight. Freshman Cally Kildow had 15 K's and gave up 2 Earned Runs in her first varsity start. 7 of Gravette's 9 starters tonight were either Freshman or Sophs.

[doober3]

I heard that Gentry got a new coach from Nashville?  And that they have beaten FS Southside and Springdale in their 1st 2 games.  Also, Conference champs from last year Lincoln lost only 2 players but one was their All-State pitcher.   Hopefully there will be some pretty good Softball in the 4A-1 this year!

[BLUEBLOOD]

I heard that Gentry got a new coach from Nashville?  And that they have beaten FS Southside and Springdale in their 1st 2 games.  Also, Conference champs from last year Lincoln lost only 2 players but one was their All-State pitcher.   Hopefully there will be some pretty good Softball in the 4A-1 this year!

I believe former Nashville softball coach, Paul Ernest, left Nashville to be the head football coach at Gentry.  I'm not sure if he was also coaching softball, but maybe so.

[doober3]

I believe former Nashville softball coach, Paul Ernest, left Nashville to be the head football coach at Gentry.  I'm not sure if he was also coaching softball, but maybe so.

You are correct, I just looked it up on the Gentry site.  Softball coach is listed as Erica Jones.

[bigchief72455]

Pocahontas is returning most of their starting lineup from last years State runner up team.

[1-Adam-12]

4A-4 has several quality teams led by Pottsville.  Dardanelle is also off to a good start and it appears that Booneville has simply reloaded.  Ozark is pretty decent as well.

[500 hitter]

Dardanelle does look pretty snappy I must say. Haven't seen them play as of yet.

[500 hitter]

As does Pottsville

[NEA Razorback olfan]

Dardanelle does look pretty snappy I must say. Haven't seen them play as of yet.

Watched them a couple of games , looked pretty good , lost to Valley View 4-0, Friday , beat Trumann 11-0
Earlier game, lost 6-4 to Trumann in late game Saturday in Jonesboro Bearcat Blast tourney Saturday