Stories by Jason Avery

El Dorado duo finalizes college plans Justin Dumas and Shadarious Plummer have been fixtures on El Dorado’s baseball team during their careers with the Wildcats.Now they will both get the chance to continue their careers in college.... June 3, 2023

El Dorado turning focus to 2024 season After qualifying for the state tournament for the first time since 2018 and winning a share of the 5A South title in 2022, El Dorado missed out on making the state tournament by two games in 2023.Play... June 2, 2023

Parkers Chapel focusing on 2024 season The 2023 season was one of ups and downs for Parkers Chapel.The Trojans posted an 18-9 record that included a pair of five-game winning streaks, but the season ended on a down note with PC losing its ... June 1, 2023

Trojans get to work with Willeford at helm Since becoming Parkers Chapel’s football coach on Friday, Josh Willeford has been rather busy.On Tuesday, the Trojans held their first workout with Willeford at the helm.“We had our first ... May 31, 2023

Looney, Willeford take new positions with PC Parkers Chapel has promoted from within to fill two of its vacancies in their athletic department.Parkers Chapel baseball coach Mark Looney takes over as the school’s athletic director and Josh ... May 27, 2023

World Series The last time South Arkansas College was on the baseball diamond, they were crowned Plains District Tournament champions.Now the Stars are one of 10 teams competing for the national championship at th... May 27, 2023

Veterans register key outs for Stars They may not have performed as well as they did during the regular season, but South Arkansas College’s bullpen registered some big outs at the Plains District Tournament.Closer Trey Miller got ... May 26, 2023

PC standout wants to learn from own health Payton Willeford knows first-hand just how physically demanding playing sports can be.Throughout his career at Parkers Chapel, Willeford played through a litany of injuries.As a senior, he played with... May 26, 2023

Rotation set to play key role for Stars If South Arkansas College is to make a run in the NJCAA Division II World Series, the Stars will have to continue to get a terrific performance from the MVP of the Plains District Tournament named by ... May 25, 2023

Junior baseball standouts earn All-State honors A pair of juniors from Union County earned All-State honors on the baseball diamond earlier this week.El Dorado’s Sam York and Smackover’s Tanner Mitchell took home the accolade after havi... May 24, 2023

SouthArk seeded seventh for World Series South Arkansas College is hoping seven will be their lucky number.The Stars were given the No. 7 seed for the NJCAA Division II World Series, which starts Saturday in Enid, Okla. The bracket was annou... May 23, 2023

Jones set stage for crucial moment in SouthArk's title run Early on in the Plains District Tournament, South Arkansas College cruised to a pair of wins and seemed to be on their way to a third, building a 9-4 lead over Northern Oklahoma-Enid.But the Jets rall... May 23, 2023

Elia carries academics, golf, football at the same time Jon Brooks Elia could be described as a man for all seasons.During his high school career at El Dorado, Elia was the medalist at the 5A State Golf Tournament as a junior, and he helped guide the Wildc... May 21, 2023

Offseason workouts underway for SouthArk With the calendar edging closer to June, South Arkansas College’s women’s basketball team is in the midst of their offseason workouts.SouthArk coach Nate Evans said the Stars took some tim... May 20, 2023

Lester, Ambriz receive postseason honors Having won the NJCAA Region 2 crown and the Plains District Tournament, South Arkansas College was rewarded with a couple of postseason accolades.Cannon Lester, who has guided the Stars to the NJCAA D... May 20, 2023

SouthArk's recruiting class set to make impact South Arkansas College’s women’s basketball team will have a plethora of new faces for the 2023-24 season.So far, coach Nate Evans has added 11 players to the roster with the latest coming... May 20, 2023

Lively shines for Stars in decisive clash Baseball can be a funny game and a rewarding one at the same time.Having lost their first chance to win the Plains District Tournament on Monday, South Arkansas College coach Cannon Lester turned to a... May 19, 2023

Stars enjoying break after winning title Since returning home from Oklahoma early Tuesday morning, South Arkansas College’s baseball team has been taking a well-deserved break.After winning the NJCAA Region 2 crown in the regular seaso... May 18, 2023

Long road back to baseball for SouthArk’s Turbeville The road to getting back to baseball has been a long one for former El Dorado standout Leighton Turbeville.And what he found at the end of that road was a championship and an opportunity to continue h... May 13, 2023

Searches starting at Parkers Chapel for football coach, athletic director Parkers Chapel will have new leadership guiding their athletic department as well as their football program after Elliot Jacobs stepped down earlier this week to be the ninth-grade football coach at E... May 13, 2023

Shoup enjoying banner season for Stars From the time he began his high school career at Parkers Chapel to the present day at South Arkansas College, Trace Shoup has always been the guy that’s been counted on to deliver and one that o... May 12, 2023

Top-seeded Stars ready to begin postseason Over a 36-game schedule, South Arkansas College was the top team in NJCAA Region 2 by winning the regular-season title.Now in order for the Stars to advance to the World Series, they must prove themse... May 11, 2023

Jacobs steps down at Parkers Chapel When the 2023-24 school year begins, Parkers Chapel will have new leadership both in the athletic department and on the football field.Elliot Jacobs, who guided the football program since 2019 before ... May 9, 2023

SouthArk to take on Redlands College in tourney opener South Arkansas College officially knows who their first opponent will be in the Plains District Tournament.The Stars (41-15) will face Redlands College (21-35) Thursday at 7 p.m.SouthArk, who moved up... May 9, 2023

SouthArk set to honor sophomores Today marks the final home games of the 2023 season for South Arkansas College.It also is the end of a brief era for the Stars.Two years ago, Cannon Lester was tasked with building SouthArk’s ba... May 5, 2023

SouthArk faces SAU Tech aiming for region title On Jan. 27, South Arkansas College and SAU Tech opened the season.Just over three months later, the schools meet again in the final NJCAA Region 2 series of the year.The Stars (37-15, 25-7), who are r... May 4, 2023

Smackover faces tough test at regional tourney The month of March was not kind to Smackover.The Bucks opened conference play with a 2-4 record, and their overall record stood at 6-5 after falling to Rison on April 1.But since then, the Bucks have ... May 4, 2023

Parkers Chapel, Murfreesboro ready to collide at regional There have been two constants for Parkers Chapel this season.Their offense has the ability to put tons of runs on the scoreboard, and their defense has been rather shaky at times.Today, the Trojans ho... May 4, 2023

Busy week for Stars starts with No. 1 LSU-Eunice Should South Arkansas College win the NJCAA Region 2 crown, the Stars may look back on Game 4 of their weekend series at Northern-Oklahoma Tonkawa as the turning point.The Stars had lost the first thr... May 2, 2023

Stars hit road looking to win Region 2 crown South Arkansas College could make history this weekend.With a five-game lead and only eight games remaining on the NJCAA Region 2 slate, the Stars could clinch the regular season championship and No. ... April 29, 2023

Freshmen help pave way for Stars in run to top of region standings When South Arkansas College began the 2023 season, coach Cannon Lester had a pretty good idea of who his starters would be with the majority of them being holdovers from the Stars’ debut season.... April 28, 2023

Returning players have coaches looking forward to next season Although the 2022-23 basketball season is in the rearview mirror, coaches are already looking forward to next year given the crop of sophomores that will be upperclassmen next year.Junction City quali... April 25, 2023

Stars move closer to region title with sweep South Arkansas College has had plenty of firsts in their second season of baseball, but their biggest is now within their grasp.The Stars, ranked No. 18 in this week’s poll, delivered their fift... April 22, 2023

Ball excited about return to Junction City To say that new Junction City football coach Devin Ball is on cloud nine would probably be a vast understatement.Ball, himself a former Junction City standout who won a state title with the Dragons in... April 22, 2023

SouthArk, Western Oklahoma State collide with first place at stake After playing a huge series last week, South Arkansas College has an even bigger one starting today.With only one game separating them in the NJCAA Region 2 standings, SouthArk and Western Oklahoma St... April 19, 2023

SouthArk set to take on No. 8 Murray State South Arkansas Community College’s busiest week of the season is also their biggest so far in 2023.Thus far this week, the Stars have played five games, sweeping their NJCAA Region 2 series agai... April 13, 2023

SouthArk set to hit road to take on No. 1 LSU-Eunice It’s not often a matchup during the middle of the week can have plenty of intrigue to it, but that’s the case for today’s showdown between South Arkansas Community College and LSU-Eu... April 11, 2023

SouthArk, Redlands set to meet in region series With a month remaining in the regular season, South Arkansas Community College has already moved past their win totals from last year both overall and in conference play.The Stars won 24 games overall... April 8, 2023

SouthArk duo fuels Stars in sweep South Arkansas Community College’s 25-9 start to the 2023 season has been one where it seems every weekend a new face pops up and has a big weekend to carry the Stars.Last weekend against Carl A... April 7, 2023

Junction City’s Key named Player of the Year When Xavier Diamond took over the reins of the Junction City boys basketball program, he inherited a team that reached the 2A state quarterfinals last year.But as a first-year coach, Diamond also had ... April 4, 2023

SouthArk set to take on Carl Albert State South Arkansas Community College heads into April in unprecedented territory.Owners of a nine-game winning streak and receiving votes in this week’s Region 2 poll, the Stars can surpass their ov... March 30, 2023

Stars make strides on hardwood In Cam Robinson’s first season as head coach of South Arkansas Community College’s men’s basketball team, the Stars made many strides.The Stars posted a 12-13 record, and in conferen... March 29, 2023

Replacing seniors key for Smackover Although their season ended on a down note, Smackover enjoyed one its most successful seasons on the hardwood.The Bucks finished fourth in the rugged 8-3A, won one tournament and was the runner-up in ... March 25, 2023

Strong counting on veterans next year The start certainly was a certainly a bumpy one, but given their finish, Strong coach Alex Howell is already looking forward to his second season in guiding the Bulldogs.Strong finished with 10 wins a... March 25, 2023

Parkers Chapel set for offseason Life in the 8-2A isn’t easy, but Parkers Chapel found itself in the thick of a conference race that found schools trading places in the standings on a nightly basis.The Trojans finished fifth in... March 24, 2023

Dragons looking ahead to future Junction City certainly had its ups and downs during the 2022-23 season, but with a freshman class that debuted during the postseason along with a solid core of returnees, the Dragons have much to loo... March 24, 2023

El Dorado knocks off Camden Fairview MAGNOLIA - It seems spring break is agreeing with El Dorado's offense. After scoring 41 runs in three wins at Monticello earlier this week, the Wildcats continued their offensive surge on Thursday wit... March 23, 2023

Stars, Bucks set to meet in Region 2 clash South Arkansas Community College’s baseball team made history last weekend.Not only did the Stars win their first series in program history, they swept Northern Oklahoma-Enid at the same venue w... March 23, 2023

SouthArk ready for trip to Oklahoma Sometimes numbers don’t tell the whole story. When South Arkansas Community College opened NJCAA Region 2 play against National Park, the Nighthawks were hitting only .228 as a team, and had bee... March 17, 2023

Carpenter steps down as Junction City's football coach After one season on the sideline in his return as Junction City’s football coach, David Carpenter is stepping down.Carpenter confirmed on Thursday that he was stepping down in a text message to ... March 16, 2023

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