SOFTBALL STATE TOURNAMENTS
CLASS 6A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Cabot
DEFENDING CHAMPION Cabot
FAVORITES Cabot, Bentonville
OTHER CONTENDERS Rogers, Bryant INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP Fort Smith Southside vs. North Little Rock NOTEWORTHY Bentonville has put together 11- and 12-game winning streaks this season. … Cabot won its first 15 games. … Rogers lost its last two games of the regular season to Bentonville (9-0) and Benton (1-0). … Conway was the only team to beat Cabot in 6A-Central Conference play. … Fort Smith Northside, a No. 4 seed, is 5-1 in its past six games. … Three of the past four state championships have gone to Bentonville. … Eight of Fort Smith Southside’s 13 losses have been by three runs or less. … Rogers Heritage snapped a five-game losing streak when it beat Fayetteville 5-0 on May 4. … The last time Cabot hosted the state tournament, it lost 5-1 to Bentonville in the semifinals in 2018.
CLASS 5A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Mountain Home
DEFENDING CHAMPION Sheridan
FAVORITE Benton
OTHER CONTENDERS Greene County Tech, Greenwood
INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP Beebe vs. Paragould
NOTEWORTHY Sheridan is gunning for a fifth consecutive state title. … Of Benton’s 27 victories, 25 of them have been by four runs or more. The Panthers are 27-0 on the year. … Hot Springs Lakeside has outscored its past four opponents 59-1 since losing at Sheridan 8-1 on April 27. … Sylvan Hills endured a sixgame losing streak over the first two weeks of April. … Marion has won seven of its last eight matchups. … Six of Greenwood’s eight losses were to schools in Class 6A. … Paragould beat West Memphis by a combined 40-2 in its final 5A-East series May 10. … Beebe was 4-7 on March 16 after being swept by Benton before a 17-2 blowout of Jacksonville ignited an 11-3 record since then.
CLASS 4A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Morrilton
DEFENDING CHAMPION Pottsville
FAVORITE Nashville
OTHER CONTENDERS Stuttgart, Farmington INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP Valley View vs. Farmington
NOTEWORTHY Nashville enters the tournament having won 19 games in a row. The last time the Scrapperettes lost was March 18 to Benton (7-3). … Three of Malvern’s five losses were to Class 4A No. 1 Nashville. … Jonesboro Westside is 1-3 in its last four games, including a 13-0 loss to Valley View. … Stuttgart scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Valley View in the 4A-East regional last week. … Farmington, the 2019 runner-up, has lost just once in its past 20 games. … Star City took two of the three meetings from Camden Fairview this season.
CLASS 3A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Ashdown
DEFENDING CHAMPION Rose Bud
FAVORITES Baptist Prep, Smackover
OTHER CONTENDERS Hoxie, Booneville INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP Atkins vs. Valley Springs
NOTEWORTHY There will be a new champion for the fifth season in a row after Rose Bud failed to advance out of the regional round. … Smackover is on an 18-game winning streak, and Hoxie has won its last 17 games. … Baptist Prep hasn’t lost to a Class 3A team all season. … Paris stopped Booneville’s 21-game winning streak Saturday with an 8-4 victory. The Eagles had lost the three previous times they’d faced the Wildcats. … Harrisburg’s lone victory in its past five games was a 3-0 win over Rose Bud on May 6. … Glen Rose has alternated wins and losses in its past seven contests.
CLASS 2A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Carlisle
DEFENDING CHAMPION Quitman
FAVORITE Tuckerman
OTHER CONTENDERS Quitman, Melbourne INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP Carlisle vs. Salem
NOTEWORTHY Melbourne beat Parkers Chapel 2-0 in the quarterfinals during the previous state tournament. They could meet again in Friday’s quarters. … Quitman and East Poinsett County will face off in a rematch of the 2019 Class 2A semifinals, won by Quitman. … Five of Cotter’s six defeats have been by at least seven runs. … Mansfield hasn’t been beaten by a team in its classification this season. … Each of Acorn’s prior four victories were by 10 runs or more, including a 15-2 rout of Cotter in a regional final last weekend.
CLASS 1A
WHEN Today-Saturday
WHERE Izard County
DEFENDING CHAMPION Taylor
FAVORITE Taylor
OTHER CONTENDERS West Side Greers Ferry, Mammoth Sprin
INTRIGUING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUP West Side Greers Ferry vs. Ouachita
NOTEWORTHY Taylor, winners of 10 games in a row, has captured three consecutive state championships. … West Side Greers Ferry is 15-1 over its past 16 games. … Bradford had been on an eight-game run until being beaten by both Sacred Heart (16-1) and Wonderview (12-3) on back-to-back days last week. … Scranton’s last seven victories have been shutouts. … Sacred Heart and Emerson could meet in the quarterfinals two years after playing one another in the first round. … Armorel has gone 4-8 since upsetting Harding Academy 4-3 on March 20.