Mitchell Polk News Today

PEARCY — For now, El Dorado’s hopes of advancing to the state tournament are still alive.

El Dorado’s bid to clinch a spot in the state tournament took a major blow on Thursday, as the Wildcats fell to Hot Springs Lakeside 7-1 in a 5A South clash.

El Dorado bounced back from a tough loss in resounding fashion by banging out 13 hits en route to a 17-1 win over Hot Springs in 5A South play on Tuesday.

PARKERS CHAPEL — Parkers Chapel officially will have home-field advantage for the regional tournament.

BENTON - The 5A South race stands to be a very tight one as the stretch run gets underway with only 4 1/2 games separating the top seven teams in the league.

In their history of being conference rivals, El Dorado and White Hall have played plenty of thrillers with each of their last three games being decided by one run.

HOT SPRINGS — Hot Springs Lakeside stumbled out of the gates, but March has been a completely different story for the Rams.

With only eight upperclassmen on their roster, a youth movement is in full swing at El Dorado.

When Coach Chris Hill took control of El Dorado’s football program in the spring, he walked into a locker room with a few unanswered questions. One of those questions was, who will be the starting quarterback? After a spring and summer of intense competition, sophomore Mitchell Polk emerged as Hill’s quarterback choice. After an All-State season that ended in the 6A state playoffs, that was definitely one question the coaching staff got right.

Although the 2023 season is over, the 2024 season looks to be a bright one for Union County schools given the number of underclassmen who got plenty of experience this past season.