Jason Patterson Editor & PublisherNo one who wasn’t on the field that day will truly understand what it took for Benton Academy to bring home the state title this week.
Many spectators had a hard time staying up just to watch the final game that wrapped up at 1:30 a.m. Imagine what it was like for that to be your fourth game of the day.
And these weren’t just any games.
Benton had to beat Bayou  first. The Lady Colts won the last six state titles. Bayou defeated the Lady Raiders on the way to a North Half title this year.
But in the end, Benton proved to be the better team.  Kristian Crimm was on second base when Nora Grace Davis hit a home run to score the winning runs.
After that the Lady Raiders had to take on backyard rival Tri-County. Games between Benton and TCA are going to be tough no matter what the circumstances. TCA a very talented team, and they gave it their all in the final meeting of this season.
The first game with Heidelberg didn’t start until after 10 p.m. The first game was a setback, and there was just a 10 minute break before the second game began.
After a thrilling 3-2 victory in the final showdown, the Lady Raiders were finally able to celebrate  while most people were sleeping.
In over a decade of covering high school athletics I’ve never been more impressed with a team effort. This team will go down in history as Benton Academy’s best.