Farmington needs Elsik’s hot bat to hold off Shiloh

FARMINGTON — Caden Elsik started Farmington’s offense against Shiloh Christian with a two-run home run in the top of the first, but it was just the beginning.

Elsik went 5 for 5 with a home run to left-center and 4 singles to lead Farmington in their wild 14-11 victory in 4A-1 Conference baseball action Friday night.

The Cardinals’ offense scored 14 runs after 6 innings and worked through three of Shiloh’s pitchers.

“We’re scary if we hit up and down the lineup,” said Farmington head coach Jay Harper.

Elsik and Trey Hill each had a 2-run home run, followed by a 2-run double by Tevor Mccuin and an RBI single from Elsik to give the Cardinals an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the first.

The Cardinals’ defense struggled in the sixth with five errors, allowing the Saints to close the lead with a 5-run inning.

“We had five or xix errors we need to clean up … if we clean up those errors and keep hitting like we did tonight we’re going to be all right,” said Harper.

Cooper McCall hit a 2-run single in the third to shorten Farmington’s lead to 12-6. The streak continued as the Saints gained five runs in the top of the sixth.

With a leadoff single from Matthew Ditch, the Saints battled at the plate with doubles from Dakota Goble and Caleb Anderson. Kyle Cason and Gunner Paced tacked on another two runs with RBI singles to close out the inning.

“It was a well-fought game,” said Shiloh head coach Josh Salsbury, “and in the end, they ended up making more plays and were the better team today.”

Chase Brown pitched his way through 5 innings and was relieved by Ethan Hodge in the 6th. Hodge closed out with 2 strikeouts and allowed only 1 run to bring in the win.

Farmington will continue play Monday at Clarksville for a nonconference game, while Shiloh Christian will try to bounce back on April 13th at Gravette.