Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cards Can’t Make Plays In State Loss
FARMINGTON — The Cardinal baseball team lost only five games all year but the last one (9-3) to Central Arkansas Christian eliminated Farmington from the State 4A baseball tournament at Harrison.
Farmington scored first to take an early 1-0 lead but the May 10 contest did not go well for the Cardinals either way. Offensively, they struggled with junior Adam Ness (2 hits, 2 RBIs) and senior Josh Mueller (1 hit, 1 RBI) accounting for their scoring.
Farmington coach Jay Harper said the Cardinals did exactly what they wanted to do during the 4A North Regional tournament in securing a first-round bye at state.
“The CAC team coming down from 5A had a really strong pitcher. For the most part, we had our chances. It’s all you can ask for when you reach a state quarterfinal game like that. We had a chance to win, we just couldn’t make the plays.”
The Cardinals also struggled on defense.
“We couldn’t make the pitch we needed or get ground balls. They really didn’t have an out in their lineup we could get consistently,” Harper said.
Ness was voted to the AllState tournament team.
“It is an honor. It was kind of disappointing the way it went down at the state tournament but I received individual acknowledgment,” Ness said.
Three senior Cardinals received All-State honors: Taylor Burba, catcher (.425 average, 34 RBIs, 2 HR); Levi Strope, pitcher (4-1 record, 2 saves, 59 strikeouts, 2.46 ERA); and Spencer Boudrey, short stop (.470 average, 33 RBIs, 4 HR).
“It’s a pretty good deal to get three,” Harper said, noting U.S. 62 rival, Prairie Grove, which battled Farmington for the top spot in the conference and number one state ranking throughout the season, also had three players named All-State.
Ness said his favorite memory of the season was a walkoff in a March 28, 4-3, win over Prairie Grove with Hayden Sutton stroking a single to score the gamewinning run in the bottom of the seventh after the Tigers intentionally walked him to load the bases.
The victory turned out to be the determining win in the Cardinals’ conference championship as Farmington went undefeated in league play and Prairie Grove finished with only the one loss.
“That was something special. That was the game of the year. It was our number one, Levi Strope, against their number one, Aaron Kincaid, muscle on muscle.”
Ness noted in subsequent games, he pitched for the Cardinals against Prairie Grove in losses in the District and Regional championships. Both contests were affected by weekend rainouts forcing a doubleheader on consecutive Tuesdays to complete the tournaments with an impact on the pitching rotation.
“It’s been pretty easy. They always came ready to practice. There was hardly a problem all year long. It has been a great pleasure to coach them, especially our four seniors (Boudrey, Burba, Mueller and Strope),” Harper said.
“We had a great season, we went 20-5. If you can go 20-5 every year, you’ll be a happy man.”