Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Baseball And Softball DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS
Get all the results and read about a guest star in the dugout.
FARMINGTON —A good portion of the current Lady Cardinal roster were still in diapers when Coach Randy Osnes and his team won the first of their 14 consecutive district tournament titles.
On Monday that streak came to an end when the Gravette Lions defeated the Cardinals, 5-2, in the Championship tilt of this season’s district tournament.
The Cardinals (23-7) struggled in the field, tallying six errors, with four of those miscues leading to five Lion runs.
“For us to be within three runs after we kicked it around today is amazing to me,” Osnes said, adding, “When you commit the errors that we did against a team as good as Gravette, you can’t be expected to win.”
Farmington’s struggles weren’t limited to the field, the offense also struggled, mustering just five hits and being set down in order in three of the last four innings against Lion freshman pitcher Lindsee Labrecque.
“Th e f reshman pitcher (Labrecque) dominated us from the start of the game all the way through. She apparently is the best pitcher we’ve faced and I don’t know if we played 12 innings if we would have gotten anymore runs off her,” Osnes said.
A Cardinal throwing error on a Gravette bunt in the third inning, allowed two runners to cross the plate, staking the Lions to a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals capitalized on a Labrecque walk and Lion error to score two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Brooke Larkin plated pinch-runner Sara Beth Jones with a double to rightcenter field, then Maria Mcpherson, pinch- running for Larkin, crossed the plate when Jessica Foster’s ground ball was misplayed, making the score 2-2.
Farmington pitcher Madison Barnes (19-4), who was making a bid for her 20th win of the season, dueled with Labrecque for seven innings, but watched the defense behind her crumble in the sixth inning, misplaying three consecutive bunts, which helped the Lions score three runs and reclaim the lead at 5-2. Barnes finished the contest with a final line of seven innings, five runs (none earned) on four hits, with eight strikeouts and five base-on-balls.
Labrecque, who’s final line read; seven innings, two runs (one earned) on five hits, with six strikeouts and one base-on-balls, closed out the contest by setting the Cardinals down in order in the last two innings, giving Gravette the win and wresting away the district tournament championship which was held for 14 consecutive seasons by the Cardinals.
Undeterred, Coach Osnes revealed his plans for his team in the upcoming days.
“Oh, you can bet we’ll be practicing for a long time tomorrow evening,” Osnes said.
Larkin paced the Cardinal’s offense, going 3-for-3 at the dish with a double and an RBI. Lindsey Blackburn contributed a triple for Farmington, while Payton Wiedner finished with a single in the fifth inning.
The Cardinals will now try to regroup for the regional tournament held in Harrison. Farmington will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday and will take on the third- place finisher from the 4A- 4 district tournament.