No. 2 Oklahoma Team Beats Cards

FARMINGTON — After a single, balk and wild pitch, a Farmington potential run was 90 feet away with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in a classic baseball scenario.

The drama was shortlived however as Gunter Black, the third pitcher used by Stillwater, Okla., retired Farmington senior Cade Black by throwing four straight strikes including one that was fouled off. This seemed anti-climatic after Gunter Black began with a balk and wild pitch, which advanced Adam Ness, Farmington’s solitary base-runner in the inning.

Ness squeezed out a single by digging in and running hard to beat a throw after connecting with an 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Ness took second on the balk and raced to third on a wild pitch but Gunter Black found the strike zone with the next four pitches, one of which was fouled off by Cade Black before striking out to end the game.

Stillwater, which came in ranked second among Oklahoma 6A schools in baseball, handed Farmington a 10-0 home loss last Wednesday. Stillwater pitching dominated Cardinal hitting. The Pioneers used three different pitchers and between them allowed only three hits through seven innings.

“Despite the 10-0 loss I’m pleased with the way we got to see fastballs and curve balls, things we need to work on,” said Farmington coach Jay Harper. “They’re the second-ranked team in 6A in Oklahoma, the biggest classification in Oklahoma. Against a team like that you really have to concentrate.”

Farmington did concentrate on defense forcing the Pioneers to leave a total of 11 base-runners behind to offset a bad night in the batter’s box where the Cardinals struck out 11 times.

Starter Keaton Austin held Stillwater scoreless in the first inning and when the Cardinals came up Farmington got a runner in scoring position early when the first man up, Jacob Thompson, smashed a double over the glove of the left fielder on an 0-1 pitch.

Stillwater starter Sam Kraybill was solid after that retiring the next five Farmington batters until Farmington catcher Flint Oxford got ahold of a 3-2 pitch to record a stand- up double with two men down in the second inning. Junior Hunter McManus was sent in as a courtesy runner and reached third on a wild pitch as Kraybill started 3-0 against John Larabee.

McManus took a leadoff but was struck in the back of the head and knocked down by a throw from the plate to third. Momentarily stunned, he got up only to be trapped in a rundown between third and home for the third out.

Stillwater did damage with two outs in the second. Will Fowler walked and Kraybill singled into left field. Fowler scored on Tyler Burnett’s single and Carson Teel drove in two runs with a hit he turned into a sliding double. Stillwater added another run in the third to go up 4-0, which was the margin when Austin left after the fifth inning.

Burnett led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball in the sixth. The Pioneers then loaded the bases when Jon Littell was hit by a Farmington pitch and produced two addition runs before Farmington got out of the inning with two men left on base.

Farmington experienced more trouble in the seventh. The Pioneers scored three more runs on three straight singles after beginning with a double and a walk. The bases were loaded when Harper sent in his fourth hurler of the evening in freshman Tyler Gregg, who was clocked at 79 and 78 m.p.h. throws while warming up. Gregg induced Fowler to hit into a double play on an 0-1 pitch to end the inning with the Cardinals behind 10-0.

“We’ve got games later in the week, we couldn’t pitch our front- line group. We knew that so we pitched our younger guys,” Harper said.

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington first baseman Hayden Sutton eyes an incoming throw as Cardinal pitcher Keaton Austin looks on while Stillwater base-runner Carson Teel approaches the bag after bunting. The Cardinals were defeated at home, 10-0, by Stillwater, Okla. last...