Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Good Neighbor Farmington Is State-Bound
FARMINGTON — The Psalmist said its good for brethren to dwell together in unity and when Lincoln came calling because of an unplayable baseball field, Farmington rolled out the red carpet.
The Cardinals and their coaches readied their field to host day-one of the 4A North Regional on Friday, and while the change did not benefit tournament host, Lincoln, which was eliminated, 3-2, by Pottsville on Cardinal turf; the Cardinals did what needed to be done to insure the tournament would stay on schedule.
“When I came out here this morning I didn’t know if we could get it ready, but the kids did a great job, the coaches did a great job,” said Farmington coach Jay Harper. “It was huge to have the home-field advantage. You see how big a crowd we had tonight and that propels us and the kids fed off of it and we did what we had to do to win.”
Farmington polished off 4A-4 runner-up, Booneville, 5-2, and qualified for the state tournament for the second consecutive year behind a solid pitching performance from junior Keaton Austin, who gave up a run in the first and second innings but then pitched five straight innings of shut-out baseball.
“We really had the bats going tonight. Before the game my arm didn’t feel that great but usually when my arm doesn’t feel that great, I feel like I’m doing better on the mound,” Austin said. “Adam [Ness] had a really good hit, Chase [Norwood] had a really good hit, and it is what it is — going to state and I feel good about it.”
The trio of long-ball blasts were crucial in a game where Booneville’s defense was stingy, not allowing the Cardinals to manufacture runs. Booneville starter Brandon Wolski helped his cause by smacking an RBI double into left field and the Bearcats led 1-0 after the first inning. In the second inning, Cody Harrel singled and scored all the way from first on a hit and run on Dalton Herrera’s single but Austin blanked the Bearcats the rest of the way.
“We feel great with Keaton on the mound and he did a great job. He had a little trouble at the start but he got stronger as the game went on and that’s what we needed,” Harper said. “We got some key hits by Adam Ness, Chase Norwood and Tyler Gregg, three home runs right there that really propelled us.”
In the top of the third Caleb Reagan was hit by a pitch, then was thrown out at second when John Larabee hit into a fielder’s choice. With one base-runner aboard, Norwood went yard tying the contest at 2-2 with his home run blast.
“I just made great contact, barreled it up. It just came at the right time,” Norwood said. “I was just trying to go gap-to-gap and got ahold of it and it just went and it just came through key for us, a good hit.”
In the top of the fourth inning, Gregg’s bat sent Farmington into the lead with a solo shot over the left field wall.
“I was just trying to make contact with the ball and the pitcher applied all the power. I just made good contact with it. I was playing for the seniors today. I didn’t want them to go home. I want to play with them for a couple of more games,” Gregg said.