Washington County Enterprise-Leader
All-Star Austin PITCHING CHALLENGES AFFECTED LEAGUE PLAY
FARMINGTON — During his senior season Farmington pitcher Keaton Austin drew some interest from UCA and their staff got a first-hand look at Austin during the 2015 All-Star game held on the UCA campus Tuesday.
Austin, along with Farmington baseball coach, Jay Harper, were part of the West All-Stars competing against the East at UCA’s Bear Stadium in Tuesday’s double- header. Harper was named as an assistant to West head coach John King, of Pea Ridge; with Mark Balisterri, of Benton; and Keith Kilgore, of Rogers Heritage, also on the staff.
“It’s an honor [to play in the All-Star game],” Austin said. “I’m pretty excited.”
Early in the spring Farmington suffered a setback when sophomore Tyler Gregg penciled in as the Cardinal No. 2 pitcher sustained an injury. Needing Tommy John’s surgery according to Harper, Gregg grittily returned to the lineup but was unable to pitch leaving the burden of trying to pitch the Cardinals into the state tournament in Austin’s hands. Another senior, Flint Oxford, accepted the role and became the No. 2 pitcher Harper said the team desperately needed but Gregg’s absence on the mound was felt throughout the dugout.
“I wanted to definitely be more consistent for sure. Usually we have pretty solid depth in pitching,” Austin said, explaining the way Gregg’s injury affected the pitching staff.
With the jump up in classification and injuries Farmington struggled at times and Austin didn’t want people thinking he wasn’t giving 100 percent effort in trying to lead the team into one of the top four spots in conference play required to qualify for the state tournament. Playing double-headers against 5A West opponents on Tuesdays and Fridays created a pitching dilemma with the Cardinals not having a full stable of pitchers. Harper did his best to manage the situation reserving Austin for Friday games but occasionally inserting him as reliever in midweek nonconference games.
“I want people to understand the significance of the Farmington baseball program to me. We haven’t had a great season. We’re still getting used to 5A,” Austin said. “I feel in the next couple of years we’ll be a solid baseball team.”
Austin started 10 games compiling a 4-5 record. Some of the losses were due to fielding and throwing errors committed by a young team. First baseman Hayden Sutton, a three- year starter, was the only other experienced senior besides Austin and Oxford. T.J. Askegaard became a contributor as a senior but hadn’t played a lot previously. Farmington’s fifth senior, Kentrall Blackburn, didn’t play baseball his first three years of high school and Harper played six sophomores in the lineup.
In 57.2 innings pitched, Austin allowed 46 hits and 32 runs but only 25 of those were earned. Austin recorded 76 strikeouts and issued 19 walks and hit 11 batters with a pitch averaging 1.127 walks plus hits per innings pitched. His earned run average was 3.035.
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