Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cardinals finally at full strength
Farmington 2024 baseball preview
FARMINGTON — Hosting the state basketball tournament set Farmington baseball back a week, then with the boys team advancing to the state finals three pitchers weren’t available until after March 7.
Those factors created a major impart for the Cardinals on the diamond. Going into spring break Farmington, which has won three straight 4A-1 Conference championships, has only competed in four baseball games.
The Cardinals’ last contest, a 6-5 nonconference win at home over Jacksonville on Friday, March 16, was closer than it should have been because pitchers hit multiple Titan batters, putting them on base.
Freshman pitcher Corbin Smith induced a groundout to shortstop and a fly ball to right center to get the first two batters out in the Titans’ last at-bat in the top of the seventh before allowing a single and beaning a batter to put a potential go-ahead run on base. Smith recovered by inducing a fly ball into shallow right field to end the game.
“Our ninth grader, Corbin Smith, came in there and did a really good job even though he hit a couple of people. He’s probably nervous and I get it, but I’ve seen him pitch and I’ve got all the confidence in the world,” said Farmington coach Jay Harper.
Cole Cantrell figures to get a lot of work as do three pitchers, senior Cameron Crisman, junior Sam Kirkman and sophomore Ayden Lester, coming over late from basketball.
“This was our fourth game of the year because of the basketball tournament and we’re still learning and trying to figure out who’s who and what’s what. I’m not trying to make excuses whatsoever, I’m just trying to tell you it’s still young in our season and we have to get better,” Harper said.
Farmington’s boys basketball season lasted until the state finals on March 7. The Cardinals brought home the school’s first ever boys basketball trophy with a State Class 4A runner-up finish losing 71-56 to Little Rock Christian. That motivates the players to want to accomplish a similar outcome in baseball.
“We are limited on left-handed pitchers so me coming out here definitely helps the team a lot,” Crisman said. “I just want to keep winning, keep winning as much as possible and try to make a deep run at state like we did in basketball.”
Kirkman’s vision runs along those same lines as both athletes realize their value to the baseball team as pitchers.
“We’re pretty limited on some pitchers who can go multiple, multiple innings.
We need some guys who can throw strikes so it’s very important to have guys who can go out there and throw strikes,” Kirkman said. “It’s definitely a big goal to make the state tournament and go as far as we can there in baseball.”