GENTRY -- Starting pitcher Adam Ness wasted no time in helping Farmington grab the lead with a single in the top of the first inning at Gentry April 1.
That hit powered the Cardinals to an early 1-0 advantage in 4A-1 Conference action and Ness did his part to keep the Pioneers from getting on track offensively. Ness went the distance in Farmington's 13-3 league victory striking out six Gentry batters to offset the five walks he issued in allowing only one earned run and a solitary hit.
"You come off a week off of spring break and you're looking to see if we're going to perform well and Adam didn't pitch extremely well but he only gave up one hit," said Farmington coach Jay Harper.
"He had five walks and a couple of hit batters. You know we like to stay away from that but for the most part Adam did a great job. Nick Huff, who's a sophomore, hit a home run. He's a our DH guy now and he's been doing a real job good. He's second in batting average on our team."
In the second inning, Farmington capitalized on a trio of Gentry errors to post five more runs. The Cardinals added six runs in the sixth inning with Nick Huff (1-2, HR, 2 RBIs) blasting a two-run homer.
Gentry hurt themselves again by surrendering another Cardinal run on a passed ball but Farmington wasn't done yet. Before the inning was over, Caleb Reagan (1-1, 2 RBIs, 1 RS) drove in two more Cardinal runs with a single and Jacob Thompson's single brought in one more. Cade Black (2-4, 1 RS) also came across home plate after getting on base during the contest.
Gentry starting pitcher Dusty Haag, who accumulated a 1-1 record and a 3.40 earned-run average in six appearances with 3 starts as a junior, was pounded by the Cardinals. Haag was done after four innings after giving up seven runs, four hits and three walks and recording three strikeouts.
Sophomore Wyatt Clark recorded Gentry's only hit against Ness, going 1-for-2 and scoring two of the Pioneers' three runs.
As both teams returned to league competition after spring break the difference was in which team could shake the most rust off without hurting themselves on the scoreboard.
"For the most part I thought we played well," Harper said. "There's some things about it that we want to clean up but I expected that after a week off."
Sports on 04/09/2014