FARMINGTON -- Lincoln head baseball coach Justin Bounds is a patient man and that trait served him well on March 30.
Many a coach could have come undone with a high number of passed balls and wild pitches undoing Lincoln's defense while sparking Farmington's offense in the Cardinals' 14-4 five-inning non-conference win over the Wolves but Bounds coolly focused on constantly teaching throughout. Afterwards, Bounds acknowledged those issues and said the Wolves have devoted practice time toward correcting those type of mistakes.
"It's something we've been working on and we're getting better at it," Bounds said, noting the Wolves are not where they need to be yet.
Bounds said the game plan was for each pitcher to work two innings and they would figure out what to do when the seventh inning came around.
"We never got to the seventh. We shot ourselves in the foot on multiple occasions but the guys are starting to realize if we cut down on that we can be a tough team," Bounds said. "Overall, our pitching wasn't too bad. We got ourselves out of a couple of innings and minimized the damage."
Both Bounds and Farmington coach Jay Harper called their ball-clubs a work in progress.
"We're struggling at the plate right now. We're trying to do everything we can to improve our hitting," Harper said. "We did a good job of pitching and running the bases but it's a never-ending process. We have to get better every time out."
"We've got a very young ball-club. I'm not used to having a very, young ball-club but it's a growing process. We'll be a better ball-club one month from now."
Farmington scored three runs despite not having a hit in the first inning. Lincoln was charged with three errors but held two Cardinals on base. Farmington added three more runs after the second out in the second inning. Blake Putnam doubled in an RBI. Farmington runs were also scored on an error and passed ball but again Lincoln forced the Cardinals to leave two runners stranded.
In the third, Lincoln produced some offense. Toby Rose dug in to beat a throw to first and scored from second base on an error. He advanced with a steal and raced in to cut Farmington's lead to 6-1. Next up was short stop Cord McCaslin, who appeared to be hit by a 2-2 pitch but returned to the plate when the umpire ruled the pitch first struck his bat. McCaslin nailed a home-run over the left field wall on the ensuing pitch scoring two runs.
Kaleb Ayers drove in Lincoln's final run in the top of the fifth but Farmington still held a 9-4 lead when they came up to bat. Hayden Sutton drove in two Cardinal runs with a single and Farmington loaded the bases. T.J. Askegaard matched him with another two run single and the game-ending run came on a passed ball with Farmington winning, 14-4.
On March 31, Lincoln lost 11-1 to Gravette. Kyler Bunch struck out 7 Wolves and gave up just 5 hits over 5 innings. Cord McCaslin absorbed the loss for Lincoln, pitching four innings and allowed 8 runs on 8 hits with 5 walks and 5 strike outs. Tristan Young hit drove in the Wolves' only run.
On Thursday, Lincoln lost 14-4 to Pea Ridge. Kaleb Ayers recorded 4 strikeouts in 2 innings. Pace Maddox had a pair of hits and Young accounted for 3 RBIs.
"Every senior scored a run," Bounds said, pointing out a postive in the loss.
After visiting Berryville and hosting Elkins earlier in the week, the Wolves take on Huntsville at home beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday and face Greenland on the road at 5 p.m. Friday.
Sports on 04/08/2015