FARMINGTON -- On April 7, Farmington swept Clarksville, 14-2 and 10-0, overcoming a triple play by the Panthers to improve to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in the 5A West.
The sweep was a boost to Lady Cardinal post-season aspirations after suffering a sweep at home by Greenbrier the previous week. Ironically, both 5A West opponents are nicknamed Panthers.
Against Clarksville, Brooke Larkin's triple drove in two runs to put Farmington in front, 2-0, in the third inning. The Panthers ended the fourth with a triple play, a defensive exploit they desperately needed after allowing Farmington 12 runs in the inning. Clarksville starting pitcher Haley Messengale was severely tested by patience shown by Farmington batters, who drew 7 walks in the contest, several of which scored runs with the bases loaded. Lady Cardinal bats also drove in runs with Mackenzie Sill (RBI single), Bethany Doty (2 RBI single), Bethany McKnight (RBI single), Brooklyn Keeling (RBI single), and Larkin (2 RBI triple). Sill was the winning pitcher, tossing 4 strikeouts with no walks and allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in the 5 inning game.
Sill was on the mound for game two and threw a shutout. She didn't have as many strikeouts as in game one but neither did she allow any runs on 4 hits with 2 strikeouts. Sill's teammates gave her plenty of run support. Doty drove in a run on the third to get Farmington started and again pushed across multiple runs in the fourth inning, this time getting six. Brandy Wallace (2 RBI single), and Callie Harper (2 RBI double), cranked out hits to begin the scoring deluge. Doty added a 2 RBI double and Keeling pelted a long scoring fly out.
The sweep over Clarksville represented a change of fortunes from league play the week before as the pesky Greenbrier Panthers continue to be a thorn in the side of Farmington's soft ball team.
In 2012 and 2013 Greenbrier defeated the Lady Cardinals in the Farmington/Fayetteville tournament and posted a sweep of a double-header played at Farmington on April 2. The Panthers took game one 6-3 in eight innings. Starting pitcher Charline Lasley was tough on the mound in both contests, yielding only 5 hits with 9 strikeouts and 2 walks. Greenbrier scored 4 runs in the eighth to pull away for the game one win.
Greenbrier scored three runs in the first and one more before Farmington starter Sill ended the third inning with a strikeout. The Lady Cardinals could not capitalize on Sara Beth Jones' single in the third or a walk issued by Greenbrier in the fourth and fell behind 5-0 when a Panther scored on a wild pitch. Larkin came on in relief for the fifth inning and induced Megan Garrett into a groundout to shortstop. Courtney Rollins was hit by a pitch and Chastity Gandy reached on an error after a walk to load the bases. Larkin got Lasley to ground out to first holding the runners but Addie Harmon singled to score two runs. Larkin caught a short pop up to end the inning with Farmington behind, 7-0.
Jones again got on base in the fifth with a walk and advanced on a fielder's choice but the Lady Cardinals couldn't bring her home and had to wait until the seventh before scoring a solitary run. McKnight led off with a walk and following a pair of outs was plated by Wallace's RBI single. Greenbrier prevailed 7-1 to complete the sweep.
Sports on 04/15/2015