FARMINGTON -- Seven Farmington baseball players received postseason honors after helping the Cardinals reach the Class 5A state tournament.
Junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Gregg was named to the 5A All-State team while third baseman Ryan Larkin, shortstop Blake Madewell, second baseman Blake Putnam, right-handed pitcher Ben Silvis, left fielder Kelton Price and right fielder Nick Huff earned All-Conference honors from the 5A West.
"All of them but Huff and Madewell were underclassmen, so we're looking forward to them coming back next year," said Farmington coach Jay Harper.
Gregg led the team with 6 home runs, 36 RBIs and a .670 slugging percentage to go along with a .341 batting average. Despite his 2-5 record as a pitcher, Gregg posted a remarkable 0.97 ERA while striking out 82 batters in 49 2/3 innings.
"He was voted all-state by our coaches in our conference, and that's saying a lot because we didn't give him much run support this year," Harper said. "He didn't gripe about that a bit. He's a good kid who works hard and we're expecting big, big, big things from him. We think he's a Division-I player."
The lack of run support was because Gregg started against opponents' top pitchers in Game 1 of doubleheader. Silvis was Farmington's No. 2 pitcher and benefited from much better run support in posting a 5-1 record to go along with a 2.70 ERA in 46 2/3 innings.
"Ben was just a sophomore and did a great job in his conference starts," Harper said. "We're looking for bigger and better things from him coming up next season."
Madewell, a senior who helped turn seven double plays, batted .390 and led the team in on-base percentage (.569), runs (40), triples (4) and walks (24).
"We really had him playing out of position [at shortstop]," Harper said. "He was an all-conference outfielder in Texas, but we needed him at short and he was a great leadoff guy. He could bunt, sacrifice and was one of our top hitters, so we really hate to lose him."
Larkin led the team in hits (35) and batting average (.398) while he finished second on the team in doubles (5) walks (15) and on-base percentage (.527).
"Ryan Larkin led us in batting average all year long and was a very steady player at third base," Harper said. "We might have to move him a little bit position-wise, but we're looking for big things out of him again next year."
Another player Harper said may switch positions next season is Kelton Price, who batted .348 with 6 doubles, 19 RBIs, 17 runs and a team-high 5 triples.
"He can play shortstop. He can play third base. He's got a great arm and he can pitch for us, too," Harper said. "We're looking forward to him coming back and being a 3-4 pitcher for us that we think he's going to be. He's tearing up this summer for his summer league team. A really, really good player."
Huff was second on the team with a .395 batting average and led the team with 8 doubles.
"Nick came on really strong in our conference games," Harper said. "He was 4 for 4 against Clarksville and Morrilton to lead us to those two victories. A really steady player and one of those guys who could really go get balls in the outfield. Really rangy type player and we'll miss him also."
Putnam showed tremendous range at second base while batting .308 with 20 runs 12 RBIs, 4 doubles and 3 triples. He tied Madewell for the team lead with 10 hit-by-pitches as well.
"Probably the guttiest payers that we have on our team -- We go as he goes," Harper said. "We had him in our three-hole and he's five-foot nothing, but he can hit with a lot of power and can also play a little small ball with the best of them."
Sports on 07/13/2016