FARMINGTON -- Walks were the trend of the day, but in the end the Cardinals were the ones singing, "We're gonna do the walk of life," as Farmington defeated Shiloh Christian.
The Cardinals won, 13-12, after blowing a 12-1 lead on March 27, ending a five-game winning streak by the Saints.
In the final tally, the Cardinals (11-4) and Saints (8-3) racked up a combined 22 walks and committed 6 errors between the ball-clubs. In Farmington's victory, Tyler Gregg was 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs to lead the Cardinals. Blake Putnam was 4-for-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs, Eric Hill was 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs and Ryan Larkin was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored.
The non-conference showdown had plenty of drama with Putnam, the Cardinals' fifth pitcher of the game, picking up the win on the mound by not allowing a run over the final 1 and 1/3 innings. Adding to the drama was the ejection of head coach Jay Harper in the third inning, leaving assistant coach Clint Scrivner to manage the situation.
"Jay and I talk to each other a lot, we had talked the day before and we didn't want to use our pitchers too much because of the Arkansas Activity Association rules on pitch counts," Scrivner said. "So, we pulled Silvis out so he can come back and pitch on Thursday."
Cardinals Build 12-1 Lead
The Cardinals struck first with RBI doubles by Putnam and Gregg for a 2-0 lead. When Shiloh came up to bat, Cardinal starter Ben Silvis struggled with control issues, walking four in the bottom of the first and allowing one run as the Saints cut Farmington's lead in half.
Trenton McChristian led off the second for Farmington with a walk, scoring on a Ryan Larkin RBI single. Larkin moved to third on a Putnam single and scored on a Kelton Price RBI single. Putnam and Price were driven in on a two RBI single by Eric Hill to extend the Cardinal lead to 6-1.
Shiloh was scoreless in their at-bat in the second, and the Cardinal lead continued to climb. With two outs in the third, Larkin coolly drew a walk and was moved to third on a Putnam single. Gregg drove Larkin home with a RBI single for a 7-1 lead.
Silvis was relieved in the third by Drake Vinyard with two on and no outs. Vinyard swiftly got the Cardinals out of the inning with a strike-out, a pop-up, and a fielder's choice.
Tripp Cheney led off the fourth with a walk and pinch runner Cameron Bracy was driven home on a RBI single by Hill. Cade Fenton walked and Logan Bobak reached on a fielder's choice. Larkin drove in Fenton with a two-out RBI single, Putnam followed with an RBI single, and Gregg hit a two RBI double for 12-1 Cardinal lead.
Furious Shiloh Comeback
Shiloh mounted a furious comeback. Beau German (2-for-3 and 3 RBIs), Jake Nelson (3-for-4, RBI), and Michael Connolly (2-for-4, RBI) scored runs for the Saints.
Vinyard was charged with 6 runs on 4 hits and two walks in the bottom of the fourth inning before Tyler Gates relieved him with no outs. Gates stopped the Shiloh outburst to maintain a 12-7 Farmington lead.
Gates shut out Shiloh in the fifth, but there was more trouble in the sixth. McChristian began the sixth on the mound and went 2/3 of an inning while yielding 5 hits and two walks, which translated into 5 Saint runs bringing the once lopsided contest into a 12-12 tie.
"It wasn't that we made bad plays, they hit the ball real well and we had a few walks in there that hurt us," Scrivner said. "We had planned to use several pitchers. I think Shiloh was seeing the ball better in the later innings than they were early."
Bases Left Loaded
In keeping with the pre-determined strategy, Scrivner inserted Farmington's fifth pitcher of the game, using Putnam as a reliever. The move paid a handsome dividend as Putnam induced a ground-out with the bases loaded for the third out. In the top of the seventh, Farmington took their turn at loading the bases. Cheney hit a two-out infield single followed by walks for Hill and Fenton. McChristian hit a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed allowing Bracy, who was running for Cheney, to score the go-ahead run. Although, the Cardinals left the bases loaded, they held a 13-12 lead and were three outs away from winning the game.
Finding A Closer
"Win the inning is our motto, I told the boys if we win this inning, we win the game," Scrivner said. "That's all it took. We win the seventh inning and we win the game."
Scrivner sent Putnam out to close the game. Putnam wasn't perfect, but he got the job done. He walked the leadoff batter, then induced a grounder to second for the first out. Still, the lead runner was on third after stealing second. Putnam struck out the next batter for the second out, followed by a walk. The last batter hit a slicing ball to right field that freshmen Drew Sturgeon made a sliding catch on to end the marathon game with Farmington holding onto a 13-12 win.
Sports on 04/05/2017