FARMINGTON -- Bentonville's Jordan Gartman reached on an error to lead off the fifth inning, that error, coupled with two miscues on one play and a home-run came back to haunt Farmington.
The Lady Cardinals lost a hard-fought battle with Bentonville that ended with a 4-1 score on April 12.
On the upside, a fearless freshman, McKenzi Bogan, started at pitcher and looked impressive.
"McKenzi Bogan did a very good job, she did a great job for a freshman walking out there against the defending 7A state champions," said Farmington coach Randy Osnes. "She was fearless. She threw a good curveball today. She spotted her fast-ball well. Her rise-ball kept them off-balance for five innings."
Bogan stayed out of trouble early. In the second inning, Keelah Griffith hit a two-out single into center field, but was left on base when Morgan Nelson grounded out to shortstop. The Lady Tigers were retired in order in the third and fourth innings.
"We hurt ourselves in one inning, we made a few errors and I called one bad pitch, that amounted to four runs, that's about it," Osnes said, summarizing a contest that was deadlocked in a scoreless tie throughout the first four innings.
A Lady Cardinal error allowed Gartman to get on in as the fifth inning began, and Farmington almost dodged a bullet. Bogan got Griffith to pop up into her glove coming out of the chalked circle, then induced a fly-out by Nelson into center field. Alyssa Downey then hit a grounder that went past both the shortstop and outfielder allowing a run to score from first and Bentonville took a 1-0 lead. Undaunted, Bogan ended the inning when Cailey Cochran hit a fly-ball that was caught in foul territory beyond right field.
Farmington answered in the bottom of the fifth. Leadoff hitter Anna Bennett bunted her way on. Bentonville starter Madison Prough was tough. She recorded back-to-back strike-outs before Eliana Marano's bunt drove in a run tying the game at 1-1 for Farmington. Marano turned the bunt into a double with a throw going to the plate, but Prough came up with another strike-out to keep the score even. Prough fanned 8 in extending her season record to 14-1.
A leadoff single in the sixth by Megan Crownover set the stage for Haley Cornell, who blasted a two-run homer pushing Bentonville back into the lead, at 3-1. Bogan kept her composure, although the next batter Tymber Riley got a single with Farmington shortstop Paige Devecsery diving into the dirt to make a stop. She redeemed the out on the next play by fielding Gartman's grounder, then throwing to second. Farmington nearly had a double play but Gartman was ruled safe at first. Bogan then caught Griffith's line drive and the inning was over.
Bentonville added one more run in the top of the seventh. Nelson had a leadoff double, followed by a fly-out that allowed the runner to reach third. An error allowed a run to score. Crownover's infield fly was caught by Brandy Wallace, playing third base for a second out. Bogan issued a walk to Jenna Wildeman and then pitched around Cornell to load the bases.
Devecsery came on in relief with a Tiger at each base and two outs. She faced Bentonville utility player, freshman Ashlynn Taylor, who battled back to a full-count after falling behind 1-2 early. Taylor fouled the next two pitches off before grounding out to second baseman Carley Antwine.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bennett led off by bunting her way on again, but Farmington could not advance her and lost, 4-1.
Sports on 04/26/2017