BENTONVILLE -- A last at-bat rally came up one run short as Farmington lost, 4-3, at Bentonville on Thursday.
"We gave a good effort against the defending 7A state champion," said Farmington coach Randy Osnes. "Defensively, we played pretty well except for a couple of things. Offensively, we've got to do more things early on."
Osnes refused to pin the loss on not having a full team with senior Camryn Journagan playing in the State 5A girls basketball tournament at Magnolia last week.
"We've only got one basketball player, who was not with us," Osnes said. "She is a two-year starter for us. This has nothing to do with that, it has to do with us chasing a rise ball up out of the zone for five and a third innings. Maybe, we needed to make that adjustment a little bit earlier."
Bentonville High 4, Farmington 3
Megan Crownover blasted a solo home run in Bentonville's first at-bat, and the Lady Tigers survived a seventh inning Farmington rally to win their season opener Thursday at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
Bentonville gradually built a 4-0 lead, beginning with A.J. Downey's grand theft, stealing home in the fourth. Bentonville added a run on an RBI triple by Tymber Riley in the fifth and one more on Morgan Nelson's RBI single in the sixth.
Farmington rallied, loading the bases in the top of the seventh to make the contest exciting. Starting pitcher Paige Devecsery reached when the Tigers dropped a ball in the infield behind the mound. Another infield error allowed Cambre Strange to get aboard with Devecsery advancing. With runners at first and second, Carley Antwine singled over second on an 0-1 pitch. With the bases loaded, BrandyWallace represented the tying run at the plate. She fought off several pitches, overcoming an 0-2 count, battling back to a full count, at 3-2, then hit a standup double driving in three runs. Wallace reached third on a single by Madison Parrish before Bentonville was able to shut the door by getting a third out.
Devecsery went the distance for Farmington, striking out six Bentonville batters.
Farmington 13, Fayetteville 1
Farmington was able to turn the tables, winning against Fayetteville, another 7A school, by a 13-1 margin Friday. The Lady Purple 'Dogs didn't help Farmington, committing no errors. In a dramatic difference at the plate from the day before, Farmington scored 11 runs off 12 hits against Fayetteville starter Abby Richardson (0-1) in 4.2 innings. Seven Farmington runs came across the plate in the fifth inning, the last one charged to Fayetteville reliever Emily Megee.
Richardson had one strikeout while Megee added one K while surrendering 2 runs on 2 hits in a third of an inning. Farmington ended a scoreless game with three runs in the second. The Lady Cardinals added three more in the top of the fourth to go up, 6-0. Fayetteville's only run was produced in the bottom of the fourth when Richardson (1 for 2) drove in a run, making the score 6-1.
After hosting Siloam Springs in a game moved to Monday, Farmington plays another road game at Bentonville West Thursday before returning home to entertain Gravette on Friday.
Sports on 03/08/2017