FARMINGTON -- Kamryn Uher last faced Harrison on March 20 when the Farmington first baseman was on the short end of a 68-54 loss in the Class 4A State girls basketball finals.
Harrison's been basking in a media frenzy that began with their March run in the Class 4A State girls basketball tournament at Morrilton and continuing beyond the finals throughout the first two months of softball but they ran into a buzz saw, losing 8-2 at Farmington Thursday.
Shayley Treat (2-for-4) homered twice, driving in six runs, Grace Boatright and Remington Adams executed a double play and pitcher Carson Griggs (7 innings, 2 runs, 7 hits, 5 strike outs) repeatedly frustrated Harrison by shutting the Lady Goblins down when they had scoring opportunities.
"Carson did a great job in the circle. She pitched herself out of some jams early when we committed three or four errors there in a game, which it was a tight game. They committed a couple also and I think both of us knew what was on the line for tonight's game," said Farmington coach Randy Osnes.
The Lady Cardinals never led in the March 20 state championship girls basketball game, but in another battle against Harrison for first place -- this time for the 4A-1 softball conference lead -- Uher singled into right center with a runner in scoring position to break a scoreless tie in the second inning Thursday.
Carson Griggs led off by reaching on an error. She advanced to second on Drew Clifford's sacrifice bunt bringing up Uher who delivered an RBI.
That 1-0 lead held up for several innings behind stalwart Farmington defense including a flyball caught in left field by Reese Shirey, another of three softballers to play in the girls basketball finals (sophomore outfielder Peyton Denham is the other), and an outstanding double play with catcher Boatright snagging a pop-up with runners at the corners, then throwing to second baseman Adams covering first to catch Fancier cheating off base and unable to get back in time.
"How about Boatright? She controls the game there behind the dish and she's a great player and she's a great motivator for this team and a great leader," Osnes said. "There was a couple situations right there that were huge that she had and the situation where they ran into third over here. All of it was big."
Farmington added an insurance run early in the fourth when Carson Griggs helped her cause with a leadoff single into right center. Davidson followed with a single into left center arranging the stage for Clifford's RBI double off the wall doubling the lead to 2-0.
Uher came up next with runners at second and third. She sent a tantalizing grounder towards third and the Lady Goblins lived up to their mischievous name. They couldn't resist trying to one-up the Lady Cardinals. The infielder tried to tag out Farmington's lead runner, but she got back to third. The hesitation gave Uher a head start and she beat the throw to first to load the bases.
Shirey came up and hit into a fielder's choice. Harrison got a force-out at the plate, yet the bases remained loaded and Treat knocked a grand slam home run out of the ballpark on a 1-1 pitch.
Four runs crossed the plate and bam -- just like that Farmington led 6-0 stunning the Lady Goblins.
"You get Shayley, who comes in there for the grand slam after a few folks have put the ball in play and base hit, base hit, grand slam, then Shayley comes in a little bit later and tops that off with a two-run shot so she had a great night, and all the way around defensively, diving bodies throughout the game," Osnes said. "These kids are hustling, they wanted it. You could tell throughout the game how special this game was for them. I'm proud of them all the way around."
Harrison erased the goose egg with a solo homer by Katie Fleming in the fifth inning, but Uher wasn't finished dealing out her own brand of softball justice. She led off the bottom of the sixth with a sharply-hit single into right field and moved to second on Shirey's sacrifice bunt. Treat came up again and blasted her second homer of the day over the left field wall extending the Lady Cardinal advantage to 8-1.
Uher has solidified the first base position since her first stint there coming off the bench on March 20 in the Farmington Invitational Softball Tournament hours after the state championship girls basketball game.
"It was pretty hard, especially since it didn't go the way we wanted it to," Uher said. "So basically we just came back down here and as [girls basketball head] Coach [Brad] Johnson likes to say, '[Have a] windshield mentality is to just put everything that happened earlier [behind you], just keep pushing forward, and just forget about what happened and just go keep playing and do what you can do."
She did her part Thursday as Ones noted, "She went 3-for-3" as Farmington (17-2, 5-0) took over sole possession of first place in the 4A-1 softball standings while dumping Harrison (13-7, 5-1) into second place.
April 15, 2021
At Farmington
Farmington 8, Harrison 2
Harrison (13-7, 5-1)^000^000^0^--^2^7^1
Farmington (17-2, 5-0)^100^502^x^--^8^12^4
W -- C. Griggs (14-1), L -- Keele.