Cards even things up with Wolverines

MARK HUMPHREY  ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Farmington junior Chase Brown started the home-opener against Bentonville West during a 13-0 loss on Tuesday, March 2.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Farmington junior Chase Brown started the home-opener against Bentonville West during a 13-0 loss on Tuesday, March 2.

FARMINGTON -- Farmington baseball coach Jay Harper ironed some things out over the season illustrated by contrasting a 13-0 blowout to Bentonville West March 2, a team the Cardinals beat 2-1 on April 30.

Farmington trailed 1-0 much of the game until the bottom of the sixth when Lawson Devault hit a two run double that gave the Cardinals a lead.

"Our team has grown leaps and bounds from the first time we played them. We've matured and our seniors have done a really good job of leading this team," Harper said.

The Cardinals, who pulled that win off, hardly resembled the same team West handled easily early in the season. In the March 2 lopsided loss Farmington allowed 13 runs on 12 hits and compounded its pitching and batting problems with sloppy defense committing eight errors.

"This is a good baseball team we faced here tonight. We front-loaded our schedule on purpose so we could face some better competition, but our kids can't make as many errors as they made. They can't strike out as many times as they struck out, and they can't do some of the fundamental things that'll get you beat," Harper said in the aftermath of the March 2 loss.

West 13, Farmington 0

In that game, West starter Landon Grigg allowed two hits in four innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. He supported his cause at the plate by driving in four runs. Grigg put the Wolverines on the board with an early RBI single. West exploded for six runs in the third inning highlighted by back-to-back triples from Ty Durham and Grigg. Durham's shot was misjudged in deep center field and drove in three runs. Grigg hit into the gap, scoring a run, and scored on a passed ball.

Later, Grigg tacked on a 2-run single with the Wolverines scoring five runs in the sixth. Grigg gave way to reliever Drew Carter after throwing 58 pitches. Carter struck out three over the last two innings, shutting out the Cardinals.

Farmington starter Chase Brown struck out three while taking the loss. He lasted three innings and didn't get the help he needed defensively in the third inning when a fly-ball was misjudged that turned into a 3-run triple leading to a 6-run inning.

Harper didn't hide his frustration while hinting at the potential Farmington would eventually achieve in going 17-5 overall, and 7-1 in the 4A-1 to earn a share of the regular season conference title with Harrison and Shiloh Christian.

In March Griggs and Schonaver each had three hits for West, which had 12 hits while Harper evaluated pitchers early in the season.

"Right now, we're not exactly where we want to be. We're going to get there. Baseball is a game of failure. Sometimes you fail and sometimes you win. We failed tonight. We failed as coaches, we failed as players, and we got to get that fixed," Harper said. "We're still trying to figure out our lineup, trying to figure who can pitch and who can't. That's why we're throwing some of our ninth-graders to see if they can do it."

March 2, 2021

At Farmington

Bentonville West 13, Farmington 0

Bentonville West (2-0)^016^105^x^--^13^12^0

Farmington (1-1)^000^000^x^--^0^2^8

W -- Grigg (1-0), L -- Brown (0-1).

Farmington 2, West 1

On Friday, sophomore Dawson Price had an RBI for the Wolverines putting them up 1-0 in the third inning. West would not score again, however, as three Farmington pitchers, Ethan Hodge (3 innings, 1 run, 2 strike outs), Weston Sills (2 innings, 0 runs, 2 strike outs), and Chase Brown (2 innings, 0 runs, 2 strike outs), combined to scatter seven hits over seven innings. Durham led West with three hits.

Kyson Bridges had two hits and walked once while Devault drove in both Farmington runs.

Carter threw innings for West with one strike out and took the loss in relief.

April 23, 2021

At Farmington

Farmington 2, Bentonville West 1

Bentonville West (13-12, 4-8)^001^000^0^--^1^7^1

Farmington (17-5, 7-1)^000^002^x^--^2^7^1

W -- Brown, L -- Carter.