4A SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT : DeWitt downs Lady Cards in state opener
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
NASHVILLE - The Farmington Lady Cardinals have had better days on the softball diamond than Friday.
A breakdown in fundamentals cost the Lady Cardinals dearly in the opening round of the 4 A State Softball Tournament as the DeWitt Dragonettes posted a 6-3 victory to end Farmington's season.
"I'm proud of these girls," Farmington skipper Randy Osnes said of his squad that finished the year with a 24-8 record. "We've played some very good ball this year. We just didn't do it today."
The Lady Cardinals suffered four errors and missed several scoring opportunities, stranding nine base runners on the day.
"We hit the ball, but we hit it right at them," Osnes said. "We made some fundamental errors and we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had to score. I didn't coach them well enough to get us through it.
"Give DeWitt credit. They played well and won the game."
The loss stung the Lady Cardinals, who had aspirations of winning the school's third softball state title, because they knew they could have performed better.
"Farmington is an excellent team and a great program every year," DeWitt coach Bobby Peeks said. "We played well and we're looking forward to playing again tomorrow."
The Dragonette's took an early lead with a two-run homer by pitcher Hollie Horton over the center field fence.
Farmington tied the game scoring single runs in the first and second innings, but would not tally another until the seventh.
DeWitt broke the 2-all tie in the fifth thanks to Tiffany Stowe's lead-off double and RBI hits by Taylor Counce and Brittney Moss to take a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Cardinals lost focus in the field in the seventh inning as the pressure mounted, allowing the Dragonettes to tack on two more unearned runs for a 6-2 lead.
The Lady Cardinals rallied in the seventh with Samantha Luther smacking a double and Kelly Helton driving her in with a base rap, but Horton struck out Farmington's final two batters to preserve the 6-3 victory.
Lacey Kragel went 3 for 4 to lead Farmington in hitting, while Helton went 2 of 4.
Skyler Smith struck out four for the Cardinals and gave up nine hits.
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