4A BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : Rivercrest rally knocks Cards out of state tourney
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
JONESBORO - Farmington's bid to return to Baum Stadium for next Saturday's 4 A state baseball final is over.
Last year's state runner-up fell 6-1 to Rivercrest Friday in the first round of the 4 A State Tournament at Valley View High School in Jonesboro. The Colts (26-3 ) plated five runs after batting around in their half of the sixth inning. Designated hitter Daly Chipman's threerun home run sounded the death knell on Farmington's championship hopes.
Rivercrest's five-run sixth was in support of right hander Zach George, who allowed one run on four hits and three walks to improve his record to 9-1. Farmington (22-3 ) could have avoided facing George and the hard-hitting Colts in the first round if it had won the 1-4 A Regional.
The Cardinals' 4-3 loss to Union Christian last Monday in the regional semifinal ended a 20-game win streak and relegated it to a No. 3 seed in the state tournament. Facing Rivercrest, who held the top spot in the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette's 4 A rankings earlier in the year, was a tough draw for the Cardinals - the second-ranked team going into the regionals.
"We understand that they were ranked No. 1 for a couple of weeks," said Jay Harper, Farmington coach. "We battled with them for about five innings. We had a bad inning. I didn't think we played extremely bad."
Senior Evan Abrecht's RBI single in the Cardinal fourth was Farmington's lone hit with a runner in scoring position. The fourth frame held promise for Farmington, but a rally never materialized. The threat ended after an inning-killing, 6-4-3 double play and one of George's seven strikeouts.
"We didn't hit the ball very well," Harper said. "It was one of those deals where I thought they were better than us today."
The Colts mustered only one run through five innings despite their leadoff man reaching base in the first, second and fourth frames. Farmington ace Abrecht deftly pitched around the trouble, striking out five through the first four innings and inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the first.
The Colts caught up to his fastball in the sixth. A pair of sharply-hit, oneout singles set the table for Chipman's three-run blast. An infield error and a pair of misplayed balls in the outfield allowed two more unearned runs to score. The loss was Abrecht's (11-1 ) first of the year.
"I thought our pitching was strong enough to win," Harper said. "Evan's done a great job all year. It's hotter over here than it is at our place. The humidity is more. Maybe that wore him down a little bit.
"We're not going to make excuses. They were better than we were today. I thought Evan pitched well enough to win. If we could've scored some more runs and given him some more support, it would've been better. We just didn't do that."
Rivercrest coach Johnny Fleming said his team started to dial in on Abrecht's fastball the third time through the batting order. He said fatigue was also a factor for both pitchers. Abrecht threw 109 pitches, 33 balls, during his six innings, and George threw 112, 41 balls, in seven innings.
"I think he kind of wore down, just like our pitcher wore down," Fleming said. "[Abrecht ] throws good. Timing plays a factor in it and him getting a little tired. We started to get around on some balls."
Rivercrest will face Ashdown today at noon in the quarterfinals at Arkansas State's Kell Field. CAC 5 Gravette 1 Brock Ashford's first inning, three-run home run powered Central Arkansas Christian past Gravette, 5-1, Friday at Kell Field. Ethan McK inzie's RBI double accounted for the Lions'lone run. McKinzie struck out seven but still absorbed the loss.
Central Arkansas Christian will meet Valley View today at noon in the quarterfinals at Valley View High School. Nashville 6 Stuttgart 2 Tyler Serrano's fifthinning home run and Luke Jamison's sixth-inning homer helped Nashville prevail 6-2 over Stuttgart Friday at Valley View High School.
Jamison also earned the decision, scattering eight over seven innings. Nashville will face Union Christian today at 2: 30 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Kell Field. Gosnell 10 Clarksville 0 A six-run fifth inning was the centerpiece of Gosnell's 10-0 rout of Clarksville Friday at Kell Field. The Pirates will face De Queen today at 2: 30 p.m. in the quarterfinals at Valley View High School.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
