4A NORTH REGIONAL BASEBALL : Abrecht shuts down Dover
Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2008
PRAIRIE GROVE — Farmington usually doesn’t need much help with Evan Abrecht on the mound.
Dover gave it to the Cardinals anyway.
Farmington advanced with a 10-0 five-inning victory against the error-prone Pirates in the first round of the Class 4 A North Region tournament at Rieff Park. Farmington (21-1 ) advances to play Union Christian in Monday’s semifinal.
Abrecht dominated the Pirates (14-8 ), allowing 3 hits, striking out 10 and walking none in 5 innings.
“Evan has done a good job all year,” Farmington Coach Jay Harper said. “When he’s on the mound, we feel confident he’s going to come through.” While Abrecht was controlling Dover’s bats, he allowed the Cardinals to figure things out against Pirates starter Kyle Biggs. Biggs didn’t allow a run in the first two innings, but Farmington broke through with Wes Kahl’s two-run home run in the third inning.
Biggs gave up a single and another Cardinal reached on an error, but Biggs was able to escape the third without allowing any more runs.
It got worse in the fourth. The Pirates committed two errors that allowed four runs to score and chase Biggs from the game.
Farmington had a four-run, two-out rally against reliever Colton Barton in the fifth to end the game with the mercy-run rule. The runs were unearned after an error started the inning, one of five Dover errors on the day.
Dover Coach Jason McGhee said the Pirates have struggled defensively all year. It cost them Saturday because the extra outs helped Farmington figure out the pitching and collect 11 hits.
The Pirates never solved Abrecht, who recorded strikeouts on five of the last six outs of the game. Dover batters took called third strikes six times.
“He hit his spots really well,” McGhee said. “He did what he had to do. We took too many pitches and didn’t swing the bat aggressively.” Dover (14-8 ).................... 000 00 — 0 3 5 Farmington (21-1 )............. 002 44 — 10 11 1 Biggs, Barton (4 ) and Waters; E. Abrecht and Rofkahr. W — E. Abrecht. L — Biggs. HR — Farmington: Kahl. UNION CHRISTIAN 1, BOONEVILLE 0 Casey Mikula threw a seven-hit shutout as the Eagles (18-11 ) defeated the Bearcats (14-6 ).
Mikula scored the game’s only run when he singled in the sixth, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Ben Nolan’s single. Mikula struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter.
Bearcats starter Jordan Cobb allowed 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 5. Union Christian (18-11 )... 000 010 0 — 1 3 0 Booneville (14-6 )........... 000 000 0 — 0 7 0 Mikula and Mathis; Cobb and Porter. W — Mikula. L — Cobb. CLARKSVILLE 4, GREENLAND 1 Derrick Pledger struck out 12 and allowed four hits as the Panthers (14-5 ) defeated the Pirates.
Pledger gave up a run in the top of the first but shut out Greenland after that. Clarksville scored its runs on an RBI double by Matt Hudson, a wild pitch by Greenland’s Trevor Mitchell and two-run error by second baseman Robert Smith.
Mitchell drove in Greenland’s run with a double. Greenland.................... 100 000 0 — 1 4 2 Clarksville (14-5 )........... 001 120 x — 4 8 2 Mitchell and Boone; Pledger and Hudson. W — Pledger. L — Mitchell. GRAVETTE 5, OZARK 4 Ethan McKinzie struck out 11 and drove in a run as the Lions (20-7 ) defeated the Hillbillies (12-10 ).
Blake Rutherford hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and McKinzie drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third. Ozark scored two runs in the fourth, but Gravette answered with Travis Eden’s RBI single.
The Hillbillies cut the lead to 5-4 with a two-run fifth but McKinzie shut them out the rest of the way. Ozark (12-10 ).............. 000 220 0 — 4 9 1 Gravette (20-7 )............ 301 100 x — 5 10 2 Martinez, Crowley (4 ) and Rudolph; McKinzie and Eden. W — McKinzie. L — Martinez. HR — Gravette: Blake Rutherford.
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