Knights end lengthy drought in MAAA tournament finals

By MATT KING
Daily Journal Sports Writer

May 04, 2008 - 01:15:00 CDT

FARMINGTON - The Farmington baseball program had repeatedly reached the finals of the MAAA Conference Tournament over the past eight years, only to watch its opponents carry the championship plaque away each time.

The Knights finally halted that unwanted trend late Friday night, using a five-run spurt during the second inning to notch a 5-3 victory over top-seeded Ste. Genevieve in a battle of Large-School division co-champions.

Farmington (11-8) claimed its first tournament crown since 1995 despite finishing the contest with only four total hits, including a perfect 2-for-2 effort from freshman catcher Zach Hibbits.

The conclusion of the first inning marked a decisive turning point in the action after Aaron Wehner singled and Tyler Thomure doubled to help Ste. Genevieve (13-4) build a scoring threat with one out.

Farmington pitcher Nick Baker induced a key ground ball to retire Wehner between third and home, then dodged a bases-loaded threat on a soft lineout to third, sending the momentum directly to the Knights.

Ste. Genevieve starter Josh Meyer was perfect in four of his seven innings pitched, but issued three costly walks to begin the second. Pinch-runner Doug Noble scored the initial run when senior Adam dunked a RBI single into shallow right-center field.

A critical miscue saw a short throw fail to connect between the Ste. Genevieve middle infielders, allowing two more runs to score for a 3-0 advantage. Blum raced home moments later on a passed ball, and Ethan Bullard capped the eventful stanza with a sacrifice fly.

A strong relay throw prevented Farmington from padding its lead on a Hibbits single in the third. Meyer notched nine strikeouts and allowed two earned runs in the complete-game loss.

The Dragons spent the remainder of the night attempting to chip away. Chad Greminger started the fourth with a triple to deep left-center, and promptly scored on a wild pitch. Baker stranded two runners in the frame after snaring a line drive off the wooden bat of Curt Roth.

Greminger added to his 2-for-3 performance with a two-out RBI single that ignited a rally in the fifth. After Baker faced his final batter with a walk to Caleb Whitworth, Meyer greeted reliever Alex Freund with a RBI double down the left-field line.

A foul out by Sean Steagall left the potential tying runs in scoring position, and Freund induced a double play in the seventh to nail down the save. Thomure opened the final frame with a single to finish 2-for-3 plus a walk.

Baker recorded four strikeouts and hit three batters over 4 2/3 innings for the win. Isaac Armstrong added a single for the Knights.

The loss snapped a season-high win streak of seven for the Dragons, who were awarded the top seed despite falling to Farmington at home in a previous regular-season battle.

Farmington 050 000 0 - 5  4  1

Ste. Genevieve  000 120 0 - 3  6  1

WP - Baker 4 2/3i 3r 4h 4k 3bb 3hb.

LP - Meyer 7i 5r 2er 4h 9k 4bb.

SV - Freund 2 1/3i 0r 2h 2k 0bb.

Hitting:

Farmington - Hibbits 2-2, Armstrong 1-3, Blum 1-3.

Ste. Genevieve - Thomure 2-3, Greminger 2-3, Meyer 1-2, Wehner 1-4. 2b - Thomure, Meyer. 3b - Greminger.