PRAIRIE GROVE -- Dark clouds hung heavy over the field, bloated with rain ready to pour at any second.
The baseball coaches from Farmington and Prairie Grove met at the pitcher's mound as lightning crackled off in the distance.
How They Scored
Farmington 4, Prairie Grove 4 (susp.)
Farmington^002^020^0^-^4^3^1
Prairie Grove^101^002^#^-^4^7^3
Austin, Garner (7) and Oxford; Tice, Speed (6) and Sugg.
--Game suspended in seventh inning
With the game tied at 4-4, coaches agreed to suspend the game with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning with Prairie Grove batting and the bases loaded. It will resume Tuesday where it left off as fans scurried for shelter against a swift-moving spring storm.
"Actually, we're stunned we got this much of the game played," said Mitch Cameron, Prairie Grove coach. "We did everything we could to get it in; we just came up a little short."
The start of the game was moved up an hour to try and beat the impending rain, but the game still started about 25 minutes late as the teams waited on umpires. Once the game finally started, it was played under the threat of rain the entire way.
Farmington (5-2, 1-0 4A-1 Conference) led 4-2 in the fifth inning but could not hold on as Prairie Grove (6-3, 1-0) rallied to tie the score.
Cardinals coach Jay Harper said the suspension could have an effect on his pitching staff next week as Farmington plays a pair of key conference games.
"It sure doesn't help," Harper said. "We have a big game on Thursday against Gravette, so we'll have to sit down and take a look at it."
Prairie Grove took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a double by J.D. Speed, who later scored on a balk. Farmington took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs. A Prairie Grove error and a passed ball enabled two runs to score.
With a stiff wind blowing throughout the game, both coaches played small ball to manufacture runs. The Tigers tied the game at 2-2 in the third when Brandon May laid down a squeeze bunt to score Spencer Kilgore from third base.
Farmington pushed across a pair of runs in the fifth when Adam Ness led off with a single and Tyler Gregg was hit by a pitch. Both runs came around to touch the plate: Ness scoring on an error and Gregg on a sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
But the Cardinals could not hold the lead as Prairie Grove plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Logan Gragg crushed an RBI double to score Dakota Hutchinson, and another run scored on a passed ball to tie the score at 4-4.
Ty Tice led off the bottom of the seventh with a towering double, and Nick Sugg reached on a bunt single, moving Tice to third. After May was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs, Hutchinson hit onto a force when Farmington got Tice at home for the first out.
That's when the game was suspended as lightning flashed in the distance, forcing players and fans to scramble to beat the storms.
Prairie Grove will play a pair of games in Branson, Mo., tomorrow, while Farmington will host Westville, Okla., and Dierks on Saturday.
Sports on 04/04/2014