FARMINGTON -- Hayden Sutton and Cade Black made sure Farmington had enough offense to overcome some shaky pitching Thursday.

Sutton and Black combined for eight hits, and Sutton drove in five runs as the Cardinals held off Pea Ridge 13-10 in a 4A-1 Conference baseball slugfest.

Sutton was 4-for-5 with three doubles from the four-hole. Black was 4-for-4 from the six-hole with a double and three singles as the Cardinals (10-4, 4-2) bashed four Pea Ridge pitchers for 12 hits.

"They came out with a focus today, and the middle of the lineup is what has propelled us all year," Farmington coach Jay Harper said. "They did a great job of waiting on pitches they wanted to see, and they hit the ball all over the field. We didn't just hit it to one place. They spread the hits out and that's what we've got to do to be successful."

The Cardinals scored six runs in the second inning, Sutton delivered the big blow with his second two-run double of the game. Chase Norwood reached on an error and Jacob Thompson was hit by a pitch to get the inning started. The hit-by-pitch was a problem for the Blackhawks (15-4, 4-3) the entire game as they drilled five Farmington batters.

The bases were loaded when Sutton smoked an 0-2 pitch into the gap between left and center field for two runs.

The Blackhawks went through three pitchers in the second inning. Sutton's hit chased starter Tristan Trundle. Shane Ivy replaced Trundle and also struggled, forcing Pea Ridge coach John King to bring in Jarris Paryzek and later Gage Kelso.

"Our pitching was the difference in the game," King said. "We didn't start out good pitching, and the pitching we brought in in the middle didn't perform very well. Gage came in and kept us in it. I wish I'd have brought him in second."

Farmington struck for four runs in the fifth inning to build a 13-5 lead and had the bases loaded with its best hitter, Adam Ness, at the plate. A run-rule win looked possible at that point, although Ness was retired on a deep fly to center field.

But Pea Ridge did not go away quietly. The Blackhawks scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning, including a pair on Seth Brumley's ringing double, to pull Pea Ridge back in the game and knocking Farmington starter Keaton Austin out of the game.

"We're just not finishing people off," said Harper. "That's what I told the team, when you get a chance to finish people off, you have to. These guys (Pea Ridge), they score runs. They beat Prairie Grove 15-14, so we know they can swing it. But these kids understand it and we'll get better at it."

Zach Davis smacked a double for Pea Ridge in the top of the seventh inning, but Black, who came in for Austin in the sixth inning, was able to shut the Blackhawks down to preserve the win. Austin struck out 11 batters, but walked five.

Brumley was 3-for-4 with two doubles for Pea Ridge, and Logan Wichert had three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Softball

Farmington 10, Pea Ridge 2

Farmington's lineup is so stacked with hitters, that often the lower portion of the order is overlooked.

Lindsey Blackburn made sure that wasn't the case on Thursday.

Blackburn crushed a bases-clearing double to highlight an eight-run first inning as Farmington (13-5, 6-0) rolled to a big home win.

"She is getting back to the way she swung the bat last year," Farmington coach Randy Osnes said. "It's a good thing to see, and it's the right time of the year for that to happen."

The first-inning outburst was all the run support Farmington's Jordin Smith needed as she dominated in the circle, allowing just seven hits.

Oakley Sisemore walked twice and scored twice in the first inning, and Paige Purifoy, Sara Beth Jones and Brandy Wallace all had RBIs in the first to blow the game open.

Smith added a solo home run in the fifth inning.

"Farmington came out ready to go from the very first pitch," said Pea Ridge coach Josh Reynolds. "You have to be ready when you get off the bus to compete with them."

Sara Whatley had a pair of hits for the Lady Blackhawks (9-6, 4-3) and Alli Whatley added a double.

Sports on 04/18/2014