In its first Class 5A state softball tournament appearance, Farmington has made the most of it.
Paige Devecsery, after a shaky start, allowed just five hits and struck out six in a complete game gem to lead Farmington to the Class 5A state championship game with an 8-3 win against De Queen on Saturday.
Devecsery walked four but got plenty of run support from a Lady Cardinals' offense that bashed three extra-base hits.
Farmington scored first on Madison Parrish's RBI double, scoring Carley Antwine who had opened the game with a single and moved to second when Alyssa Reed was hit by a pitch.
De Queen answered back with three runs in the bottom of the first inning when Madison Runnels cracked a three-run home run off Devecsery. A walk and an error put two runners on ahead of Runnels' homer for a 3-1 lead.
After the Lady Cardinals (26-4) pulled within 3-2, Farmington took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning, all with two outs. Kally Stout tied the game at 3-3 by lining a 1-1 pitch over the wall in centerfield. Parrish and Reed then drew back-to-back walks and McKenzi Bogan singled to drive in Parrish for a 4-3 lead. Paige Anderson added an RBI single to make it 5-3.
Antwine increased the margin to 6-3 in the fifth with a solo home run.
Devecsery dominated the rest of the way, working out of a sixth-inning jam to keep it 5-3 after De Queen got two runners on.
Farmington scored two more runs in the seventh on a De Queen error and RBI hit-by-pitch. Devecsery got a 1-2-3 inning to end the game, sending the Lady Cardinals into a celebration.
Antwine, Bogan and Anderson all had two hits each for Farmington and Parrish reached base four times. The top of Farmington's order had four hits and six walks combined.
Farmington will carry a 13-game winning streak into the championship game at Bogle Park against Greenbrier, who smashed Morrilton 11-3 in Saturday's other semifinal. The date and time of the championship game will be determined later today.
Sports on 05/13/2018