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Bulldogs stun top seeded Farmington
FARMINGTON -- It's not necessarily how a team has played over the season, but how it plays at the moment when it comes to a district tournament atmosphere.
Keeping that in mind, the Sikeston Bulldogs are starting to catch fire.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs in the Class 4, District 1 Tournament had a field day at the plate combining for 15 hits in a 12-5 upset win against the top-seeded Farmington Knights on Tuesday at Wilson Rozier Park in Farmington.
"You get to this point and seeds don't really tell how well teams are playing right now," Sikeston head coach Kevin Self said. "Some teams can get hot and, right now, we're picking a good time to get hot."
Sikeston advanced to the district championship game against the Cape Central Tigers, who won an 11-10 thriller against Jackson also on Tuesday.
It's Sikeston's first district championship appearance since 2007.
Sikeston (14-6) was both stellar at the plate and on the mound as sophomore hurler Trey Tigart pitched a complete game in possibly the biggest start of his young high school career.
Tigart, however, took to the rubber with poise beyond his years.
"You have to realized they're still a good team, but you can't be intimidated by them," Tigart said about approaching the top-seeded Knights. "You have to go after them with pitches and throw your game."
He did just that.
With a barrage of hits and runs behind him, Tigart kept a formidable Farmington lineup in check for the most part. Although he struggled in the first inning, giving up three hits and two runs, he allowed just two runners on base in the last three innings.
"He is a very quality pitcher," Self said about Tigart. "He's got more years on him than just a sophomore -- he pitches above that level. He grew up a lot on that mound."
The Bulldogs' offense put Tigart, who chipped in two hits to his cause, in prime position giving him plenty of run support.
Sikeston's 15 hits was the most Farmington, who ends their season with a 20-4 mark, has giving up all season.
"We stepped up big and hit the ball well," said Tigart. "That helped out a lot."
Fellow sophomore Tyler Anderson provided an early spark by belting a two-run home run in a 1-0 count over the left field fence in the top of the first inning.
Ross Bohannon gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead in the second inning with an RBI single that scored Tigart.
"We really swung them -- the best we've swung them all year," Self said. "We hit a ton of balls hard."
Farmington would end up tying the game again in their half of the second when Nathan Wulfert hit an RBI double. But, Sikeston eventually grabbed a commanding lead.
Leading off the third inning, Trent McMillan, Drew Harper and Cord Sheehy coaxed three consecutive walks from Farmington starter, Doug Warren, which would end Warren's day.
Warren was lifted following Sheehy's at-bat which brought in Logan Bradley in relief.
Sikeston's next batter, senior Evan Underwood, kept with the theme of big hits for the Bulldogs with a two-run double to deep right-centerfield.
Sheehy, who was standing on third after Underwood's gapper, later scored on a wild pitch to give Sikeston a 6-3 lead.
"That was probably one of the biggest hits in the game," Self said about Underwood's at-bat. "We had some big hits from a lot of different people."
From there, Sikeston continued to pour it on with four hits and four runs in the fourth inning.
Harper and Sheehy each had RBI hits while Tigart added a two-run single for Sikeston, who went up 10-3 at that point.
Tigart hit one more rough patch in the bottom of the fourth inning when, with two outs, walked consecutive batters. Both Alex Pinkston and Wulfert came around to score on a two-run double by Connor Davault which cut the deficit to 10-5.
Following a scoreless fifth inning, the Bulldogs were given yet another big hit from a sophomore. Harper smacked another Sikeston two-run home run giving the Bulldogs the eventual final score.
"It was big once we got it 10-5 and we were able to hold them the next inning," said Self. "Drew hits the two-run bomb and that kind of shut them down a little bit.
"I thought our kids did a lot of growing up."
Tigart put an end to the game with back to back strikeouts while teammates surrounded the young pitcher following the win.
Harper and Anderson led the Bulldogs with three hits apiece, including their home runs. Harper drove in three runs while Tigart and Underwood pushed two across.
McMillan and Bohannon both had two hits as well.
"I'm so proud of our kids," Self said. "We have an opportunity now. We've put ourselves into position. We've talked about that all year -- you have to get in that spot."
Sikeston will play for a district championship today at 4:30 p.m. against second-seeded Cape Central.
Sikeston 213 402 0 -- 12 15 2
Farmington 210 200 0 -- 5 9 0
WP -- Trey Tigart. LP -- Doug Warren. 2B -- (S) Tyler Anderson, Trent McMillan, Cord Sheehy, Evan Underwood; (F) Nathan Wulfert, Connor Davault. HR -- (S) Anderson, Drew Harper.