Tigers open section baseball at home

Farmington earned the fifth seed for the 12-team Section 1AAA baseball tournament and will play No. 12 seed Lakeville South Thursday at 5:00 at Tiger Field.

A victory there would propel the Tigers (11-8) into a second round match-up Saturday at No. 4 Northfield.

Complete brackets may be found at
 http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/doubleelim.asp?bracket=6396&tournid=33

Boys Golf: Tigers runner-up at Southern Hills

Jake Jensen two-over par 73

The temperatures warmed, the winds calmed and the scores came down at the Southern Hills Invitational played Tuesday afternoon at the par-71 course north of Farmington.

Eagan won the six-team get-together with a low team score of 300 strokes. The Tigers recorded their best score of the weather-battered spring season with 305, followed by Rosemount 307, Bloomington Jefferson 323, Bloomington Kennedy 347 and St. Thomas Academy incomplete.

Jake Jensen led a foursome of Tigers who finished in the 70's with a two-over par 73, one shot behind the individual co-leaders. Darby Grengs carded 76. Lucas Berg 77 and Isaac Ferm 79. Tyler VanWinkle and Sam Newcomb rounded out the Farmington scorecard with respective rounds of 83 and 84.

"This was the first time in my history here where we had four scores in the 70’s," coach Jon Holmes said.  "It was also very reassuring to see the boys back up their last Friday’s 311 with an extremely solid 305.  

"Shooting those scores puts you in the top tier of golf teams in the state. We have the ability to do it and to even replicate it, but the real measurement will be when we are able to shoot those scores on an abundance of courses...Getting two freshmen and two sophomores to shoot in the 70’s on the same day is very exciting."

Holmes is helping for similar results next Thursday when the Tigers play in the Missota Conference Championships at the Northfield Golf Club.

Girls Lacrosse: Tigers down No. 10 East Ridge

Rachael Welzin netted the tying and winning goals (photo by Jim Lindquist)

No. 5 Farmington (10-1) faced a big test Tuesday night and the Tigers passed with flying colors, edging No. 10 East Ridge  (10-2) 8-7 in overtime at Tiger Stadium.

"What an exhilarating game," Farmington coach Dan Pickens said. "I will give it to them (East Ridge). They are a very good team and they play a lot like us.

"The game was never more than two goals apart; it was a close one...We knew we needed this one going into the section seeding. We were nervous but knew we had to get over the nerves and play our game."

The teams were tied 4-4 at intermission and 6-6 at the end of regulation.

In the first extra three-minute session the Raptors scored to take a one-goal lead but Rachael Welzin responded with the tying score. Another Welzin goal, her third of the night, inside a minute to play in the second OT gave her team back the lead and a late turnover by East Ridge sealed the deal..

No. 3 Shaye Jenrich (pictured above with Kamryn Corraro) and Kylee Glen led a strong defensive effort (file photo by Jim Lindquist)

"We talk about big players playing big in big games," Pickens said. "That is what happened tonight with our top four scorers getting all of the goals."

Welzin and leading scorer Shelby Klotz each scored a trio of goals and Becky Genzler and Ashley Steffes added one apiece in the Tigers ninth straight win.

Amanda Davenport assisted on two scores and Welzin, Steffes and Genzler each added an assist.

Pickens said the defense also had an outstanding night with Shaye Jenrich and Kylee Glenn standing out, especially the second half.

Senior goaltender Maddie Kohlbeck, who leads the state in save percentage with a .692 mark, also had a big night for the Tigers, stopping 18 of 25 shots sent her way.

"We showed that we can come to play in the big games," Pickens said. "I am looking forward to the remainder of the season and moving into playoffs."

The Tigers entertain section rival Rochester John Marshall Thursday night and then try to warp up the first-ever Missota Conference championship Friday at Shakopee. Section 1 post-season play begins next Monday.

Maddie Kohlbeck 18 saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Baseball: Tigers win season finale 3-2

Winning pitcher JD Hinks (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak and built a little momentum toward Thursday's Section 1AAA tournament opener with a 3-2 Missota Conference win over Holy Angels Tuesday afternoon at Donaldson Park in Richfield.

Farmington (11-8) used three pitchers and all were effective, allowing a total of just two hits and no earned runs. The victory raised the Tigers' final conference record to six wins and eight losses.

"The story of the game was pitching and capitalizing on the other team's mistakes for both teams," Farmington coach John Graff said.

"Each team had it's fair share of miscues. Besides a couple errors, we also missed a couple of signs and got caught stealing. Those things happen, but we've got to do a better job of limiting those mistakes so they don't hurt us in the sections."

The winners scored all three runs in the top of the third inning on two Stars errors, a fielder's choice ground ball and RBI doubles by Johnny Dittman and Jordan DeCroock.

Jordan DeCroock 2-4, RBI (photo by J. Lindquist)

Holy Angels helped the Farmington cause all afternoon, finishing the game with six fielding errors.

The Tigers finished the contest with just five hits, the two doubles and singles by Parker Holmstrom, Landon Neilsen and DeCroock.

JD Hicks worked the first three innings to pick up the pitching win, allowing one unearned run and striking out two.

Maverick Carlson hurled three innings of hitless relief and Austin Martinsen struck out two out of the four batters he faced in the seventh to record the save.

"...I'm proud of these guys," Graff said. "They've done a lot of things right and we finished with our best record since 2006. 

"As we head into sections it's the same thing I said at the beginning of the year.  We've got the pitching to do well.  But it's going to come down to making the plays behind them and getting more production at the plate."

The Tigers open section play at home on Thursday against an opponent to be determined by a seeding process. Pairings will be announced later today (Wednesday).

Tigers draw No. 4 seed for section softball

Farmington drew the fourth seed for the 12-team Section 1AAA girls' softball tournament and earned a bye in the opening round.

The Tigers (12-7) will play host to No. 5 Rochester John Marshall and No. 12 Faribault in the first day of post-season play Wednesday at Tiger Field.

JM will square off against Faribault at 3:30 in the first game with Farmington taking on the winner at 6:00.

The loser of the first game is eliminated from tournament play. Both teams from the second game advance to the double-elimination third round in Austin on Friday.

For complete Section 1AAA tournament brackets visit

 http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/doubleelim.asp?bracket=6759&tournid=49