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| Spencer Merle, 2 doubles, 2 runs in the opener (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The twin bill was scheduled for Tiger Field but the home turf was still too wet to allow play so the teams met in Rochester to kick off the Missota Conference season. The Wingers won the opener 14-6 and the nightcap 7-2.
" For the most part we were competitive with Red Wing who was ranked in the top 10 in the pre-season poll," Farmington coach Mike Winters said. "We had a four-run lead in the first game through the fifth inning and we jumped out to a two-run lead in game two.
"Offensively we did a good job of putting the ball in play and working the count in our favor...On the hill, we need to continue to find guys who want to take the ball and compete and hopefully someone who can come in and shut the door on a lead."
The Tigers built a 6-2 lead lead in the first game with Kevin Olund knocking in a pair of runs and Bobby Eckert, Johnny Dittman and Kyle Mayer one apiece before the bottom fell out.
Red Wing took the lead with an eight-run sixth inning and then added a little insurance with four more scores in the top of the seventh.
JD Hinks pitched the first five and two-thirds innings and gave up the first five runs on seven hits. He struck out seven batters and did not issue a walk. The bullpen trio of Olund, Jordan Beschorner and Austin Martinsen got roughed up for seven runs on nine hits the rest of the way.
Farmington hurt itself with four errors which led to four unearned runs.
"We need to find a way to keep our focus through the long innings, because we will have those in this doubleheader set-up," Winters said.
Spencer Merle accounted for two of the six Farmington hits, both doubles, and scored a pair of runs. Nick Schoening also scored twice for Farmington.
The Tigers started out on the right foot in the second game, grabbing a 1-0 lead on a first-inning double by Dittman and a run-scoring single by Merle.
The lead jumped to 2-1 in the third inning on a triple by Jordan Lugowski and a Red Wing error but from then on, it was all Wingers.
The state's eighth-rated Class 2A team countered with a four-run third inning and then added solo runs in the fifth and sixth innings to close out the win.
Parker Holmstrom started on the hill for the Tigers, giving up the first five Red Wing runs and absorbing the loss. Jared Lipinski surrendered the final two runs in 3.3 innings of relief. Kyle Johnson came on to record the final out of the sixth inning.
The Tigers collected seven hits in the contest, including a pair of singles by Bobby Eckert.
Tuesday the Tigers continue their string of Missota Conference doubleheaders with a pair of games at New Prague. First pitch is scheduled for 3:15.
