WESTSIDE -- The Gravette Lion baseball team put up a gallant fight on April 27 when it faced the 4A Region 1 leader Farmington Cardinals in Farmington for the first round of the district tournament. A home run by the Cardinals in the bottom of the sixth inning finished the Lions' 2021 baseball season.
Farmington finished the regular season with seven wins and only one conference loss while Gravette finished in ninth place with no conference wins and six losses.
The Cardinals kicked off the contest in the bottom of the first inning with a run, taking the early lead. In the next three innings, neither team brought any runners across home plate. That changed in the bottom of the fifth when Farmington managed to bring home two runs to extend its lead to three.
Wyatt Coffelt denied the Cardinals a shutout when he managed to cross home plate for the first and only run for the Lions.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chase Brown hit a home run for the Cardinals and it began to look bleak for the Lions at this point. Farmington capped off the inning with one more run, making it a 5-1 game, with the Lions up to bat in the top of the seventh.
Good fielding on the part of the Cardinals denied the Lions the chance for a rally and Farmington took the round one victory 5-1 over Gravette.
Jake Carver was on the mound for the Lions, completing five innings and delivering 110 pitches. He allowed three runs on four hits, while walking eight and striking out seven. Carver was relieved in the sixth inning by Holden Betz who completed the remaining inning with 10 pitches. He allowed two runs on two hits and one home run.
The Gravette Lions finished the season 6-17 overall, 0-6 in conference play, and 0-1 in tournament action.