Farmington beats De Soto for third time in district opener

By Kevin Jenkins | July 15, 2015 |

STE. GENEVIEVE – Brennan White neatly fielded his position when tested, and pitched eight solid innings to help the Farmington Post 416 Senior Legion baseball team defeat De Soto for the third straight time.

Right fielder Dennis Pogue finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored in his return to the lineup, and Post 416 advanced in the District 13 tournament with a 7-3 victory on Tuesday evening.

Brandt Busenbark was 2-for-3 while walking twice as Farmington (10-9) earned a second-round matchup with top seed Ste. Genevieve on Wednesday.

White took the ball after other potential starters Logan Winder and Busenbark saw extensive work on Sunday, and allowed one earned run on six hits while striking out three.

The right-hander retired the leadoff batter in each of his first five innings, thanks to an early diving catch by Pogue and spinning throw by Winder after ranging up the middle in the third.

White caught two line drives on the mound while fielding three other ground balls, and turned a double play to erase a walk in the De Soto sixth.

Farmington snapped broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the fourth against Kingston High School lefty Billy Hovis. The rally was aided by a favorable close call.

Pogue was the first of four straight batters to reach with one out, and was ruled safe when a charging shortstop tried for a fielder’s choice at second base.

Busenbark followed with an RBI double to left-center, and Brayden Krause drove in Hayden Helvey with a single through the left side. Anthony Breakfield grounded out for an RBI to make it 3-0.

De Soto countered with a 1-out surge in the fifth, and tallied twice when consecutive hits from Cherokee Boynton, Hayden Radford and Clayton Boyer were amplified by two Post 416 errors.

Farmington loaded the bases following singles by Krause and Breakfield in the ensuing top of the sixth, and restored a 5-2 lead on RBI by Garrett Thomure and Brandon Winder.

Boyer went 3-for-5 and crossed the plate after advancing on a wild pitch in the eighth, but Farmington responded with two runs against reliever Cole White in the ninth.

Brandon Winder smacked a leadoff double to right-center, and Pogue extended the inning by beating out an infield hit. Busenbark notched his second RBI two batters later.

Ace Armstrong walked two and struck out one in a scoreless ninth to close the game.

Krause nearly had a 3-hit game, but was denied extra bases when center fielder Robert Nickelson raced back to make an over-the-shoulder catch in the top of the eighth.

Festus faces Rock Memorial to begin the Wednesday tournament action at 5 p.m. The entire bracket will be played at Yanks Field in Ste. Genevieve.

Brennan White scattered six hits over eight innings to help Farmington Post 416 defeat De Soto 7-3 in a first-round Senior Legion district game on Tuesday.