Early runs lead Farmington to road blowout of Cape Central

The Farmington Knights scored early and often on the way to a 13-1 win over the Cape Central Tigers on Wednesday.

Cape Central found itself chasing almost instantly as the Knights scratched across a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

Cape Central wasn’t able to muster anything offensively in the home half of the first and the Knights, using momentum from the first inning, pushed across six runs in the second to make it 8-0.

“We just didn’t make some plays,” Tigers coach Justin Lieser said. “We had the 8 and 9 hitter up to start the inning and we had a walk and a hit by pitch. Anytime guys get on without putting the bat on the ball, it’s tough. But, at the same time our defense didn’t pick (the pitchers) up when they made some good pitches.”

Aiden Redmond got the ball for the Knights and the right-handed was nothing short of outstanding for Farmington in the win.

Redmond had the Tigers hitters off-balance for the entirety of the game as he allowed no runs on no hits while throwing four innings in the start.

“I think he hid the ball really well,” Lieser said. “It looked like it had a little more zip on it than our hitters thought. He did a good job of mixing up pitches and he was around the zone all day.”

While Cape Central’s offense struggled, Farmington continued to roll as the Knights expanded their lead to 13-0 in the top of the fourth.

The Tigers gave the ball to Jackson Witvoet who tossed 1.2 innings while allowing 3 earned runs on three hits while walking three.

Following up Witvoet in relief was Caden Chenoweth, who threw 1.1 innings, while also allowing 2 unearned runs.

After Chenoweth, the Tigers turned things over to Grant Skelton who finished the game tossing two innings while also allowing three runs in the process.

“Our pitchers were around the zone for the most part,” Lieser said. “They’re competitive and trying to pound the zone, but at the same time the guys behind them have to make plays.”

Facing the 10-run rule in the home half of the fifth, the Tigers scratched across on a run on an infield single from Jathan Spain to make it 13-1 Farmington.

Next up for the Tigers (1-2) is a doubleheader with Kirkwood at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, March 22, at Cape Central High School.

“This is just one loss in March,” Lieser said. “It’s not our last game of the season, so we just have to keep that perspective and move on.”