KNIGHT FRESHMAN TURNS OUT LIGHTS ON JACKSON SEASON 6-1

SIKESTON - Farmington's Greg Collins throws hard for a freshman.

On Thursday it was hard enough to break a glass slipper as the Jackson Indians' Cinderella run through the Class 4A, District 1 baseball tournament came to an end.

The second-seeded Farmington Knights won their second district championship in three years, beating Jackson 6-1 at Sikeston's V.F.W. Stadium.

Farmington (18-5) will host the winner of the Eureka-Pacific game on Thursday.

The Indians (11-15) began their improbable run by knocking off fourth-seeded Poplar Bluff on Tuesday 5-0 on a Josh Hopkins no-hitter. They then beat the top-seeded Sikeston Bulldogs 9-4 on Wednesday.

But on Thursday they ran into Farmington's 14-year-old freshman.

"(Collins) just reared back and threw it and said `Here it is, hit it,'" said Jackson head coach Sam Sides, whose team mustered just three hits. "We hit it a few times but we really didn't hit very well all day long. Whenever we did put it in play we hit it right to them and they made the plays.

"That kid's a pretty good pitcher. He didn't have much other than a fastball, but he probably threw around 80. He threw as hard as anybody we saw all year long. It was a challenge just to put the ball in play."

Collins went the distance, striking out seven and walking four.

"We felt like he had good enough stuff coming into the season to pitch at the varsity level for us, but to come out with these circumstances and come in and beat a good Jackson team is just an exceptional job," said Farmington head coach Stan Walden.

Farmington got things started in the top of the first inning with two runs. A Doug Wiles sacrifice fly drove in Josh Hoehn and Chad Walden plated Michael Thebeau with a single.

Farmington added another run in the top of the fifth when Thebeau tripled in Tim Middleton to lead 3-0.

"We wanted to get (Collins) a little confidence with some runs," said Walden. "We set the tone early in the first inning by hitting the ball hard."

Jackson cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Andy Callis drove in courtesy runner Brandon Pylate.

But that was all Jackson could get as Collins was able to pitch out of several jams.

Farmington scored three insurance runs in the sixth inning.

Farmington was led offensively by Thebeau, who went 2-for-3 with and RBI and a run. Middleton went 2-3 with a run and Jeff Bowling went 2-3 with an RBI.

Callis, Tory Meyr and Toby Freeman had Jackson's only hits.

Freeman, the losing pitcher, went 5 1-3 innings and allowed six runs on nine hits. He walked four and struck out three. Hopkins pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings, striking out two and walking two.

"(Freeman) kept us in the game but we just didn't score any runs to back him up," said Sides. "He did everything I asked of him. We played a pretty good game, but we just didn't hit the ball. We're happy to reach the championship game, but we weren't satisfied - we wanted to win it. I'm proud of my kids, though. We battled back and really finished up strong. (Farmington is) a good team and they deserve to win it."