Jackson wins in district semifinal

~ Freshmen played a big role in the Indians' 4-2 victory against Farmington

JACKSON -- The Jackson Indians are heading to the Class 4 District 1 final game.

They can thank a stellar freshman and an impressive defense for that.

Freshman hurler Mallory Jones shut down Farmington to lead the Indians to a 4-2 victory in the semifinals Thursday night.

"She threw well," Farmington coach Brett Hale said. "She threw strikes. We faced her earlier in the season, and she was much improved tonight."

Jones allowed two runs on seven hits.

It helped to have fellow freshman Melanie Dockins behind the plate. The freshman duo have been playing together since grade school.

"It's pretty exciting working together," Jones said. "We've been playing together since 5th grade. It's exciting to be starting together on varsity as freshman."

Dockins stopped nearly everything in the dirt.

"They've been working together a lot," Jackson coach Amanda Forester said. "Dockins has been hitting well lately. I needed her in the game. And she has really worked on her defense and been playing well. Jones beared down and threw strikes."

Jackson started the scoring in the top of the second inning.

Brooke Whitledge came up with the bases loaded and two outs and ripped a liner to left field to plate Lauren Anderson, but the Knights leftfielder, Sonya Hahn, sent a strike to the plate to gun down Brittany Jones and limit the Indians to one run.

Farmington responded in the bottom of the second.

Colleen Boyer came up with runners on the corners and one out and bunted to the pitcher. Jones threw to first, but Boyer hit the first baseman's glove, knocking the ball down the right field line allowing two Farmington runners to score.

The Indians regained the lead ifor good in the third inning.

Mollie Crader led off with a singled and Demesha Huddleston followed with a double. With one out and runners still on second and third, Dockins singled up the middle to tie the game, and Anderson followed with a RBI single past a diving third baseman to take the lead.

"These kids are great at coming from behind," Forester said. "They do a great job of staying up, and they're very good at keeping themselves in the game."

That was pretty sweet," Jones said. "I was excited and relieved at the same time."

The 3-2 deficit put Farmington in unfamiliar territory.

"We really haven't been behind too much this season," Hale said. "It probably affected us a little."

The Indians preserved the lead with stellar defensive plays.

The Black Knights were threatening in the bottom half of the fifth with runners on first and second and nobody out.

Natalie Hoehn hit what appeared to be a gap shot into left field, but Crader made a nice snag and doubled off the runner at second to swing momentum.

An inning later, the Indians were back at it.

Farmington worked to get a runner on second with two outs and Taylor Benne roped a liner up the middle, but Jones made a quick snag to save a run and end the inning.

"We made some rare plays," Jones said. "They were pretty sweet."

The Knights threatened one final time.

Boyer led off the bottom of the seventh with a single but Whitney Holmes grounded out and Boyer rounded second too far.

Indians first baseman Katie Garner made a heads up play and threw behind Boyer at second and picked her off to end any threat.

"Give Jackson all the credit," Hale said. "They made the plays they needed to make."

Jackson will face top-seeded Hillsboro in the championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Jackson 012 001 0 -- 4 12 2

Farmington 020 000 0 -- 2 7 1

WP -- Mallory Jones. LP -- Erin Littrell. 2B -- Demesha Huddleston (J), Colleen Boyer (F). Multiple Hits: Jackson, Brooke Whitledge 3-3, Mollie Crader 2-3, Huddleston 2-4, Lauren Anderson 3-4; Farmington, Sonya Hahn 2-4, Boyer 2-3.