Stout always a tough out at Farmington

Farmington, which lost in the state softball finals the previous two seasons, didn't lack for motivation entering the 2020 season.

The Lady Cardinals also were stacked, led by 10 seniors, including all-state first baseman Kally Stout.

But Farmington's season ended March 10 when the Lady Cardinals won 9-7 at Bentonville West to improve to 3-0. The Arkansas Activities Association called for a two-week suspension of play on March 12, then decided in April to cancel spring sports across the state because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Stout hit .439 with 10 home runs as a junior for a team that finished 25-3. Farmington was on the cusp of a dream season last spring before Pottsville rallied for a 7-4 victory over the Lady Cardinals in the Class 4A state championship game at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.

Stout was off to another strong start this year, highlighted by a 16-6 victory over Bryant when she clubbed two home runs and drove in five.

"Kally's the best I've had here in 24 years, and we've had a lot of great players," Farmington Coach Randy Osnes said. "She has all the tools. She's got speed, she's extremely athletic, and she has one of the smoothest swings of any kid that I've seen."

Stout said she was having a great senior year at Farmington when spring sports were canceled. Stout made all-conference and all-state tournament teams in volleyball while leading Farmington to a 21-5-1 record. She also was selected as homecoming queen in a year when Farmington opened its new football stadium.

But Stout said she would trade it all for another chance to win a state championship in softball.

"I'd give up that [homecoming] crown, for sure," Stout said. "I'd rather have a [championship] ring. I saw on social media AAA had canceled the games, and I couldn't believe it. I'm still kinda processing it all, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Farmington strung together 17 consecutive victories last season before losing to Pottsville in the state championship game. The Lady Cardinals went 10-0 in league play and won both the 4A-1 Conference and 4A-North Regional tournaments.

Taos Jones, who stepped down recently as softball coach at Gravette, said Stout was always a tough out.

"Much like many of Farmington's kids, you didn't want to pitch to her," Jones said. "I was always trying to look for weaknesses in a kid's swing and get my pitcher to exploit those. Stout didn't have a lot of holes in her swing, which made it hard to pitch to her, and it always seemed like she was up when there were runners in scoring position.

"She was going to put the ball in play and make you play defense. You just hoped to keep her in the park."

Stout is finishing online classes at Farmington before she heads to Conway in August to attend the University of Central Arkansas. She intends to become an occupational therapist and possibly continue her softball career at UCA.

She said she will always cherish her days as a student and two-sport athlete at Farmington, even with business left unfinished in softball.

"I'm gonna miss my teammates and coaches more than anything," Stout said. "I'm gonna miss that feeling of the beginning of each game, each at-bat, and the feeling of beating your rivals."

Osnes is a veteran coach who said he'll continue coaching as long as players like Stout keep walking through the door.

"You take Kally, and these 10 seniors as a whole, their combined grade point average is 3.96," Osnes said. "Kally is an outstanding young lady with a good head on her shoulders, and she does the right things. She's going to do the right things at UCA. She's going to get an education, and she's going to be a success. I'm very proud to coach Kally, her sister Keely, and the other eight seniors."

Sports on 05/12/2020