The improbable happened to the eighth-ranked Austin softball team, and then it happened again.

The Packers, seeded atop the Section 1AAA tournament, lost back-to-back games to Farmington Friday night to be eliminated from postseason play one win shy of a return trip to the state tournament.

"I don't think you ever expect to get beat twice," said AHS coach Todd Waterbury. "I'm stunned."

Austin had qualified for state three of the last four years and seemed set to do it again with a 3-0 start to the section and 21-2 overall record. But Farmington had different ideas, including its first-ever state tournament berth.

"I had confidence and I thought we'd do it," said Farmington pitcher Erin Leone. "I think we were ready to win this game. We knew what we had to do and did it."

Farmington, after falling 1-0 in its first meeting with Austin, came back from the loser's bracket for a 2-1, eight-inning victory in Friday's opener. The Tigers finished off an eventful night with a 9-6 triumph.

"I never thought this would happen," said AHS senior pitcher Amy Kelly. "I didn't think anyone could beat us. Our season was obviously really successful, but it's hard to end on a bad note."

Austin nearly pulled off an improbable comeback of its own, trailing 6-0 in the fifth inning of Game 2. The Packers scored six runs with a combination of hits, walks and Farmington errors, but the Tigers were up to the challenge.

Farmington scored once in the top of the sixth and two more in the seventh to secure its spot among the field of eight at next week's state softball tournament.

"There's nothing you can say or do that really gets that feeling out of your gut," Waterbury said. "It's an empty feeling, and I feel for the girls, especially those seniors.

"They've seen an incredible amount of success, and when they get a chance to sit and digest all of this, I hope they're able to look at the other parts of the project. But right now nothing makes that hole in your stomach go away."

Farmington proved to be the big-hitting team that Coach Waterbury anticipated them to be. The Tigers tapped out 13 hits and nine runs -- both season-highs against the Packers (21-4).

"They started getting on me at the end of the first game," Kelly said. "I knew they were going to score but I was trying to keep it as low as I could."

In the first game, Farmington came up with the game-winning run in the top of the eighth inning. The Tigers accrued three of their four hits in the inning, getting a two-out single from Diana Wokson.

Austin threatened to tie in the home half, but after back-to-back singles by Betsy Hingeveld and Kelly, pinch-runners Lauren Goettsch and Sarah Brady were stranded by Leone and her defense.

Leone pitched six innings of shutout relief in the opener, striking out five while allowing just three hits. Kelly sat down seven herself, surrendering four hits.

Farmington's late-game success swinging the bats carried into the winner-take-all nightcap, leading to four first-inning hits and a 2-0 lead. Victoria Schuetzle's two-out double plated both runs.

The Tigers took a 6-0 lead on Casey Preston's two-run double in the fifth, scoring Schuetzle and Wokson, who had both singled.

Austin countered with the craziest inning it had been a part of this year, scoring six runs to tie the game. After a strikeout to start the inning, Leone surrendered a single to Nicole Turvey and a double to Meggan Rider. Steph Sundberg plated Turvey with a groundout to the right side, leaving Rider on third and two outs.

Leone uncorked her only wild pitch of the game to score Rider, but not before hitting leadoff hitter Kylene Erstad. Hingeveld walked and Kelly singled through the right side, allowing Erstad to race around from second base.

Keri Feller's only hit of the night would result in the three tying runs. Her blooper to Leone's right ticked the end of her outstretched glove, scoring Hingeveld. Brady, Kelly's courtesy runner, went for third and eventually home after Leone's throw went into left field.

Feller followed Brady all the way around for the tying run, and a seemingly lifeless Packer squad sparked up a comeback for the ages.

But Farmington got a little help from the wind and Austin's defense to score what would prove to be the game-winner. Lindsay Bell reached on a single and Jessica O'Leary on an error, and Schuetzle's two-out floater to center field bounced out of Sundberg's glove. She recovered to throw out O'Leary at home, but the damage had been done.

Bell plated two more with a two-out single in the seventh, putting an exclamation point on the Tigers' first Section 1AAA title.

Box Scores:

Game One

Farmington 2Austin 1

abrhbiabrhbi

Swedin c3100Erstad 3b3020

Bell 3b4110Hingeveld lf4020

O'Leary 2b4000

Goettsch pr0000

Leone dh/p3010Kelly p3010

Mainz p0000

Brady cr0000

Donnelly pr0000Feller c4000

Schuetzle rf4000Eslinger ss4000

Wokson ss4021White dh1010

Preston 1b4000

VanPrsdy pr0100

Anderson lf2000

Rohne 2b2000

Speas pr0000Turvey 1b3010

Johnson cf2000Rider rf3001

Sundberg rf3000

Totals30241Totals30171

Farmington00100001--240

Austin01000000--173

Team LOB--Farm 8, Austin 7. SB--Erstad, VanProosdy. S--Johnson, Kelly.

IPHRERBBSO

Farmington

Mainz241111

Leone W630005

Austin

Kelly L842137

WP--Mainz, Leone.

Game Two

Farnington 9Austin 6

Swedin c4020Erstad 3b3100

Bell 3b5132Hingeveld lf2100

O'Leary 2b5210Kelly p3011

Leone p3000

Brady cr0100

Donnelly pr0100Feller c3111

Schuetzle rf4222Eslinger ss3000

Wokson ss4230White dh3000

Preston 1b4023

Rohne 2b3110

Anderson lf4000Turvey 1b3110

Johnson cf3100Rider rf3110

Harms ph

1000Sundberg cf3001

Totals379137Totals26643

Farmington2020212--9132

Austin0000600--644

Team LOB--Farm 9, Austin 3.

2B--Swedin, Schuetzle, Preston, Rider. S--Leone.

IPHRERBBSO

Farmington

Leone W746438

Austin

Kelly L7139414

WP--Leone, Kelly. PB--Swedin. HBP--