Lady Wildcats one win away from first state tournament berth since 2012

Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports

LOGAN   Ashlin Brumfield had just missed a home run in her first at bat Monday evening in the Class AA Region 4 championship. The Lady Wildcats third baseman made sure she didn't miss in her next at bat.

Facing an 0-1 count with a runner on first base, Brumfield lifted a fly ball down the left field line that snuck inside the foul pole for a two-run home run.

The top-ranked Lady Wildcats (21-6) would go on to score six times in the fourth inning, breaking a scoreless tie on their way to a 9-1 mercy rule victory in six innings Monday evening at Bea Orr Field in the first game of a best of three Class AA Region 4 championship series.

With the win, Logan moves one win short of a regional championship and the Lady Wildcats first state tournament berth in 13 years.

Myleigh Adkins was dominant in the circle for Logan, who had eight hits and took advantage of seven Buffalo errors.

Adkins struck out the first seven hitters and eight of the first nine in the Buffalo lineup on her way to 12 punchouts. She allowed just one run on four hits in six innings.

Emilee Mullins had two hits and one RBI, Lauren Adkins had two doubles, and Addison Richardson had an RBI double.

Sophie Hawkins allowed nine runs - four earned - on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk in 5 2/3 innings for Buffalo (21-6).

Makenlee Null had an RBI groundout for Buffalo in the sixth. Morgan Cobb and Karlie Strickland each had a double and Audrey Carr a single and run scored and Hawkins had one hit for the Bison.

Two hitters after Brumfield's two-run home run, Mullins had an RBI double in the fourth to give Logan a 3-0 lead. Courtesy runner Daisy Tomblin scored on an error; Lacy Curry drove in a run and Richardson doubled to bring home the sixth run of the fourth.

Logan increased its lead to 7-0 in the fifth when Lauren Adkins doubled and scored on a Buffalo throwing error.

Carr singled and scored on Null's groundout for Buffalo's lone run in the top of the sixth, but a dropped fly ball in right field in the bottom of the sixth allowed Melody Rozzell and Curry to score and enforce the eight-run mercy rule.

The Lady Wildcats will try to close out a Lady Bison team that rallied from a one game deficit before. Buffalo lost the first game in a best of three Class A Region 4 championship last season against Ravenswood and won the next two to advance to the Class A state tournament.

Logan can clinch its first state tournament berth since 2012 with a win Tuesday evening at Buffalo. A Lady Bison win would force a winner-take-all game three at Logan on Wednesday evening.