The Logan Wildcats pose for a photo after winning the Class AA Region 4 Section 2 championship at Roger E. Gertz Field on Saturday afternoon (File photo courtesy of Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHAPMANVILLE Second-ranked and second-seeded Logan broke open the floodgates in the third and fourth inning on its way to a 17-7 six-inning win over top-ranked and top-seeded Chapmanville to win its third straight Class AA Region 4 Section 2 championship on Saturday afternoon at Roger E. Gertz Field.
Ryan Roberts drove in two runs, scored twice and had a double as part of a four-hit afternoon as Logan swept through the competition, winning its third straight crown with its second win in three days over county rival Chapmanville.
Dawson Maynard went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs and earned his fifth straight victory on the mound surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out two.
Konner Lowe was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Jake Ramey went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Wildcats.
Logan (21-8), winners of 10 straight and 14 of its last 15 games, advance to the Region 4 best of three championship series where they will face fourth-ranked Winfield.
Regional tournaments across the state of West Virginia are slated to begin on May 22. Logan will host game one while Winfield host game two and if necessary, a third game will be played at Logan.
Chapmanville, who defeated Wayne, 2-1, Friday night to advance to Saturday’s championship, got an RBI triple from Brody Dalton and a run scoring single from Trey Butcher to jump out to an early 2-0 lead in the first.
Logan, who scored in every inning except the second, plated four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-2 lead.
Roberts singled in the first to score Maynard and bring Logan within one run, 2-1, and Ivan Miller’s sacrifice fly scored Garrett Williamson to tie it at 2. Lowe followed Miller’s sacrifice fly with a two-run single to score Roberts and Aiden Slack to give the Wildcats a 4-2 lead.
Logan’s fast start didn’t come as a shock to many, as the Wildcats have scored four first inning runs in each of their three sectional games this season.
Logan broke the game open with a five run third inning and a four run fourth.
In the third, Ramey had a two-run single and Cole Blankenship a run-scoring bunt single while Blankenship and courtesy runner McCormick Ilderton scored on wild pitches to put the Wildcats ahead, 9-2, after three innings.
Roberts scored on an error to start the fourth inning scoring while pinch hitter Drew Berry added a two-run single, and Jarron Glick scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 13-2.
Chapmanville wouldn’t go away quietly as they plated three runs on four hits in the fifth inning off Miller to avoid the 10-run mercy rule.
Joey Canterbury got the scoring started for the Tigers with a run scoring double cut the deficit to 13-3 and back-to-back run scoring singles from Jacob Topping and Braylon Moore brought Chapmanville to within eight, 13-5, heading to the bottom of the fifth.
Lowe’s RBI single gave Logan a 14-5 lead and the Wildcats had the game ending run on third base, but Berry flew out to end the fifth.
Talan Thompson added an RBI and Butcher contributed with a run-scoring single in the sixth as Chapmanville drew within seven, 14-7, before the Wildcats put the game away with a three-run sixth.
Ramey walked and Maynard singled to start the inning and came around to score on a throwing error off a bunt single from Ilderton. Ilderton advanced to third on the error and came around to score on Roberts’ fourth hit with the game ending run.
Moore suffered the loss after allowing nine runs on seven hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. Corey Johnson gave up four runs on two hits and three walks in one inning. Dalton struck out one and walked one in 2/3 innings and AJ Motto allowed four runs on five hits and walked one in one inning.
At the plate, Butcher went 4-for-4 with two RBIs for Chapmanville. Butcher, who entered the game hitting .431, raised his batting average 30 points and finished the year hitting .461 for the Tigers.
Eli Surgoine had two hits, Dalton had a triple and one RBI and Canterbury, Moore, Thompson and Topping each had one hit and one RBI while Luke Knight had a triple and Johnson a single.
Chapmanville, who spent three of the last four weeks ranked first in the West Virginia MetroNews Class AA High School baseball Power Poll, finished the season 25-6.
Williamson tossed an inning of scoreless relief allowing two hits with two strikeouts. Miller gave up four runs on three hits in one inning and Roberts allowed two runs, two hits and struck out two in one inning of relief for the Wildcats.
Berry had one hits and drove in two runs while Blankenship had one hit to go along with one RBI. Ilderton singled and scored twice, Miller had one RBI and Glick and Slack each scored two runs for Logan.