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Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
LOGAN Class AA No. 2 Logan rallied from a two-run deficit with four runs in the fifth inning to surprise Class A No. 3 Man, 5-3, Wednesday evening at Roger E. Gertz Field.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, Logan got a RBI single from Garrett Williamson to close the gap to 3-2 and Konner Lowe followed with an RBI double tie the contest at 3-all.
Ryan Roberts then broke the tie with a sacrifice fly to center field and Jared Burnette’s double plated the fifth run giving Logan a 5-3 lead after five innings.
Man loaded the bases in top of seventh after Braxton Messer and Jace Adkins were hit by the pitch and Caleb Vance’s single with one out off Logan starter Chad Burnette.
Logan coach Kevin Gertz called upon Dawson Maynard to close it out.
Maynard got Caleb Blevins to strike out for the second out of the seventh, but the final out proved to be dramatic as Preston Blankenship’s sinking line drive was caught by Aiden Slack in center for the last out preserving the win for the Wildcats.
Burnette picked up his fourth win of the season, tying him with Joey Canterbury for team honors. Burnette allowed three runs on five hits with one walk, three hit batters and five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Maynard struck out one in 2/3 innings to pick up his second save of the season for the Wildcats.
For Man, Blevins took the loss after allowing four runs on five hits with three walks, one hit batter and nine strikeouts in six innings pitched. Blevins came on in relief of Messer, who failed to record an out after throwing just 11 pitches and facing three hitters. Messer allowed one run on two hits and walked one batter.
Blevins issued a walk to the first batter he faced in the first inning but struck out the next five of the next six batters in the Logan lineup. The hard throwing senior allowed just one hit in three innings before the Wildcats touched him up for three hits in his fourth inning of work.
Blankenship’s single in the first inning gave Man an early 1-0 lead, but Logan tied it in the bottom of the first when Slack scored on an error to knot it up, 1-1, after one.
Man took a 2-1 lead in the top of third when Blevins scored on an error and added to its lead with an unconventional run in the fourth on an odd play.
Thompson doubled and advanced to third on a groundout. With two outs and Colton Miller at the plate, Thompson was caught off third and it appeared that Jake Ramey had picked Thompson off ending the inning; however, as Maynard applied the tag to Thompson the ball was jarred from Maynard’s glove and skipped into shallow left field allowing Thompson to score giving Man a 3-1 lead.
Brady Hall-Montgomery had two hits while Blankenship had one hit and one RBI for Man. Thompson had a double and Miller, Vance and Drake Veres each had a single for the Hillbillies.
Ramey had two hits for Logan while Jared Burnette, Lowe and Williamson each had one hit and one RBI. Slack had one hit for the Wildcats.
Logan won its seventh straight game and improved to 19-6 on the season. The Wildcats will return to action Tuesday evening in the Class AA Region 4 Section 2 tournament. The top-seeded Wildcats will host the winner of Monday’s Mingo Central-Wayne contest.