Logan's Ivan Miller records a putout in right field in game one of the Class AA Region 4 championship series Monday night at Roger E. Gertz Field (Photo courtesy of Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
WINFIELD Just as expected, the Class AA Region 4 championship series is going to a decisive third game for a third straight year.
With its backs against the wall and facing elimination, the fourth-ranked Winfield Generals scored 10 runs in the final four innings to defeat second-ranked Logan, 12-3, Tuesday night at Winfield High School to force a winner-take-all game three Wednesday evening at Roger E. Gertz Field.
A day after having its 10-game winning streak, Winfield returned the favor to Logan, snapping the Wildcats 12 game winning streak to move one step closer to its first state tournament appearance in 21 years.
Winning pitcher Dylan Kuhl allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings for Winfield. He struck out seven, walked one and hit one batter. Brycen Brown retired the only batter he faced in relief of Kuhl, who tossed 111 pitches.
Konner Lowe allowed five runs – three earned – on three hits, struck out seven, walked three and hit three in 3 1/3 innings and suffered the loss for Logan.
Winfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Xaiver Hensley drew a bases loaded walk and Preston Keiffer was hit by the pitch as the Generals scored twice without the benefit of a hit.
Logan tied the game at 2, in the third, when Dawson Maynard doubled to score Cole Blankenship and courtesy runner McCormick Ilderton.
Brett Bumgarner broke a 2-2 tie with a run scoring single in bottom of the third to give Winfield a 3-2 lead and the Generals added to their lead in the fourth inning when Hensley scored on an error and Keiffer scored on Maddox Shafer’s sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 5-2.
Logan got an RBI single from Garrett Williamson in the fifth inning, but the Generals scored two runs in the fifth and put the game away with a five run sixth inning.
In the fifth, Bumgarner scored on Blake Withrow’s sacrifice bunt and Karson Frye scored on Hensley’s sacrifice fly to give Winfield a 7-3 lead.
Kuhl had an RBI double in the sixth to give the Generals an 8-3 lead and Withrow’s RBI single plated the ninth run of the game for a 9-3 lead.
Shafer scored on a wild pitch, Withrow came around to score on a balk and Frye raced home on a wild pitch to cap the five-run sixth.
Bumgarner had three hits and one RBI, Hensley finished with one hit and two RBIs, Keiffer one hit, one RBI and two runs and Kuhl one hit and one RBI for the Generals.
Brown doubled, Frye had one hit and scored three times while Shafer had one RBI for Winfield (26-9), who has won 15 of its last 17 games.
Jake Ramey and Williamson each had two hits for Logan while Maynard doubled and drove in two runs and Ivan Miller and Ryan Roberts had one hit apiece.
Logan (23-9) has also won 15 of its last 17 games and is looking for its third consecutive state tournament appearance with a win Wednesday night.