With a 14-4 victory Wednesday night against Nitro, in the battle of the Wildcats, Logan advanced to play St. Albans today in Class AAA Region 4 Section 2 action. To read my article on the game in the Daily Mail, click here.
Logan will play at St. Albans in a best-of-three, double-elimination series.
Logan advanced after playing its best game of the season, said Wildcats coach Randy Robinette.
Senior Rachelle Toppings led all hitters with her 4-for-5 performance. Toppings, the team's lead-off hitter, belted her season's first home run, a two-run blast to give Logan a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
In addition to Toppings, Aarron Ward performed well at the plate with a 3-for-4 night, including a triple and RBI. Hannah Kolovich also posted a multi-hit game with a triple, double and three RBI.
In the circle, Shana Hall tossed a complete-game victory. Hall struck out one, walked two and allowed four runs on seven Nitro hits.
Logan led throughout and maintained a 6-0 lead after three innings. Nitro rallied to score four runs in its final four at-bats, though never truly threatened.
Here's a recap of the runs inning-by-inning:
Logan 1st: Toppings lead-off single to left field and advances to second on a fielding error by the left fielder. Toppings advanced to third on a wild pitch and later scored the game's first run on another wild pitch. Logan led 1-0.
Logan 2nd: With two outs, No. 9 hitter Summer Collins hit an infield single. Toppings followed with a two-run home run. Antonia Hill reached via error, then Ward scored Hill on an RBI triple. Ward later scored on a wild pitch. Logan led 5-0
Logan 3rd: Hall started the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hall advanced to third on a ground-out and later scored on another wild pitch. Logan led 6-0.
Logan 4th: Toppings began the inning with a single. Ward hit a one-out single. Toppings and Ward advanced to third and second, respectively, on a wild pitch. Toppings scored on an error by the catcher. Logan led 7-0.
Nitro 4th: Crystal Dunn hit a two-out solo home run to center field. The next two Nitro batters also reached, but the Wildcats could not muster any more runs. Logan led 7-1.
Logan 5th: Hall reached via an error by the right fielder to start the inning. Kolovich followed with an RBI double to left field. Kolovich later advanced to third on a passed ball. Later, Collins hit an RBI single to score Kolovich. Logan led 9-1.
Nitro 5th: Lead-off hitter Chelsie Hall started the inning with a walk. Next, Hali Miller hit a grounder to shortstop. The shortstop threw wildly to second in an attempt to get the force out. As a result of the error, Hall advanced to third and Miller reached on the fielder's choice. Later, Hall scored on an error by the catcher, while Miller scored on a wild pitch. Logan led 9-3.
Nitro 6th: Dunn started the inning with a double to left field off the fence. Chelsea Terwilliger hit a one-out single. With two outs, Hall hit an RBI single to score Dunn. Logan led 9-4.
Logan 7th: Toppings hit a one-out single. Ward hit a two-out single. Hana Sedlock ripped a triple to score both Toppings and Ward. Chastidy Wiley followed with an RBI double. Hall walked, then Sedlock hit a two-run triple. Logan led 14-4.
Logan's Hall held Nitro scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the win. As a result of the victory, Logan advanced to play St. Albans, which defeated Nitro 9-1 in the previous contest.
Because of time constraints and space limitations, that game was not featured in my Daily Mail article. Below I'll try to give the highlights on that contest.
St. Albans' Ali Haynes propelled the Red Dragons at the plate and pitching wise. Haynes hit a grand slam in the second inning to give St. Albans a 5-0 lead at the time. In the circle, Haynes earned a complete-game victory. She allowed two hits on one run, struck out two and walked one.
No Red Dragon batter recorded a multi-hit game, though runs were in no short supply.
Here's a breakdown of scoring inning-by-inning:
St. Albans 2nd: Whitney Jones reached with one out after an error by the catcher on a dropped third strike. Katie Holstein singled and Amber Kemplin walked to load the bases. No. 9 hitter Madi Chandler hit an RBI single. Haynes followed with a grandslam. Madi Marshall reached via error and stole second base. Alyssa Bonham hit a two-out single and Hali McCown walked to load the bases. Jones cleared the bases with a three-run triple St. Albans led 8-0.
St. Albans 3rd: Marshall hit a one-out single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bonham walked with two outs. Marshall and Bonham employed a double steal as both runners advanced safely, with Marshall scoring. St. Albans led 9-0.
Nitro 5th: Shelby Bowen started the inning with a double to right field. Bowen advanced to third and later scored on an error as the result of a ball put in play by Terwilliger.
St. Albans will now face Logan. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.
On paper, it's pretty clear the Red Dragons will be the favorite, however, if the Wildcats manage their defensive woes and hit as they did against Nitro, the potential to upset St. Albans is there.
Good luck to both teams today in sectional play.
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