Seth Johnson drove a ball to left centerfield with one out in the seventh inning Tuesday, bringing home Evan Figert with the winning run in a 7-6 district win over the visiting Logan County Cougars in a battle of two of the region’s top teams.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the second inning and led 5-2 after four innings, but Coach Ethan Meguiar’s Cougars clawed their way back into a tie. F-S took the lead in the fifth inning, but the Cougars tied it again when Caleb Bruner doubled in Ian Woodall in the top of the seventh.
Then came Johnson’s game-ender. Cam Richardson walked to start the home half of the seventh, and Figert came on to run for him. Caleb Konow sacrificed him over and Johnson delivered the blast between and over Cougar left fielder Daniel Beaty and centerfielder Michael Riley. It was Johnson’s second walk-off-hit in the past few days. He had laced an inside-the-park home run to end a game in in the Cal Ripken Experience in Charlottesville, Va. the week before.
Both teams started their aces on the mound with Logan’s Bruner going against Franklin’s Reed Caudill. They both lasted five innings. The Cats took Bruner deep into several counts and the junior left the mound after having thrown 118 pitches in five innings. Eighty-one of those pitches were strikes, including 20 on first pitches to 27 batters. Caudill threw 86 pitches in five innings, 56 of them resulting in strikes.
Devin Gregory picked up the win in relief. He got ahead in the count, throwing strikes to seven of the nine batters he faced. Hunter Britt, who had pitched the Cougars to a win over the Cats in the 2013 district finals, took the loss. He struggled finding the plate at times, being credited with strikes on 14 of 27 pitches.
On offense, Bruner doubled twice and added two singles for six bases, and fellow junior Matt Harper doubled among his two hits. The Woodall brothers, Luke and Ian, each had a hit, as did Tucker Baldwin. Bruner and Harper were each credited with two RBIs. Jacob Wood and Ian Woodall each scored twice with Harper and Baldwin crossing the plate once each. Wood worked the only walk F-S pitching allowed.
For Coach Craig Delk’s Wildcats, T.C. Stubblefield had three hits while Tyler Knight and Seth Johnson added two each; one of Knight’s was a solo home run. Tim Wimpee, Logan Alderson and Colton Hurt added a hit each. Wimpee, the veteran catcher, doubled and drove in two runs.
Franklin improved its record to a region’s best 10-4. Logan, the defending regional champion, fell to 9-4.