CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Logan baseball coach Kevin Gertz is getting married in a week from today at the school’s baseball field.
When Gertz was presented with potential wedding dates from his fiancee, he chose Saturday, July 3.
That means consecutive Saturdays will mark two of the better days of Gertz’s life after the No. 2 Wildcats secured a Class AA championship with a 13-0 victory over No. 4 North Marion in five innings at Power Park.
“She gave me three dates and said you pick,” Gertz said. “This is going to sound cocky, but I believed this and told her we’ll get married on Saturday, July 3rd, one week after we win a state championship. That was six months ago. I believed this was what was going to happen. We’re very young, but I know how good our kids are.”
After the No. 2 Wildcats (29-6) needed a walk-off hit from Konner Lowe to escape Herbert Hoover in Friday’s semifinal, they put together a complete performance from start-to-finish to race by No. 4 North Marion.
Despite starting six sophomores and two freshmen, the stage was anything but too big for the Wildcats.
“Their baseball talent is unrivaled from anything we’ve ever had,” Gertz said. “They have speed and we have so many arms. They’re sophomores and we played like that sometimes, but they realized it doesn’t matter how old we are, we can still play”.
With the win, Logan secured its seventh state championship and first since 2008.
The Wildcats were in control from the get go and completed a double play on a lineout and throw to first to end the Huskies’ half of the first inning.
Logan then pushed four runs across to take the early lead, getting an RBI single from Tyler Finnwick to start the scoring, before Garrett Williamson scored on a double steal. Aiden Slack added a run-scoring single and Lowe drove in a run with a double for the final scoring play of the opening inning.
“Once they got the runs on us, he started gambling and playing the odds and it worked out in their benefit,” NMHS coach Vic Seccuro said. “That’s all there is to it. They just dominated us.”
Finnwick retired North Marion (20-9) in order in the second and the Wildcats doubled their lead in the home half of the inning.
Dawson Maynard drove in the fifth run with a double to left and then scored his team’s sixth run, while Finnwick connected for a run-scoring single and Low added a second RBI double that made it 8-0.
LHS produced its third four-run inning in the third to go ahead by double digits. The inning featured Williamson’s RBI single and a bases clearing double from pinch hitter Joseph Canterbury.
“Yesterday’s game was a grind and it helped us out a lot for today’s game,” Finnwick said. “We came out stronger.”
William Mullins’ RBI single in the fourth capped the scoring in the contest.
While the Wildcats put together quality at bats that led to 11 hits and five walks, they hardly needed a surplus of offensive production with Finnwick pitching.
The left-handed senior earned the win a day earlier by recording two outs without surrendering a run in relief against the Hoover and came back stronger against NMHS.
Over five scoreless frames, he allowed only two hits, issued one walk and struck out five.
“Shove, shove, shove, throw strikes and let them hit it,” Finnwick said of his mentality. “I know I have a defense behind me that can make plays, so I just threw strikes.”
Finnwick, the only senior in the starting lineup, needed only 63 pitches to record 15 outs.
“Tyler was dominant like I knew he would be. I didn’t know he’d be quite this good,” Gertz said. “I told him there’s no way you’re throwing a complete game, just give me what you got. He only threw fifteen pitches yesterday, but he warmed up three times. I was scared to death, but we tend to give our championship game to seniors.”
Finnwick was also a factor at the plate and went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, while Lowe added two hits and a pair of RBIs. Logan leadoff hitter Korbin Bostic was 1-for-1 with two walks and three runs.
Dylan Runner and Jace Rinehart each had one hit in the loss. A day earlier, Rinehart tossed 6 2/3 strong innings to key North Marion to a 7-2 victory over top seed Independence.
“I’m really proud of them,” Seccuro said. “We just couldn’t get going today.”
Class AA All-Tournament Team
Dawson Maynard, Logan
Nick Grayam, Herbert Hoover
Brock Troy, North Marion
Garrett Williamson, Logan
Atticus Goodson, Independence
Tyler Finnwick, Logan
Chad Burdette, Logan
Konner Lowe, Logan
Jace Rinehart, North Marion
Nik Tobin, North Marion
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