By Jake Gordon

STAFF WRITER

With Logan gift-wrapping three runs for Grantsville in the fifth and then earning another in the following inning, the Cowboys looked to complete the rally in the seventh, only one run down. However, the Grizzlies poured in seven insurance runs to shut the door and leave with a 15-7 victory.

Alex Childs had a big day at the plate registering a single and double and knocking in two runs while scoring twice himself. Along with Childs, Grantsville earned seven hits in the game but it wasn't enough to overcome Logan.

After a pair of scoreless innings Logan finally got a couple runs on the board. With two runners on, Logan cleanup hitter McKay Hedin slammed a triple to right field driving in two runs to give the Grizzlies an early 2-0 lead.

Grantsville quickly countered in the bottom half. Childs came to the plate with the bases loaded and nailed an apparently routine grounder until it took a wild hop far above the reach of Logan shortstop Brandon Peterson, bringing in two runs to tie the game. With Childs on third, Austin Killpack got caught stealing second but was able to divert enough attention to score Childs from third for Grantsville to overtake the lead 3-2.

Logan tied the game up in the following inning and then exploded in the fifth. Hedin again hurt the Cowboys with another RBI base hit then Jared Theurer followed with a single, driving in Hedin. Matt Christensen capped off the five-run inning with a single to right, bringing in two more runs to give Logan a 8-3 advantage.

Grantsville starter Brandon Hamatake pitched the first four innings escaping any major trouble but was pulled at the beginning of the fifth. Afterwards, coach Loren Anderson had second thoughts.

"At the time I was looking to get out of the fifth only down two runs," said Anderson. "In hindsight maybe I should of left Brandon in a little longer to get out of the jam."

Looking to gain momentum, Grantsville loaded up the bases then something almost comedic happened to the Grizzlies. Logan pitcher Derek Van Noy threw a wild pitch that allowed Childs to score from third. In the attempt to throw out Childs, Logan catcher Dain Evans threw the ball wild again, allowing Killpack to score. Attempting to throw out Killpack, Logan again threw the ball away allowing Taylor Matthews to cross the plate for the third run on the same play. The blunder-filled play appeared more like a scene from 'The Three Stooges' instead of a baseball game.

As the Cowboys shut down Logan in the sixth, they tried to take advantage at the plate. After Mark White reached on a error, Kort Fonger hit a hard grounder that found its way through the infield to score White and cut the Logan lead to just one run.

With momentum on their side Grantsville was looking for a 1-2-3 inning to complete the come-from-behind victory, but Logan had other plans. With timely hitting and costly Grantsville errors, Logan put seven devastating runs on the board in the seventh.

"We had momentum turning to our side after the sixth," said Coach Anderson. "Then a combination of bad fielding and pitching mistakes really hurt us in the seventh."

Although Logan got out with a win, Anderson did say that he was pleased with the way his hitters took their approach at the plate. "With the difficult pitchers that Logan can throw at you, I thought we hit just fine," said Anderson. The Cowboys finish up the regular season today in Ogden at 3:30 p.m.

jgordon@tooeletranscript.com