No more miracles for Longhorns

ALBUQUERQUE - The Logan baseball team wasn't going to pull off a second miracle in as many days. Dathan Yeary and his Melrose teammates made sure of that.

Like he did last year, Yeary frustrated the hitters of top-seeded Logan in a complete-game 9-1 victory Friday in the Class 1A baseball championship at Santa Ana Star Field at the University of New Mexico.

The Buffaloes (14-6), seeded third, captured their second state title in a row. Melrose vanquished previously unbeaten Logan in the 1A title game last year, as well.

Logan finished 17-5. They split four games against Melrose this year.

The previous day, the Longhorns overcame a five-run deficit in the final inning to stun Grady 12-11 in the semifinal. Three Bronchos errors fueled Logan's big rally.

Melrose coach Jared Wilhoit, who witnessed Grady's meltdown, reminded his players before Friday's game to not take anything for granted.

"It just shows you how baseball can be anybody's day, any inning can be anybody's inning," Wilhoit said. "So we just talked to them about playing a complete game from start to finish. Just really play clean and take care of the little things.

"We got some run support early that really helped us out. And Dathan pitched a great game."

Yeary threw five shutout innings to start the game. He nursed a 4-1 lead through six when the Buffaloes broke open the game with five runs in the seventh. Yeary allowed six hits and two walks and struck out eight.

Yeary said mixing pitches served him well during last year's 1A title game, so he used the same approach again.

"They're a great team, and they've got great hitters one through nine," Yeary said. "So it was just kind of either let them put the ball in play and don't let up any big hits. And if strikeouts come, they come."

Logan coach Kyle Griffiths said his team didn't take advantage of scoring opportunities early. Logan left four runners on base.

"The first few innings, we had several chances, had guys on base with no outs," he said. "We just never did come out with that big hit to to push people around. To me, it was kind of the difference in the game.

"Credit to Melrose: They made some big plays in the field that kind of kept us from getting any momentum going. We had some hard hits that went straight to them. That's baseball. Sometimes, that's how it goes."

Logan senior starting pitcher Brock Burns, who lasted only one-third of an inning during his start against Grady due to wildness, pitched well enough to win Friday. He gave up one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits, one walk and struck out six.

"I was just overthinking it yesterday," Burns said. "I wasn't with it yesterday. I just had to get back into the groove, slow everything down. That's all I did today."

Melrose scored its first run in the opening inning when Josiah Roybal singled, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Yeary's double when it appeared centerfielder Aydin Kotara lost track of the flight of the ball, bouncing behind him.

Melrose added a run in the fourth when Gray Brandon doubled, advanced a base on a passed ball and stole home during an attempted pickoff at third.

The Buffaloes made it 3-0 in the fifth when Roybal hit a bloop single to right, stole second and scored on an infield error.

Melrose increased its advantage to 4-0 in the fifth. Briar Larson walked with two out, but Burns had to depart the mound because he reached his mandated pitch-count limit of about 80.

With Kotara pitching in relief, Larson advanced to second on a walk to Nolan Devaney and scored on Roybal's infield single.

Logan scored its first run in the bottom of the sixth. Kaeden Stoner walked, and Burns singled. Mason Wallin hit into a double play, but Stoner scored. He avoided being involved in a triple play when he made a swim move to avoid the tag at the plate, making it a 4-1 game.

Melrose racked up five insurance runs in the top of the seventh on four hits, a hit batter and an error.

Logan went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, including a grounder for the final out to spark hugs and other celebrations from the Buffaloes.

After the game, Griffiths tried to console his players.

"I just told the guys, this is four years in a row we've been in the state championship," he said. "That's just unheard of at any sport at any level. So they I told them to keep their heads up and to realize the amazing year that they've had and all the things that they've accomplished."

Burns, who played on two state-championship teams and two runner-up squads during his career, didn't overlook the accomplishments.

"I've been playing baseball since I was a little bitty, ever since Little League," he said. "Winning's been a thing for us. Getting to the last game, we've been lucky enough to get it done two times."

Logan 12, Grady 11

Grady had Logan dead to rights. But the fifth-seeded Bronchos repeatedly failed to secure the final out of the game, enabling the Longhorns to overcome an 11-6 deficit to win 12-11 in the 1A semifinal on Thursday at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Complex in west Albuquerque.

Behind the strong pitching of Grady ace Zane Rush, the Bronchos surged to an 11-3 lead early. Logan starter Burns walked five batters in just one-third of an inning.

Stoner, penciled in as the title-game starter, was pressed into emergency pitching duty in the second inning with his team trailing 7-3.

Stoner allowed three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief, but the Longhorns trailed 11-6 after six.

Logan began the seventh with Wallin and Diego Sanchez each singling. Izaiah Kneitz tripled over the centerfielder's head to make it 11-8.

Grady reliever Caden Croy was relieved from the mound for left-hander Deakin Ragland, who induced a sacrifice fly to center from Jace Jackson that drove in another run.

Ragland struck out Mitchell Wall, leaving the Bronchos one out from victory.

The next batter, Kale Griffiths, swung at strike three, but catcher Andre Garcia dropped the pitch. Griffiths hustled to first. Garcia's throw was a few feet off the line, and Griffiths beat the first baseman to the bag to keep the inning alive.

Kotara walked, and Stoner was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Burns hit a sky-high popup in the infield. Grady's third baseman muffed the catch, and two runs scored, including the game-tying tally. Logan players hugged each other in the dugout at the improbable rally.

Logan wasn't done. Stoner, taking a big lead off second, attempted a steal of third against Ragland. The pitcher's pickoff throw glanced high off the third baseman's glove into the outfield, enabling Stoner to scamper home with the winning run.

"I knew his pickoff move to third was not the best," Stoner said. "So I just had to get my timing down. But my timing was a little off, and he picked me off. But luckily, it was not a good pickoff."

"If we make a throw, it's an easy out," Grady coach Derik Neace said.

"We had our opportunities to get out of the inning twice. They kept battling, and we didn't get it done."

"Grady kept us on our toes all day," coach Griffiths said. "But credit to our boys for for finding a way to win it."