LOGAN -- Three things are inevitable -- death, taxes and decisive postseason games.
The Logan Wildcats and ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic Irish met in a decisive Class AA Region 4 finals Game 3 with a spot in the state tournament on the line on Saturday night.
The Wildcats scored all of their runs in the first two innings, then held off a late Irish run to secure a 4-3 victory over defending state champ ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic.
Logan is back in the state tournament for the first time since 2022, when the Wildcats won the title.
"We felt that we were the best team in the region," Logan coach Kevin Gertz said. "I don't think [Catholic] wanted to come back here. I'm not saying they make excuses, but nobody wants to play at somebody else's home field. Heck, I didn't want to play at Catholic yesterday.
"I'm always going to be confident in our guys."
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic's season comes to an end at 21-11.
The Irish won Friday's meeting over the Wildcats, 13-3, in Dunbar after having dropped Game 1 at Logan, 4-0.
"The approach that we take at the plate and field is that whatever you do, then you have to trust yourself," Catholic coach Will Bobinger said. "We try and not manipulate things, but concentrate on knowing our jobs.
"Logan's a great team. I'd like to play them 10 times and see who comes out on top. Hopefully, they do well in the state tournament, and, hopefully, we'll come back again and get another crack at it."
The victory on Saturday pushed Logan to 27-4, earning the Wildcats the No. 2 seed in next week's state tournament at GoMart Ballpark in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä.
The Wildcats will open the tournament against the third-seeded Philip Barbour Colts.
"We've been playing better and are more confident," Gertz said. "We feel that we are one of the best teams in the state."
The Irish started Saturday's decisive game with Xander Allara on the mound.
However, Allara's outing was short-lived. The Irish pitcher, in the top of the first inning, had a baseball hit him in the left ankle on a hit by Bentley Williamson.
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Allara had to be helped off the field, applying little pressure on his left ankle.
"It wasn't deflating. It was more of a rallying point for us," Bobinger said. "Xander got hit really hard. He probably wouldn't have been able to play next week, if we would have won. The team rallied around him and fought hard. We made a couple of mistakes there in the second inning.
"Luke [Blaydes] came in after Xander went down and pitched a great game."
The Wildcats started Saturday's contest on a high note, getting the first run when Ivan Miller scored on a sacrifice fly by Jayce Wolfe.
The Wildcats extended their lead to four in the bottom half of the second inning.
Logan's Landon Hall snuck home as ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic tried picking off McCormick Ilderton between first and second base.
It didn't take long for the Wildcats to stretch the lead as Ilderton scored on an RBI double by Miller.
Then, Talan Thompson squeezed past Irish catcher Zaden Ranson to get the final run for Logan.
ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic, after going scoreless in the first three innings, gained some momentum in the top of the fourth inning when an infield single by Thomas Ryan scored Jaxon Kimble from third.
The Irish doubled their run total in the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly by Jonah DiCocco, scoring Connor Jarvis. Ranson scored from third when a pitch by Cross Conn got away from catcher Gage Hensley.
Logan's defense secured the victory in the top of the seventh by popping up DiCocco, getting Ranson out in a rundown between first and second and striking out Barrett Brown.
CHARLESTON CATHOLIC 000 120 0 -- 3 7 1
LOGAN 130 000 X -- 4 8 0
Allara, Blaydes (1), Ranson; Blankenship, Conn (4) and Hensley. Hitting leader: C - Jarvis 1-2 and 1 R. L - Miller 2-4, 2 RBI and 1 R.
