LOGAN — Playing in a town and at a high school that he share’s a name with, Logan LaFemina pitched like he owned the place Wednesday afternoon in a 5-1 St. George Sentinels victory over Fremont at Logan High.
The win advances St. George to the final four of the American Legion state tournament and keeps the season alive for the Sentinels. The Silverwolves saw their season come to an end with the loss.
“I was really anxious to see how we would respond after last night’s loss,” Sentinels coach Shane Johanson said. “We went into last night’s game expecting to win, then to get beaten that badly was really demoralizing. ”
St. George had just a few hours of restless sleep after the 13-1 defeat late Tuesday night at the hands of Mountain Crest before suiting up for Wednesday’s 1 p.m. start against Fremont. But LaFemina was the salve to the wounded Sentinels pride, pitching eight strong innings, allowing just three hits and a single run.
“Logan came out and was just solid,” Johanson said. “We also played good defense behind him, unlike last night. Ryke Erickson came in and pitched the ninth and got them one-two-three.”
Fremont’s pitching wasn’t bad either, with the Silverwolves holding St. George to just four hits. Erickson and Howard had the only two extra-base hits for the Sentinels, each ripping a double in the sixth inning.
LaFemina and Kash Walker each reached base to start the game, then Howard knocked home the first run on an RBI groundout and Walker scored on a squeeze play that turned into a steal of home when the pitch was down in the dirt.
The Silverwolves cut it to 2-1 in the fifth on an RBI double, but St. George responded with three insurance runs to put the game away. Howard and Erickson each had RBI doubles in that inning.
“We’ve only gotten four or five hits in the last two games, which is very uncharacteristic for us,” Johanson said. “It was good to get through this and hopefully we can start hitting like we normally do and develop back our confidence.”
The Sentinels, 21-9, will play the winner of today’s other elimination game between Bear River and Weber. The loser-out game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at Logan High. The winner of that game will face the loser of tonight’s late game between Mountain Crest and Layton. St. George hopes to be playing in back-to-back games Thursday evening.
“Our pitching has been pretty good, but now we need to get our hits going,” Johanson said. “If we do, we have a ghood chance to keep playing.”
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