GRANGER — Brady Aunspach went the distance and his teammates did just enough with the bats to give host Woodward-Granger a 5-3 WCC win over Madrid Friday in the final regular season game for both teams.
Aunspach spread 10 hits over seven innings while yielding three runs on a walk and three hit batsmen to collect the victory on the mound. He finished with six strikeouts and played well defensively, recording a put-out and three assists in the win.
The Hawks (16-12, 8-10) were perplexed through much of the game by soft-tossing Tiger starter Colton Lowe, who allowed seven hits and two walks while being tagged for five runs, three of them uneared.
W-G got to Lowe early, as a Michael Connor double and Dylan Garland single plated two runs in the bottom of the first.
Madrid (9-17, 7-11) halved their deficit in the fourth when Tanner Miller singled and eventually scored when Lowe was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Lowe kept the Hawk bats off balance throughout most of the contest but was tagged for three runs in the fourth as W-G surged to a 5-1 lead.
Race Brant walked, stole second and came home when Marcus McConahay reached on an infield error. Connor followed with a RBI-single, with Aunspach adding a base hit while Tre Loge plated courtesy runner Jordan Pierce with single.
A walk to Mason Gibson started the Tiger fifth, with Bryce Dean hit by a pitch. Miller followed with a RBI-single, as did Sinjun Harshbarger as the W-G lead fell to 5-3. Aunspach avoided further damage with a strikeout and a one-hopper back to the mound.
Singles by Eli Gruefe and Gibson put Tigers on the corners with one down in the sixth when Dean grounded to shortstop Dylan Garland, who fired home to Connor as Gruefe bore down on him. Connor held on during a collision for the out, with a strikeout of the next batter silencing the rally.
Madrid tried to rally in their final at-bat as well, with Lowe and Kyle Engel each hitting two-out singles, but Aunspach induced a ground out to McConahay at second base to end the contest.
W-G will play the winner of Saturday’s North Polk vs. Woodward Academy game in a Class 2A District 14 Semifinal Tuesday in Ogden at 5 p.m. The host Bulldogs will play at 7 p.m. against Saturday’s winner of the Madrid vs. CMB contest. Both of Saturday’s games are at Ogden, as is the District 14 Final, which will be held July 18 at 7 p.m.
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WOODWARD-GRANGER 5, MADRID 3
at Granger, July 10
Team            R  H  E
MAD Â 000 120 0 — 3 10 Â 2
W-G Â 200 300 x — Â 5 Â 7 Â 1
MAD: Lowe and Harshbarger. W-G: Aunspach and Connor. WP: Aunspach. LP: Lowe. 2B — W-G: Connor.
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