ST. GEORGE — In a championship game for the ages, the St George Sentinels defeated Cedar City 11-9 at Bruce Hurst Field in 11 innings Saturday night to win the St George Legion Summer Classic Tournament.

Both teams fought hard throughout the contest, with the lead changing hands several times. St George struck first, with Logan LaFemina singling and scoring in both the first and third innings, both times on RBIs by Josh Howard, and had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the third. However, Cedar City struck back and took the lead in the bottom of the third, 4-3.

St George surged ahead again in the top of the fourth, rallying for 3 runs that included an electrifying stolen base at home by Kash Walker. Nevertheless, Cedar City responded with 3 runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth and held a 7-6 lead until the top of the seventh inning. That’s when St George’s Brooks Barney led off with a triple down the right field line. Parker Leavitt then drilled a single into center field to bring Barney home with the game-tying run. And yet, with the go-ahead run on third base and just one out, the Cedar defense held and the score remained tied.

Chris Petrosie, who was selected as the Top Pitcher of the tournament, entered the contest in the bottom of the seventh inning and pitched a brilliant three innings (after having already thrown an excellent game the previous day in a 13-1 win against Cyprus), keeping the Cedar from scoring in the seventh or eighth innings.

In the top of the ninth, St George pushed across the go-ahead run on a clutch RBI single by Brenr Nelson. Nevertheless, Cedar fought right back, tying the score at 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth. Finally, in the top of the 11th inning, the St George bats roared to life to take an 11-8 lead. Tanner Wilde led off with a double, followed by another single by Nelson, an RBI single by Austin Ruseler and then RBIs by Walker and Howard. Ruseler, who had also pitched six innings the day before in a signature win against Helper, pitched a superb final two innings to seal the victory for the Sentinels.

St. George is 10-2 on the season.

For more information on the St. George Sentinels, go to www.leaguelineup.com/stgeorgesentinels

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