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Davis Journal

Davis baseball advances in playoffs against familiar foe to face another league rival

Jun 04, 2021 12:46PM ● By Josh McFadden

In a battle with Fremont earlier in the season, this Davis baserunner beat the pickoff throw and got back to first base safely. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

The Davis baseball team might have placed at the bottom of Region 1, but that didn’t stop the Darts from doing some damage in the postseason.

Davis finished league play with a 4-10 mark in region and 10-15 overall. Still, the Darts grabbed a No. 13 seed in the Class 6A state tournament, thanks to a strong schedule. That gave Davis a pair of home games in the first round of the playoffs against fellow Region 1 opponent Syracuse, a team the Darts beat once and lost to once during the regular season. 

It took three games for Davis to move on, but the team went 2-1 against Syracuse in the tournament to keep its season alive. 

On May 15, Davis prevailed 7-2 in game one of the best-of-three series. Davis outhit Syracuse 8-4 and got three runs in the fifth inning to widen what was a 4-2 advantage. Neither team scored the rest of the way. Owen Murdock and Mike Wendt each had doubles, with Wendt also getting an RBI. Benson Seely had two RBIs in the win, and pitcher Cade Montgomery got the win on the mound (he also had an RBI). 

The Darts could have knocked Syracuse out of the tournament two days later when the teams met again. But this time, it was Syracuse that got the win. The Titans used a big six-run fifth inning to turn a 4-2 Davis lead into an 8-4 advantage. The Darts were down 12-4 in the bottom of the seventh, facing an uphill climb. They scored one run but got no closer, falling 12-5, as the Titans forced a game three. Trey Talbot hit a triple for Davis, and Crew Wimmer, Jake Maw and Easton Baggett each had doubles in the Darts’ 10-hit effort.

Game three was the clincher for Davis, as it triumphed 5-0 later in the day on May 17. The Darts allowed just three hits, as Maw controlled the game from his pitcher position. Wimmer had two RBIs and Talbot hit another triple. 

With the series victory, Davis advanced to face another Region 1 foe, Layton, winners of Region 1. The Lancers and Darts each had a victory over one another during the regular season, but the first game of the next-round series belonged to Layton on May 20. Layton scored three runs in the third and had one run in inning four, five and six. The Darts were down 6-1 as the seventh inning began but managed just one run in its comeback bid, losing 6-2. Game two between the league rivals was May 21, after our press deadline.