FAYETTEVILLE -- Cabot struck for two early runs, and Panthers pitcher Logan Gilbertson made it stand up.
Gilbertson, a lanky 6-5 senior, limited Springdale Har-Ber to four singles in Cabot's 2-1 victory Friday morning in the Class 7A state championship baseball game at Baum Stadium.
Three of Har-Ber's hits came during the fourth inning, but Gilbertson got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by getting junior Jake Williams and senior pinch-hitter Colin Kozak to both fly out to center.
"He's phenomenal. He's been that way all year," said junior Dillon Thomas, whose two-out double to the left-center field gap gave Cabot a 1-0 lead in the first inning. "All the credit goes to him. He's the spark plug for this team."
Cabot (25-7) finished on a five-game winning streak and with its first state baseball title.
Gilbertson (7-3) struck out three, walked two and was selected as the tournament's MVP. Gilbertson surrendered no hits in his final three innings.
"That's Logan for you," Cabot Coach Ronnie Goodwin said. "The situation never seems to get too big for him. He's calm and nothing seems to faze him. The one inning they scored it was a bloop single that started it, and he seemed to understand that. But he kept it at one [run]. He's given us a chance every time out this year."
Har-Ber pitcher Blake Adams (8-4) became more effective as the game progressed, but the Wildcats (21-10) could not overcome the two runs the sophomore gave up in the first two innings.
Adams gave up one hit in each of the first three innings. He retired the final 10 batters he faced, finishing with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks.
"I thought he pitched really well," Har-Ber Coach Ron Bradley said of Adams. "His velocity was good. He didn't have very good command of his breaking pitch the first two innings. But that's not what got us beat. We had a passed ball, and we didn't execute on defense. That's part of the game, and you can't ask for much more in a 2-1 championship game."
Har-Ber senior Caleb Kimbel singled in his first two at-bats, but it was his third at-bat that caused the biggest uproar. Leading off the sixth inning, Kimbel lined a ball down the right-field line that was ruled a foul ball. On the next pitch, Kimbel struck out swinging.
The two head coaches had opposing views on the foul call.
"A leadoff double would have been huge, but I had a good look and it was definitely foul," Goodwin said. "A little bit of wind may have pushed it that way."
"My first-base coach said it hit right on the chalk," Bradley said. "That's part of the game. That's part of the game you don't have control over. We needed to control our emotions better than that. That's a tough out after you've felt you had a double taken away from you in a one-run game. But I can't say one play changed that game. We had plenty of opportunities."
Har-Ber turned a double play in the first inning before Cabot scored its first run. Denver Mullins drew a two-out walk and Thomas followed by lining a two-ball, one-strike pitch to the left-center field wall.
"I just saw [Adams] was pumping a lot of fastballs, and he couldn't get his offspeed pitches in for strikes," Thomas said. "So I sat on the fastball and I nailed it."
Cabot made it 2-0 in the second inning when senior Bobby Duncan singled, advanced to second on a walk, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
Kimbel, senior Lincoln Rasmussen and senior Mack McCroskey all singled for Har-Ber in the fourth inning to load the bases. Williams lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, but Gilbertson got out of the inning with a second fly out to center.
Gilbertson retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced, giving up no hits, a walk and a hit batter. He completed the game by throwing 95 pitches.
"Pitching with a lead is always easier," Gilbertson said. "I knew [my teammates] had me. My arm felt real nice, and I was throwing it real hard. My slider disappeared on me for a bit, but I felt good with my fastball."
Sports on 05/20/2017