HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — There was one way Lanson Orndorf was going to finish the final game of his illustrious Frankfort career.
Orndoff dipped a change-up under the bat of Logan’s Rob Ball for his eighth and final punch-out. The senior launched his glove into the scalding summer air at Marshall’s Jack Cook Field, seconds before Jaxon Hare jumped into his arms to kick off a celebratory dogpile.
Powered by Orndorf’s second complete game of the state tournament and a gritty offense that erased an early hole with a three-run fourth inning, No. 2 seed Frankfort defeated No. 4 Logan, 5-2, Saturday for its second Class AA state championship in three years.
“Lanson pitched a great game,” Frankfort skipper Matt Miller said. “Our offense did enough to win. Our defense played pretty solid, made one small mistake. We overcame it. Another state championship for this group of young men.”
Frankfort ended the season with 12 consecutive victories and 23 wins in its final 25 games to finish 27-7.
The Falcons avenged a defeat in last year’s Class AAA final with their third title overall.
Logan, which led 2-0 midway through the third inning on the strength of an Ivan Miller suicide squeeze and an error that scored another before five unanswered Frankfort runs, ends with a 23-13 mark.
Orndorf stuck to his game plan despite Logan’s early offense, retiring 14 of the final 17 batters to put up four zeroes and give his offense a chance.
Hare drove in Frankfort’s first tally on a sac fly in the third, and the Falcons plated three in the ensuing frame and never looked back.
Braeden Laffey delivered the go-ahead sac fly, one batter after Carson Durst’s tying RBI line-drive single and one before Orndorf tacked on another on a standup triple when a looping fly bounded over the right fielder’s head.
A Logan error in the fifth on a Gunnar Bradshaw grounder made it 5-2 Frankfort, and Orndorf took care of the rest.
The senior allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in seven innings on 94 pitches, registering 89 miles per hour on a fastball in the first.
“My command has always been good throughout my career,” the right-handed Charleston signee said, “and just spotted it to both sides of the plate. That’s a good lineup.
“They’re very patient, so they weren’t going to chase breaking balls off the plate, and I had to make them look like strikes and then break off the plate.”
Orndorf, while snubbed as tournament Most Valuable Player, allowed just two earned runs in 14 innings across two complete-game gems.
He finished the year with 10 consecutive victories in 10 starts, allowing just three earned runs in 60 2/3 innings over that span, going the distance eight times.
“He really settled in,” Logan manager Kevin Gertz said. “He’s a strike thrower, and he throws that slider over pretty much whenever he wants to. We didn’t have the greatest control today, but I’ll still take my team against anybody.”
Logan started Cross Conn on the mound, who delivered low-to-mid 70s fastballs and slow benders from a three-quarters arm slot from the right side.
Conn kept Frankfort off-balance the first time through the line-up, but he struggled with his command walking five and plunking two more to allow five runs (four earned) on three hits to take the loss in 4 1/3 innings.
Frankfort’s starting pitching was the story of the tournament. The Falcons warmed up just one reliever in the bullpen across three games, Rhett Sensabaugh, who briefly loosened after Orndorf hit a batter to lead off the sixth in the title game.
Orndorf spun a ground ball one pitch later, and shortstop Blake Jacobs touched second base and fired to first for a double play to erase the threat.
Hare pitched a complete game in Frankfort’s 4-1 win over Independence in the semifinal, as Falcon pitching recorded complete games in their final five playoff contests.
“We just did an outstanding job all season. Our pitching staff carried us,” Miller said.
Frankfort’s senior class of Orndorf, Jacobs, Sensabaugh, Hare and Peyton Durst completed a three-year run where it compiled a 72-25 record with two state championships and a runner-up finish.
Orndorf, Hare and Jacobs were voted to the all-tournament team.
Saturday was a predictable finish for the quintet, which walked off the field in their final game in the only way they knew how.
As champions.
“This senior group, and this is across the board, football, baseball, basketball, everything, this is the greatest athletic group that’s ever came through Frankfort High School,” Miller said.