Wildcats still alive in 2A baseball finals

GILBERT — Behind three home runs and six strong innings from Travis Murphy, Dillon took game two on the road Wednesday to send the Class 2A baseball state championship series to its final game with a 5-1 win.
The Wildcats tied the best-of-three series at 1-1. Game three is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at West Florence High School.
Murphy held the Gilbert bats at bay, surrendering just two hits over his six innings of work while striking out six.
Dillon took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth on two solo home runs by Anthony Smith to lead off the third and fifth innings respectively. Gilbert then cut that lead in half in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single from Desmond Kennedy.
Murphy then cruised his way into the top of the seventh when the Wildcats extended their lead by plating three more runs on a two-run single from Philip Herring and a solo shot from Murphy.
Dustin Britt closed out the game on the mound for Dillon as he and Murphy combined on a two-hitter.
Smith finished the game 2-for-3 with two home runs. Philip Herring was 2-for-4, and Kyle Johnson went 2-for-2 to lead the Wildcats.
Jake Padgett took the loss for Gilbert, allowing six hits and two runs in four innings.