FARMINGTON – The D-Bat baseball team stayed unbeaten during the 2026 Connie Mack World Series, this time with a flair for the dramatic, turning away a stubborn Midland Redbirds team with a 4-3 win in eight innings Friday at Ricketts Park.
D-Bat opened the scoring in the top half of the first inning. Brady Morgeson led off the game with a double and was driven in when Talon Pate grounded out to second.
The D-Bat squad would add to their advantage with a pair of runs in the second after Brock Burkett and Jake Felsman scored to give them a 3-0 advantage.
Redbirds starting pitcher Wade Cozart avoided any further damage, striking out Joshua Viars to end the second inning. He followed that up with a strong third inning in which he struck out all three D-Bat batters he faced.
Meantime, D-Bat starter Jack Jacob was effective early, getting through the first two innings relatively without trouble. In the home half of the third, Redbirds’ Jackson Harris cut into their deficit, speeding home off a double to centerfield by Trey Giametta to make it a 3-1 contest.
Jacob pitched into the fifth inning for D-Bat before he was replaced by Finley Hambrick. Jacob finished the game with 4 strikeouts and four walks allowing only one run on three hits.
The Redbirds had two on and two out in the bottom of the fourth inning but left them stranded after Max Woerner bounced out to second base, keeping D-Bat’s lead intact.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Redbirds mounted a rally. Autrey led off the frame with a double, was advanced to third via sacrifice fly but was stranded when Alejandro Hernandez bounced back to second.
Needing three outs to advance to the championship, Hambrick struck out Woerner before he walked Ethan Carswell and Harris. D-Bat went to the bullpen for Ian Mulligan, who promptly walked Troy Giametta to load the bases with one out.
Mulligan hit Cole Flashnick with a pitch to score Carswell before Autrey’s fly ball to left field drove in Harris with the game-tying run, sending the game into extra innings.
The Redbirds found themselves in trouble in the top of the eighth. After a Morgeson leadoff ground out, relievers Grayson Register and Isaac Gutierrez combined to load the bases. Gutierrez got Garner Rodriguez to strike out looking before issuing a free pass to Oliver Minyard, scoring Viars for a 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth.
The Dulins Dodgers Nationals are back in the championship round as they look to defend their title after a 15-3 romp Friday afternoon over their organizational partners the Dulins Dodgers Americans.
Rallying from a 3-0 deficit, the Nationals scored 15 unanswered runs, twice batting around their lineup as they put the game away with eight runs in the fifth inning and six more runs in the sixth inning.
“In the beginning they were trying to do a little too much and every time we do that, we’re not very good,” said Godwin. “When we get up there and we’re selfless and we grind out at-bats—all of a sudden, you start putting stuff together and you just pass the baton to the next guy.”
The lead changed hands in the top of the fifth inning after the first four batters reached for the Nationals. Jacob Pruett opened with a single, followed by a walk to John Clark and a single by Jace Elrod. All three runners eventually scored, thanks to back-to-back base hits by Jeff Claycomb and Tommy Baker.
The Nationals tacked on six more runs in the top of the sixth inning, with Claycomb and Baker each adding a double and a run scored. May and Ballew finished the game with a combined six runs batted in, while Baker scored three times to aid the victory.