MANHATTAN — The Humboldt Cubs are one game away from playing for a state championship after defeating Russell-Victoria, 10-3, in the state tournament opener at Tointon Family Stadium on the campus of Kansas State University.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cubs scored nine unanswered runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to advance and play third seed Trinity Academy of Wichita (24-5) in the state semifinals.
“We’re ready. We’re ready to face the challenge. We’ve been practicing all year for this,” said Logan Page, who picked up the victory Thursday. “Once we get there, we are going to battle, put pressure on them and make them work.”
Despite a bit of trouble early on, Page said he settled in by relying on his defense rather than shouldering the load and trying to strike out every batter. Once he regained his footing, he went to work and tallied five strikeouts while allowing five hits, a pair of earned runs and a pair of walks.
“I just figured through the third inning I was not doing as well as I usually do,” Page said, a senior. “I was not pitching how I usually pitch, so I just tried to throw strikes. I tried to make them put it in play, let the defense work and get some outs. I tried to be as efficient as possible.”
As Page found his footing, so did his teammates.
Senior Kyler Isbell put Humboldt on the scoreboard in the first inning with an RBI on a sacrifice fly, but Russell-Victoria responded by taking control with three unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings.
Junior catcher Jacob Harrington tied the game in one swing with a two-run double in the fourth inning. With Russell-Victoria’s pitcher rattled in the fifth, a bases-loaded walk gave the Cubs the lead, then Isbell cleared the bases with a three-RBI double giving Humboldt a 7-3 lead.
Isbell had a team-leading five RBIs while hitting in 2 of 4 at-bats.
With Page nearing 100 pitches, Humboldt Coach Mike Miller opted for Isbell who came for the save in the sixth inning. Isbell tallied a strikeout over two innings of work while letting his defense do the heavy lifting.
“The biggest thing was to just put the ball in play,” Isbell said. “That puts more pressure on pitchers and they feel they have to do more than they need to. Logan figured out the formula (on the mound). You just need to throw strikes, let them hit them and let your defense play. I just did what he did and it worked out.”
Coach Miller said, “It was deja vu with Logan. We’ve been through this a lot. He might not have his best stuff, but he’ll figure it out and get us where we need to be. There was a time in maybe the second or third where I said ‘I don’t think he’ll make it through four today,’ but he figured it out.”
Humboldt extended its lead in the fifth inning on a bases-loaded walk, an RBI grounder by senior shortstop Blake Ellis and an RBI double by sophomore outfielder Kolton Hanson in the sixth. While Isbell had a team-leading four RBIs, senior outfielder Cole Mathes had a team-leading three hits while successful in 3 of 4 at-bats with a run for each hit. 
“We’ve been talking about this game for the last week. If you get through the first one, then anything can happen,” Coach Miller said. “We’re where we want to be right now. We know it’s not going to get any easier. We know what we could potentially be facing tomorrow. We’re going to enjoy this a little bit, then finish the job we came here to do.”
