It was another frustrating first-round loss for the Dugway Mustangs in the 1A state baseball playoffs Friday in Spanish Fork.

In what is becoming too much of a habit for Dugway High School, teams in baseball and basketball roll through region competition against inferior opponents and post glossy records. But then Dugway loses in the early rounds at state tournaments.

This time the Mustangs met up with West Ridge pitcher James Bright who was at the top of his game on Friday. He allowed only two Dugway hits and struck out 13 batters en route to a 5-2 victory.

“We hadn’t seen him before and he pitched a great game. I think we played a strong game as well. We welcome these types of challenges playing against these top teams, but we just need to push ourselves to the next level,” said Dugway coach Jaren Wadsworth.

“I told the kids there is a difference between deserving to win and earning the win. You have to go out and earn the win,” he said. “I felt bad; we wanted to break through this time.”

Dugway did look sharp in this game and held a 1-0 lead through two innings. Pitcher Dakota Woolett struck out three and held West Ridge scoreless early in the game.

With one out and runners at first and second in the third inning, Woolett made a great play when he sprinted off the mound to snag a pop foul next to the West Ridge dugout for a second out. But then Clayton Sherwood of West Ridge ripped a pitch to the left-center field gap to score two runs. Sherwood then scored a third run on a single to center.

Morgan Kartchner came on to pitch for Dugway in the fourth inning and retired the side in order.

With Dugway down 3-1 in the fifth and Woolett at the plate, the senior drilled a triple to the deep left field corner and later scored on a wild pitch to slice the lead to 3-2.

With the Mustangs hot on the heels of West Ridge and Kartchner looking strong on the mound, West Ridge increased its lead to 4-2 on a bizarre play.

With a runner on third and two outs, Kartchner appeared to have struck out his third batter of the inning to end the threat. But as Dugway players walked off the field and the batter went back to the dugout, the runner on third came home and West Ridge coaches argued that he had scored a run and their batter had not struck out — that it was only a second strike.

The officials discussed the matter on the field and allowed the run.

“In hindsight I should have protested more. After the game I talked to the official scorekeeper who said the batter had struck out and the run should not have been allowed. We ended up having to pitch four strikes to get him out, but the damage was done. It’s only one play, but it gave them a run,” said an irritated Dugway coach.

West Ridge scored another run in the seventh to make the final 5-2.

Dugway opened the game with a run in the first inning when Zack James walked, stole second, went to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Garrett Hensley.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com