ST. GEORGE — Snow Canyon hosted a couple of topnotch opponents in the Texas Roadhouse Classic Friday night, coming away with a win against 5A Lone Peak and a close loss to 4A Salem Hills. Dixie, meanwhile, was experiencing high drama in an exciting extra-inning win at Maple Mountain. Here’s a glance at the games:
Snow Canyon 9, Lone Peak 4
Salem Hills 3, Snow Canyon 1 (F/9)
Nick Dolce pitched a complete game and got some big-time run support in the Warriors surprisingly easy win over the Knights.
Davis Rigby had three hits and scored twice and Garrett Hyde, Caleb Gates and Austin Deming had a pair of hits each as SC scored five times in the first inning.
“We jumped on them and got some big hits in that first inning,” Dolce said. “Whenever you get five in the first, that’s huge. I wanted to come out and throw up a zero after that to make sure we had it.”
Dolce tossed up a bunch of zeroes the first four innings. In fact, he had a no hitter until the fifth, when the Knights finally strung together three straight singles to break it up. Even so, the lead was 9-2 after five and a pair of late runs were harmless as the Warriors cruised to the win.
“I knew we were getting up there on pitch count with Nick, but if I went out there he would have sent me back to the dugout,” SC coach Reed Secrist said. “I knew he wouldn’t want to come out, so I just didn’t even go out there.”
Snow Canyon had some defensive issues, committing five errors in the game. But with the offense on fire (14 hits, six for extra bases), the Warriors were able to overcome the mistakes.
“In games that we’ve lost this year, we’ve given other teams those early runs and had to play catch-up,” Secrist said. “It was nice tonight to get a lead for Nick, who we knew would keep it. Getting out early like that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Snow Canyon had six doubles in the game, with two-baggers by Hyde, Deming, Rigby, Jackson Nowatzke, Brock Staheli and Tanner Howell.
Against Salem Hills, Deming allowed just one hit in five innings of work.
Matt Kitchen came on in relief and allowed just two hits in three innings of work, although one of the hits was a solo home run by SH’s Nick Brumfield. Unfortunately for SC, the Skyhawks were able to push across a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to take the win.
The Warriors trailed 1-0 into the sixth, but Jake Mack was able to tie the game with a clutch RBI that tied the game at 1-1.
Neither team could score in the seventh, with SHHS taking the game in the eighth.
Deming had four hits for Snow Canyon, with Mack and Kitchen collecting the only other hits for the Warriors. SC outhit SH 6-3, but also committed two errors, inlcuding one in the eighth.
Snow Canyon will play Springville at 1 p.m. Saturday and still has a chance to make the 7 p.m. championship game of the classic with a win against the Red Devils and some tiebreaker help.
Boxscores: lpsc32516 shsc32516
Dixie 7, Maple Mountain 6 (F/9)
The Flyers blew a small lead, then rallied from a big deficit to down the Eagles Friday evening in Utah County.
Thanks to the pitching and bat of Tyson Fisher, Dixie held a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning at Maple Mountain. Fisher, who had homered earlier in the game, wouldn’t make it out of the sixth as the Eagles struck for five runs.
Left with a 6-2 deficit, the Flyers staged their own hitter’s rally, with four runs crossing the plate in the top of the seventh. Relieve Kaylor “Fozzie” Yates kept the score at 6-6 until the ninth inning. That’s when Wyatt Woodland singled home Hobbs Nyberg with the go-ahead run, making it 7-6.
Maple Mountain was able to get runners on first and third with two outs and attempted a safety squeeze. Yates and catcher Trevor Connell collided trying to field the bunt, but recovered in time to throw out the base runner, who had strayed too far off of third base.
“He actually overslid the bag when we tried to back-pick him and we got the tag down,” Dixie coach Danny Ipson said. “We had a lot going against us in this one — a long bus ride, cooler weather and to make matters worse, we had a lead and lost it. But the guys showed some good character to come back and tie the game and then win it in the ninth.”
Fisher’s home run, which came early in the game came in a quality at-bat. He was down 0-2 after taking a strike and fouling apitch off, but then worked the count to full before depositing a fastball over the left field fence.
Ipson also praised the work of Yates out of the bullpen and Woodland, who had the game-winning hit and went a perfect 4 for 4 in the game.
Dixie, 8-2, will play a doubleheader Saturday at Juab in Nephi, beginning at 11 a.m.
Snow Canyon's Kaleb Gates (8), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Nick Dolce (2), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Davis Rigby (3), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Davis Rigby (3), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Jackson Nowatzke (14), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Austin Deming (10), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Tanner Howell (29), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Brock Staheli (13), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Davis Rigby (3), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Tanner Howell (29), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Snow Canyon's Nick Dolce (2), Snow Canyon vs. Lone Peak, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 25, 2016, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
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