ST. GEORGE – With the battle for first place washed out by the elements, Pine View and Cedar took center stage Tuesday night with the two teams fighting over one final playoff spot. The Panthers got a dominant pitching performance from Tanner Staheli to beat Canyon View, but Cedar matched the win with a rout of Hurricane at Tiger Field.
The Snow Canyon-Dixie first-place showdown fell victim to a stubborn rain storm on the west side of town (it’s been rescheduled for Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Warrior Field). But Pine View played through some drizzles and Staheli helped them capture fourth place for a few moments. However Cedar’s win at Hurricane, about 30 minutes later, put the two teams in a dead heat with one game left.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s action:
Pine View 5, Canyon View 0
Tanner Staheli pitched a no hitter just a couple of weeks ago. The Panther senior showed that near-perfect outing was no fluke as he struck out 10 and allowed just one hit in a virtuoso performance Tuesday night at Panther Field.
“Tanner was on tonight, hitting his spots,” Pine View head coach Glen MacLellan said. “(His) circle was working well. He kept the kids off-balance and their bats quiet.”
The Falcons’ only hit of the night came on a Trevor Farrow bloop single to lead off the fourth inning. Three other Canyon View players reached base in the game, with a Pine View error in the first, another in the fifth and Staheli’s lone walk in the top of the seventh. None of the four base runners ever made it safely to second base.
Meanwhile, the Panther offense got just enough going against Canyon View starter Trace Harden to manufacture a lead for the home team.
“Boys came out ready to play – they know they need to win out in order to move on,” MacLellan said. “(They) were able to get on base, which allowed us to manufacture some runs. The boys stayed in it all night and did what they needed to do to seal the win.”
Hunter Stubbs led off the bottom of the first with a hit and eventually came around to score on an RBI groundout by Tanner Staheli to give the Panthers the early lead.
In the bottom of the third, the lead jumped to 4-0 thanks to some Canyon View miscues. Roman Lafemina led off by reaching on a fielding error. He went to second when Staheli walked, then got to third via a wild pitch. Cody Riddle then picked up an RBI on a hard ground ball to first. The Falcons tried for the play at the plate, but Lafemina beat the throw to make it 2-0.
Riddle then stole second and an error on the defensive attempt allowed Staheli to score and make it 3-0. After a walk, Riddle came home on a double steal to make it a 4-0 Panther lead.
Lafemina then recorded the fifth run of the game for PV by scoring on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth. Of the five runs, only two were knocked home with RBIs. In fact, Pine View had just two hits in the game off of Harden. But the Panthers had four stolen bases and took advantage of two wild pitches and two passed balls, plus five walks in the game.
Staheli got the win, throwing 104 pitches, with 77 of those for strikes. Harden allowed just two hits and three earned runs, but was tagged with the loss. There were no extra-base hits in the game.
Pine View improves to 12-7 overall and 5-6 in region games. The Panthers are tied with Cedar for fourth place with one game left in the regular season. Canyon View drops to 7-14 overall and 2-9 in region.
Cedar 7, Hurricane 1
Bridger Bunnell pitched a complete game despite the soggy and cool conditions to lead the Redmen to the one-sided win. Bunnell allowed just four hits and one unearned run while striking out 10 Tigers.
Cedar, meanwhile, had nine hits, including home runs by Chase Houston and Korby Myers. Coming into the game, the Redmen had hit just three homers all year.
Myers hit his long ball on the second pitch of the second inning, sending an 0-1 offering deep over the left field fence. With two outs in the same inning, Jake Jenkins tripled with a screamer down the right field line. He scored moments later on a passed ball to make it 2-0.
Bunnell walked with one out in the top of the third and came home on a triple by Markus Johnson that made it 3-0. The next batter, Houston, socked his dinger on a line over the left field fence to make it a 5-0 Redmen advantage.
Clayton Rowland scored in the bottom of the third on a Cedar error, cutting it to a 5-1 game for a time.
But Luke Maggio had an RBI single and Jenkins scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to up the lead to 7-1 and ice the game for the visiting Redmen.
Cedar goes to 10-10 overall and 5-6 in region with the win. Jenkins led the Redmen with a single, a double and a triple. Hurricane falls to 7-15 and 0-11.
Desert Hills 15, Carbon 4
Landon Levine hit his first home run of the year and Trey Allred had three hits as the Thunder rolled to the road win.
D-Hills jumped out to an 11-1 lead by scoring one in the first, four in the second and six in the third innings. Jaxton Reber had a three-run double in that big third inning.
But the Dinos temporarily avoided the 10-run mercy rule by scoring a run in the first and three in the fourth to cut it to 11-4. Allred and Drew Thorpe scored in the fifth to make it 13-4 and the Thunder finally got the mercy win with Levine’s two-run bomb in the sixth.
Desert Hills had 13 hits in the game and the trio of Blake Milne, Dallen Turner and Lance Kinross got the job done on the mound. All four of Carbon’s runs were unearned.
The Thunder, 15-6, play Carbon again Wednesday afternoon, then play at Orem Friday afternoon. The Dinos, 16-7, are a 3A school from Region 14.
Tuesday’s results
Pine View 5, Canyon View 0
Cedar 7, Hurricane 1
Desert Hills 15, Carbon 4
Dixie at Snow Canyon – ppd, rain
Region 9 standings (region, overall)
Dixie 10-0, 21-2
Snow Canyon 9-1, 21-2
Desert Hills 7-5, 15-6
Pine View 5-6, 12-7
Cedar 5-6, 10-10
Canyon View 2-9, 7-14
Hurricane 0-11, 7-15
Wednesday’s game
Dixie at Snow Canyon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s games
Desert Hills at Orem, 3:30 p.m.
Pine View at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
Hurricane at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Dixie, 7:30 p.m.
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