ST. GEORGE – Region 9 baseball teams went 5-2 on Saturday in some final non-region tuneups before grinding hard in region play the rest of the way. Snow Canyon bounced back from its first loss to capture two straight wins, while Dixie and Canyon View split a pair of contests against their respective foes, and Hurricane also grabbed a non-league victory.

Here’s a rundown of Saturday’s diamond action:

Snow Canyon 7, Shadow Ridge (Nevada) 1
Snow Canyon 8, Shadow Ridge (Nevada) 3

The disappointment of not playing in their own tournament’s championship game was replaced by the satisfaction of a two-game sweep for the Warriors Saturday on the final day of the US Bank Spring Dust Off played at Warrior Field. Snow Canyon missed out on the championship game after falling to Las Vegas Friday and then losing a run-differential tiebreaker with Salem Hills. But instead of bemoaning the lost opportunity, Snow Canyon went out and dominated two games against the Mustangs.

“That was a good baseball game against Vegas yesterday and they happened to beat us,” Snow Canyon coach Reed Secrist said. “Basically, we know we’re not going to go undefeated on the year – I haven’t ever done that. It’s one of those things where, ‘Hey, we can be beat.’ We just have to keep concentrating and keep working hard. It was one game.”

To bounce back, Snow Canyon took out their frustrations on Shadow Ridge, outscoring the Mustangs 15-4 in the two games.

In the first game, Austin Deming hoisted the Warriors on top of Shadow Ridge in the bottom of the first with a solo home run to straightaway center field with two outs. Snow Canyon added four more to the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Zack Nowatzke had a bases loaded double that made it 3-0 and Tim Shakespeare singled to make it 4-0. Moments later, Seth Smith doubled to score another run.

Austin Staheli completed the scoring for the Warriors in the fifth when he socked a two-run double to left field. That was more than enough for Stephen Gubler, who pitched all six innings of the time-restricted game. Gubler got the win in allowing just one earned run, three hits and a walk. Gubler also drew three walks at the plate in the game and Snow Canyon totaled nine hits, with five of those going for extra bases.

In the second game, which took place later Saturday evening, the Warriors got a strong pitching performance from Jed Jensen, who went the distance while allowing five hits and three earned runs. Two of those runs came in the top of the seventh.

“I didn’t have my best stuff or as good a control as I normally do,” Jensen said. “But I still had my fastball movement, which was really good. I wouldn’t say I was necessarily tired in the seventh, I just missed my spots and they strung a few hits together.”

Jensen helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly for the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, scoring Nowatzke. Shakespeare showed once again that he’s becoming a big-time hitter for the Warriors in the bottom of the fourth. He came up with one out and two men on and deposited a Shadow Ridge fastball deep over the left field fence to make it 4-0. The next batter, Jensen, doubled and his speed-up runner came home moments later on a Mustangs error to make it 5-0.

It was 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth when Staheli and Travis Davenport singled ahead of Deming. The senior slugger blasted the first pitch he saw out toward the student parking lot past left field to make it 8-1. It is Deming’s third home run and 10th extra-base hit in 14 games. He finished the game 3 for 3 with two runs scored and those three RBIs.

“I think with hitting, seeing the ball is my No. 1 priority,” Deming said. “If you’re not seeing it well, you’re not going to hit it well. You might get lucky here and there, but to be good all-around, you’ve got to be able to see the ball. That’s the biggest thing I focus on.”

Deming has 21 hits in 42 at-bats, with seven walks so far this season.

Brock Secrist had a pair of hits as well as the Warriors ended up with 10 hits, five of those for extra bases.

Snow Canyon, 13-1, jumps back into region play next week with a Tuesday/Thursday set against Pine View, starting with Tuesday’s contest at Warrior Field at 7:30 p.m.

Timpanogas 3, Dixie 2
Dixie 4, Copper Hills 2

The Flyers managed to dodge the rain showers and get two games in Saturday at Timpanogas High.

In the morning game, Dixie faced Timpanogas ace Coleman Fisher and the junior started the game by striking out Hobbs Nyberg, Tyson Miller and Tyson Fisher in succession. Things got worse for Dixie when the Timberwolves grabbed the lead with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI by Spencer Olsen.

Timpanogas added to the lead with a run in the second and Dixie was down 2-0.

But the Flyers battled back. Reggie Graff came home on a wild pitch in the third to make it 2-1 and Nyberg came home to score and even the game up at 2-2 in the top of the fifth on an RBI by Miller.

Nyberg was sharp on the mound and kept it at 2-2 as the game went into extra innings. Dixie got the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings, but couldn’t push it across. In the bottom of the ninth, the Wolves got two on with a walk and a blooper to center. Tennyson Pay then ended the game with a single to center field.

Nyberg was the hard-luck loser, going 8.1 innings and allowing just three earned runs and eight hits. Kayler Yates had three base hits for Dixie, including a double.

In the afternoon game, Dixie got down 1-0 early, but Wyatt Woodland hit a solo homer in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1. The Flyers took the lead in the fourth on an RBI by Braden Oaks that brought home Chase Lundin.

In the bottom of the sixth, Tyson Fisher made it 3-1 when he battled through an 11-pitch at-bat (three balls, two strikes and six fouls) to blast a long homer to straightaway center field. Lundin followed with another dinger to make it 4-1.

Matt Kitchen got the win, working five innings of five-hit ball. Ajay Leavitt pitched two innings of relief for the save. Lundin and Fisher had two hits each, while Dixie finished with seven hits in the game.

The Flyers, 11-2, will face Desert Hills next week for two games. Tuesday the two teams square off at Flyer Field and Thursday they meet at Thunder Field.

Springville 9, Canyon View 6
Canyon View 12, Springville 10

The two teams ended up meeting twice in the US Bank Spring Dust Off at Warrior Field with each coming away with a slim victory.

In the first game, Canyon View led 4-0. McCray Webster had an RBI in the first inning and Colten Shumway stole home to make it 2-0. In the second, Joey Lambeth knocked in Max Raddatz and Shumway hit a sac fly for another run to make it 4-0.

But the Red Devils struck for six runs in the bottom of the third on seven singles and a Falcon error.

Canyon View tied it at 6-6 in the top of the fourth as Cody Spencer came home on a double steal and Trace Harden knocked in Lambeth with two outs.

But Springville got two in the fourth and one in the fifth to come away with the six-inning victory. Lambeth had three hits to lead the way for CV.

In the second game, it was a shootout all the way. the Falcons scored in all six innings in the game, with the Red Devils keeping pace.

Springville scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a grand slam by Brinton Montgomery, to take a 10-9 lead heading into the sixth. With time running short, Canyon View had to score to keep the game alive.

Quinn Spevak led off with a single and, with one out, Parker Holmes was hit by a pitch. Josh Macinnis then tied the game with a liner to left field that made it 10-10. Skittles Mackelprang then walked to load the bases and Carson Hopkins grounded a run in to make it 11-10. One more run came in on an error and Spevak pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning to secure the win.

Shumway, Macinnins and Mackelprang had two hits each to pace Canyon View, which is now 5-6 on the season. The Falcons battle crosstown rival Cedar next week, with a Tuesday game at Cedar High and a Friday game at CVHS. Both games begin at 4 p.m.

Hurricane 8, Kanab 7

Talk about a monster rally … the Tigers trailed 7-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh against the visiting Cowboys. But the final three outs proved too elusive for Kanab.

Jeremiah Johnson walked to lead off the parade for Hurricane. As it turns out, the Tigers would do a lot of walking in the seventh. Austin Wright walked next, then Isaac Blair singled a run home to make it 7-2. Brian Long and Rylee Kent then walked to force in a run and make it 7-3.

Cayden Street took one for the team and that made it 7-4, and Kage Akipoleki’s walk brought in another run to make it 7-5. With still no one out, Brock Starley finally saw a strike and he thrashed it into left field for a two-run, game-tying single. Two batters later, Johnson ended the game with a safety squeeze bunt that brought home pinch runner Zeb Hirschi.

Starley led the Tigers with two hits and three RBIs and Long also rapped two hits. Reliever Michael Martinez got the win for Hurricane, which improves to 5-6 on the year with the win. Hurricane has a region bye next week and will take on North Sevier Thursday and go to Richfield on Friday.

 

Saturday’s Region 9 results
Timpanogas 3, Dixie 2
Dixie 4, Copper Hills 2
Hurricane 8, Kanab 7
US Bank Spring Dust Off
Springville 9, Canyon View 6
Canyon View 12, Springville 10
Snow Canyon 7, Shadow Ridge (Nev.) 1
Snow Canyon 8, Shadow Ridge (Nev.) 3

Region 9 standings (region, overall)
Snow Canyon  2-0, 13-1
Pine View  2-0, 8-1
Desert Hills  1-1, 8-2
Cedar  1-1, 5-5
Dixie  0-0, 11-2
Canyon View  0-2, 5-6
Hurricane  0-2, 5-6

Upcoming games
Tuesday
Canyon View at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Desert Hills at Dixie, 7:30 p.m.
Pine View at Snow Canyon, 7:30 p.m.

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