State baseball playoffs: Canyon View, Cedar, Crimson Cliffs sent home after super regionals

Snow Canyon baseball's Jackson Ence slides into home ahead of the throw, No. 15 Cedar at No. 2 Snow Canyon, 4A state baseball playoffs, Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News / Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — On to Salt Lake Community College.

No. 14 Sky View at No. 3 Pine View, 4A state baseball playoffs, Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

Half of Region 9’s baseball teams are through to the championship rounds of the 4A state baseball tournament starting on Monday following super regional series victories.

Desert Hills, Pine View and Snow Canyon swept their best-of-three matchups while Dixie overcame a game-one loss to advance. Canyon View and Cedar fell victim to the sweeps of Desert Hills and Snow Canyon, respectively, while Crimson Cliffs fell in a three-game middle-seed dogfight.

Going into the next round, No. 1 Desert Hills takes on No. 9 Bear River while No. 2 Snow Canyon rematches with No. 7 Dixie after a dramatic season-series split and No. 3 Pine View duels with No. 6 Ridgeline. The full tournament bracket can be found here.

Following are recaps from the super regional round of the state playoffs:

Snow Canyon ends Cedar’s season

Game one: No. 2 Snow Canyon 11, No. 15 Cedar 1

Game two: Snow Canyon 11, Cedar 1

The Warriors were able to test their depth while still clinching a pair of mercy-rule victories over the Reds to advance to the next round.

No. 15 Cedar at No. 2 Snow Canyon, 4A state baseball playoffs, Snow Canyon High School, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News / Cedar City News

Snow Canyon started Josh Akins on the mound in game one and Landon Frei in game two, resting the normal pair of Isaac Lyon and Carston Herman heading to Salt Lake. Akins and Frei combined to allow five hits in the series with only Kolby White’s double in game one going for extra bases. Frei allowed only two singles over the span of five innings in a complete-game win while Akins kept Cedar to three hits in 4.2 innings before Luke Anderson struck out all four he faced in relief to secure the win.

White kept the Reds within reach in the early stages of game one, keeping Snow Canyon to just two runs in the first three innings before Frei drove in a pair on a double and scored on a Mason Strong single in the fourth inning to bust the game open. Snow Canyon scored four in the fifth and walked it off on a Lyon single in the sixth.

Snow Canyon jumped on Cedar starter Kasen Crandall early in game two, scoring five in the first inning. The Warriors chased Crandall after he got only one out in the first six hitters, yielding five hits. They tallied seven base knocks total in the inning, including three doubles.

Snow Canyon scored twice in the second and once in the fourth before rattling off three for the walk-off win in the fifth.

Frei went a perfect 5-for-5 in the series with four doubles and four RBIs. Sam Lindsey claimed the series’ only homer in game one. No Red recorded more than a single hit across the two games.

No. 2 Snow Canyon rematches with No. 7 Dixie in game one on Monday.

Desert Hills deals with Canyon View

Game one: No. 1 Desert Hills 12, No. 17 Canyon View 1

Game two: Desert Hills 6, Canyon View 3

Just as it’s done all season, Desert Hills’ stellar starting pitching led the Thunder through to the next round after a pair of dominant performances.

Payton Gubler went all five innings in the Thunder’s mercy-rule game one win. He allowed only six base runners: two singles, two errors, a dropped strike three and a walk. He allowed a lone run, when Denim Pettit reached on an error, advanced on an infield single and again on a double play, eventually scoring on a wild pitch. Pettit was the only Falcon to reach third base in the game.

On Friday, Kaden Terry also kept the bases open, allowing just three hits and a walk, even if his defense committed four errors behind him. Terry struck out 11 and gave up a lone run, which was unearned, in his six innings. Reggie Newby saw some traffic in the seventh that led to two runs but ultimately preserved the Desert Hills lead.

Gubler, Terry and Newby combined to prevent Canyon View from recording an extra-base hit in the series.

Offensively, Desert Hills showed their potency in game one, collecting 12 hits in as many outs. Karson Irvin went 3-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Chandler Reber went 3-for-3 with a trio of scored runs. Jackson Turley recorded a pair of hits and drove in three. Gubler went 0-for-1 but walked three times.

In game two, Davin Roundy slowed the Thunder’s offense. After scoring at least three runs in three of their four turns at bat in the previous game the Thunder topped out at two runs max in a single inning in the series clincher. Reber got them on the board early with a two-run triple in the first but Desert Hills would be held off the board in the second. Their next runs came on an error on a double steal, allowing one runner to score and another to advance to third, enabling a sacrifice fly by Newby. They slapped a trio of singles in the sixth to cushion the lead.

Brayden Floyd was the only Falcon to record multiple hits in the series, going 1-for-2 in the first game and 1-for-3 in the second. Canyon View struck out a total of 16 times across the two games while walking three times and recording seven hits.

Desert Hills advances to take on No. 9 Bear River, who upset No. 8 Crimson Cliffs in three games, in the first game of the championship rounds on Monday.

Dixie rebounds from heartbreaker in game one to take series from Green Canyon

Game one: No. 10 Green Canyon 3, No. 7 Dixie 2

Game two: Dixie 8, Green Canyon 2

Game three: Dixie 9, Green Canyon 2

If you scored more than two runs, you won the game in the matchup between Dixie and Green Canyon.

No. 10 Green Canyon at No. 7 Dixie, 4A state baseball playoffs, Dixie High School, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

The Flyers never led in game one but never fell more than a run behind as Malcolm Bartholomew quelled the Wolves lineup but was outdueled by Reece Hansen on the other side.

Green Canyon broke through in the third after neither team scored in the first two innings after a leadoff single came around to score, igniting a back-and-forth. Jayden Davis responded in the fourth with a solo home run to tie the game. Green Canyon responded with a homer of their own in the fifth. Dixie got that run back as Davis tripled to score Brieten Oaks but was thrown out at home trying for the inside-the-park homer. Hansen delivered the death blow with a solo shot in the top of the seventh with two outs. Boston Vest got to second in the bottom half as the tying run but could not score.

Dixie sprayed eight hits in the game, including four for extra bases, but couldn’t put them together to build a rally. They wouldn’t make that mistake again as the series moved into a do-or-die phase.

After again going scoreless through the first two innings, Green Canyon again scored a run in the third. This time, however, Dixie responded immediately and strongly. They posted three runs in the bottom half as Jaxon Mackelprang scored on a throwing error on a Shea Anderson bunt. Anderson scored on an Oaks single, who would cross with the third run on a passed ball.

The Flyers slapped four singles in the fourth to score three more times and make the score 6-2. In the sixth, Oaks drove in Anderson again with a triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Knighton in his first plate appearance all season due to injury.

All the while, GJ Erickson struck out seven over six innings and limited Green Canyon to seven hits. Dane Thorpe struck out a pair and allowed one hit in the seventh to preserve the win.

The Flyers turned to sophomore Cayson Bell in the decisive game three, who threw more than four innings for the first time in his prep career. In fact, he threw all seven innings available to him and sent Dixie to the next round.

Bell allowed only five hits in his complete-game win, all of which were singles. He struck out five. The only two runs he allowed were unearned.

Dixie, the designated road team in the final game, started the scoring in the top of the first. Green Canyon tied it at one in the bottom half but the Flyers pulled away in the second with four runs.

The 5-1 lead would hold up through the rest of the game. Bell retired eight of the next 10 he faced and got a double play in the next three innings. He allowed only four hits in the final six innings.

Anderson scored five runs total in the series and went 3-for-4 with three runs in game two.  Oaks went 5-for-6.

Dixie moves on to rematch with Snow Canyon in the first round at Salt Lake Community College.

Pine View records pair of routs to move on

Game one: No. 3 Pine View 21, No. 14 Sky View 10

Game two: Pine View 17, Sky View 6

The Panthers scored plenty of runs in whatever fashion was presented to them in the sweep of the No. 14 seed.

No. 14 Sky View at No. 3 Pine View, 4A state baseball playoffs, Pine View High School, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

In game one, the Bobcats committed 13 errors leading to at least 15 unearned runs. Pine View recorded only 12 hits in the game.

Pine View had solid offensive performances but ultimately needed the help from Sky View to convert on the win. Luke Iverson went 3-for-4 with a homer and Dylan Becker went 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Both drove in three runs. Sky View recorded more earned runs by a total of seven to six.

Brock Roundy had a solid four innings for Pine View, striking out five and allowing three earned runs. Hunter Stubbs struggled to seven runs allowed in 1.1 innings with four earned. Brandon Roundy cleaned up the final .2 innings.

After jumping out 13-3 after four innings, the Bobcats closed the deficit to 14-10 after the top of the sixth. Pine View rallied for seven in the bottom half to take the game. Keaton Brooksby drove in a pair on a line drive into right to score a pair and clinch the 10-run rule.

Game two wouldn’t have the same drama. Pine View scored five in the first inning and led 11-0 after three. They pushed it to 17-0 after four.

Traton Staheli pitched four no-hit innings on the mound before being pulled at 65 pitches. He struck out eight and walked two. He also swatted three singles at the plate for a pair of RBIs.

Cade Iverson gave up six runs in the top of the fifth as Sky View rallied to try to avoid another mercy rule. Iverson got two outs before Brandon Roundy slammed the door on the third to secure the win.

Hunter Stubbs went 1-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and three runs. Ian Becker scored three runs as well and hit a homer.

Pine View will play No. 6 Ridgeline on Monday.

Crimson Cliffs sees first playoffs end in heartbreaking fashion

Game one: No. 9 Bear River 6, No. 8 Crimson Cliffs 2

Game two: Crimson Cliffs 7, Bear River 6

Game three: Bear River 7, Crimson Cliffs 6

The Mustangs suffered the upset after being within three outs of advancing.

No. 9 Bear River at No. 8 Crimson Cliffs, 4A state baseball playoffs, Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington city, Utah, May 14, 2021 | Photo by Rich Allen, St. George News

After the offense was stunted in game one, Crimson eeked out at game-two victory by one run. In game three, they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up by one before the Bears scored twice in the top of the seventh to retake the lead that would win them the series.

Bear River took game three’s first lead with two runs in the second before Crimson went out in front by scoring three in the third. Bear River responded with three of their own in the fourth to go up 5-2. Logan West singled to start the Crimson half of the sixth before Tyxx Maynard drove him in with a double. Jayz Estridge hit a home run two batters later to give Crimson its first lead of the game.

The first three hitters reached for Bear River in the seventh, including an error by Estridge that allowed a leadoff walk to score from first to tie the game. A bunt for a hit put the Bears back in front.

Crimson Cliffs got the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base in the bottom half but Ty Evans lined out to left to end the game and the season for the Mustangs.

Estridge went 5-for-11 in the series with a homer and a double. Tate Maynard went 3-for-4 in game two with a double and three RBIs. After securing the win with 1.2 shutout innings to end game two, Aaron Morris kept Crimson in the game on the mound in the decider with three innings of four-run baseball.

Crimson Cliffs finished their first Region 9 season with a 7-7 record.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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