4A state baseball: Crimson Cliffs earns berth in championship, will face Dixie or Snow Canyon

Written by E. George Goold
May 19, 2022
Crimson Cliffs Brexten Starley (left) celebrates after a home run against Pine View in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 18, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The Crimson Cliffs Mustangs will play for the 4A state baseball championship Friday at 7 p.m. at Bruce Hurst Field.

The Mustangs will watch along with the fans Thursday evening to find out whether they will face Region 10 champion Dixie or defending state champion Snow Canyon.

The Mustangs won three straight at the tournament and scored a whopping 48 runs in those victories.

Meanwhile, Snow Canyon staved off elimination and forced the “if necessary” game, which began at 4 p.m. today. 

Following are recaps of Wednesday’s games. Go to the UHSAA website to view the complete 4A tournament brackets.

Mustangs 17, Panthers 13

Crimson Cliffs defeats Pine View in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 18, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

It was perhaps appropriate that these neighborhood rivals put up a football score in a baseball game.

“To say we were gonna put that many numbers on the board, I probably would have said, ‘Yeah, we got a chance,’ because of the way we’ve been swinging it,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Justin Abbott said after the game.

Pine View never quit in this back-and-forth, high-scoring affair. Only three of the 13 half-innings in the contest went scoreless.

Crimson Cliffs slugger Trey Evans hit his second grand slam of the tournament and collected seven RBIs in the win. Not to be outdone, Brexten Starley homered for the Mustangs and drove in six runs.

Tate Maynard hit a double with three RBIs and Petey Soto accounted for a solo RBI for Crimson Cliffs.

“I was super proud of the boys for competing,” Abbott said. “It was a tough strike zone tonight. It was tough. And our guys did a really good job of staying in that moment and staying in that game and going right back to it.”

Crimson Cliffs defeats Pine View in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 18, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Pine View battled until the last pitch. Brock Roundy drove in four runs to lead the Panthers.

Four Panthers batters – Andrew Shakespear, Nash Shroeder, Luke Iverson, Kyson Milne – each had two RBIs in Pine View’s last game. Ian Becker doubled and drove in one.

Now the Mustangs get a day off and will await the winner of Thursday evening’s game between Dixie and Snow Canyon.

“We’ve been talking about this all year,” Abbott said. “We play to play for a state championship, and here we are. We’re going to be ready for the moment and we’re excited for the opportunity.”

Warriors 11, Bears 1 | Warriors 16, Flyers 2

With their backs against the wall in two elimination games, Snow Canyon kept its defense of the 4A crown alive after pounding out a combined 22 hits and scoring 27 runs. 

Snow Canyon was all over Region 11 opponent Bear River in the morning game, riding Talan Kelly’s strong pitching to a victory in six innings.

Kelly surrendered only four hits, allowed one run, and stuck out four to get the win.

Isaac Lyon hit a double and recorded 4 RBIs for Snow Canyon. Luke Anderson drove in two. Logan Mendenhall hit two doubles with an RBI in the win and three other Warriors–Hayden Smith, Sam Lindsey, Jake Johnson–each had one RBI. 

Snow Canyon rode that momentum to their second elimination game, this time defeating Region 10 champion Dixie.

Grayson Erickson and Ridge Erickson each drove in a run and Dixie took a quick 2-0 lead after one inning. The Flyers would not score again.

Drake Kelly led the way at the plate for Snow Canyon, doubling and driving in five runs. Lindsey chipped in with his four RBIs.

Crew Secrist contributed three RBIs for the Warriors and two other batters–Johnson and Ryder Harrison–had solo RBIs. Lyon added two more RBIs as the Snow Canyon offense erupted yet again.

After scoring three runs in an opening-game loss to Bear River, Snow Canyon scored a combined 46 runs in their next three games to force the “if necessary” game against Dixie.

The winner will face Crimson Cliffs in a three-game series for the 4A state championship.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!