Baseball roundup: Durante out-duels Ipson in 1-0 extra-inning Snow Canyon win

SC pitcher Will Durante, Snow Canyon at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Apr. 8, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Snow Canyon’s Will Durante knows there are some big name pitchers in Region 9, guys like Dylan File, Zack Brinkerhoff, Dakota Donovan, Kayden Lunt and Braxton Ipson.

snow-canyon-smdixie-smBut as good as those guys are, they’ll be hard-pressed to have a better game than the senior Durante had Tuesday night against Ipson’s Flyers. Durante pitched eight innings, allowing three hits and no runs while striking out nine Dixie batters en route to a 1-0 win that helped Snow Canyon go over .500 for the first time this region season.

“Definitely in the top five games I’ve ever pitched,” Durante said. “It was crazy going into extra innings with no one scoring. I’m so happy my coaches had the confidence to stay with me into the extra innings. That’s what I wanted.”

Brady Sargent doubled home teammate Clint Gates in the top of the seventh to produce the only run of the game for the Warriors. Durante then hit Dixie lead-off batter Gavin Graff. Pinch runner Brayden Oakes moved to second on a sacrifice by Drew Bailey, but Durante struck out the final two Dixie batters to close out the game.

“He’s got that in him, it’s always been there,” Snow Canyon head coach Reed Secrist said. “It’s just a matter of him going out there with confidence and getting it done. That was a great ball game, well-played by both teams. If you didn’t enjoy that one, I don’t know what else you could be looking for.”

(story continues below)

SC pitcher Will Durante, Snow Canyon at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Apr. 8, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
SC pitcher Will Durante, Snow Canyon at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Apr. 8, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

It almost didn’t get to that extra inning as Dixie loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh. Durante showed a little wildness in the inning, hitting Chaz Hansen. After a strikeout, he walked Chance Aplanap. A balk moved the runners up to second and third base with the hard-hitting Ipson at bat, but the call effectively took the bat out of Ipson’s hands as SC elected to intentionally walk the BYU-bound senior for the second time in the game.

With the bases loaded, Collin Hutchings ripped a deep fly ball to left field. But the fly ball had enough air under it for Warriors left field Jake Sargent to locate and camp under about 10 feet short of the fence to retire the side and send the game into the extra frame.

Snow Canyon at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Apr. 8, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News
Austin Ruseler, Snow Canyon at Dixie, St. George, Utah, Apr. 8, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, St. George News

“I thought, ‘Oh crap,'” Durante said. “I didn’t necessarily think the game was over, but I knew he hit it hard. But Jake got a good jump and you know, the defense played great behind me all game long. I felt confident I could throw strikes and the team would come through..”

Dixie loaded the bases twice earlier in the game as well, but left three men on in the first inning with a two out strikeout and three on in the third with a two out fly out to center. All-totaled, Dixie left 11 runners on base, eight of which were in scoring position.

The Warriors scraped out five hits against Ipson, while leaving seven runners on base. Brady Sargent’s game-winning RBI came with two outs after Gates had reached second on a tough two-base error on a liner to left field. Sargent’s rip bounced over the left-field fence on one hop.

For SC, the win is its fourth straight after starting region 0-3. The Warriors are 10-6 overall and 4-3 in region play, good enough to put them in a position to claim one of Region 9’s playoff spots as we pass the halfway point.

The Flyers, 9-7 and 2-3, had won four of five before Tuesday’s loss. Dixie now faces two straight tough road games with Friday’s visit to Snow Canyon and a trip to Canyon View next Tuesday.

Desert Hills 8, Canyon View 4

Desert-Hills-smcanyon-view-smIt was the long ball, not the great pitching, that saved the Thunder on this day as Clay Wilcox and Jordan Evans went deep for Desert Hills.

Evans hit a three-run shot in the second inning off of Canyon View starter Xavier Stoker to help the Thunder to a 5-0 advantage. Canyon View stormed back to pull to within 5-4 with a run in the third, to in the fourth and one more in the fifth.

That’s when Wilcox struck to turn momentum and help the Thunder stay undefeated. His two-run shot in the sixth made it 7-4. Kayson Bowler pitched a scoreless sixth for the hold and Dylan File shut Canyon View in the seventh as Desert Hills improved to 13-2 overall and 5-0 in region play. The Thunder have now won 17 straight region games and host Canyon View Friday at 7 p.m.

For the Falcons, Jackson Vasi had a triple and Payton Higgins had a double, but CV fell to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in region. The Falcons will throw ace Zack Brinkerhoff Friday night.

Cedar 9, Pine View 2

cedar-smPine-view-smKayden Lunt pitched the complete game as Cedar shrugged off last week’s sweep at the hands of Desert Hills to get the road win at PV. Lunt also had two hits, an RBI and scored twice for the Redmen, who are 3-2 in region play.

It was a pretty good game until the fifth inning. Cedar had scored three in the top of the second, but Pine View knocked home a pair of runs itself with Brooks Barney and Dylan Draper picking up RBIs and the score stayed at 3-2 until the fifth. That’s when Cedar struck for six unanswered runs in a rally that featured five singles, a walk and two Pine View errors with 10 Cedar batters coming to the plate.

Barney doubled and tripled in the game and Draper had two hits, including a double, but the Panthers fell to 8-8 overall and 3-4 in region. PV has lost four straight heading into Friday’s road game at Cedar.

The Redmen, 13-3 overall, will throw Brecken Lewis against Panthers ace Dakota Donovan in the 4 p.m. Friday game.

Stats: cedpv4814

Region 9
W
L
RS
RA
pct.
W
L
RS
RA
pct.
Desert Hills 5 0 31 9 1.000 13 2 110 22 .867
Cedar 3 2 19 10 .600 13 3 117 33 .812
Snow Canyon 4 3 51 43 .571 10 6 122 100 .625
Canyon View 4 3 45 34 .571 10 6 104 79 .625
Dixie 2 3 34 22 .400 9 7 102 73 .562
Pine View 3 4 46 48 .429 8 8 108 92 .500
Hurricane 0 6 13 73 .000 6 9 91 151 .400

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1 Comment

  • Jeff B April 11, 2014 at 9:48 am

    Nice! Way to see Desert Hills on top of the Charts! They will definatley see the State win this year! Go DESERT HILLS! 🙂

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