Numbers game: DH scores 10 in one inning to get win; Dixie’s Fisher K’s 18 batters

Desert Hills' Bronson Andrus (19), Desert Hills vs. Uintah, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 16, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The numbers game came up aces for several Region 9 stars on the last Friday before region play begins.

Desert Hills High School slugger Bronson Andrus hit a grand slam (four RBIs) to help the Thunder score 10 runs in one inning against Uintah. Dixie High pitcher Tyson Fisher allowed four hits, but struck out 18 (!) batters and allowed zero runs against Fremont as Dixie won two games Friday. Snow Canyon hitters Stephen Gubler and Brock Secrist had five hits each as the Warriors swept two games. Cedar won its second game, and Pine View took its fifth. And Hurricane maybe had the most impressive number of all. The Tigers scored 21 runs (and allowed 17) in a marathon win over Green Canyon.

Here’s a look at Friday’s action:

Desert Hills 12, Uintah 2

All game long, Desert Hills left men in scoring position, falling just short of breaking the game open. And then the fifth inning happened.

“Early in the game, we gave up some outs on the base paths and that hurt us,” D-Hills coach Chris Allred said. “It was nice to see the guys swing the bats in the fifth inning. Bronson Andrus had a great at-bat. He’s becoming more of a complete hitter in terms of using the whole field.”

Desert Hills’ Bronson Andrus (19), Desert Hills vs. Uintah, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 16, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

The Thunder trailed much of the game after giving up two runs in the top of the first to the Utes. Sam Rhoton doubled and scored on a Bronson sac fly in the bottom of the third to tie the score at 2-2. It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when the close game became a mercy killing.

Blake Milne, who was the winning pitcher in the game, led off with a double and Kayden Goodman blooped a single to right to put runners at the corners. Three straight fielding errors by the Utes brought home three runs and made it 5-2. Trey Allred had a bunt single ahead of a Drew Thorpe RBI that made it 6-2. Rhoton then forced home a run with a bases loaded walk. That brought up Andrus, who was looking dead-red and got a fastball that he sent well over the right-center field fence.

Desert Hills’ Kayden Goodman (12), Desert Hills vs. Uintah, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 16, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“That first pitch was a little outside, so I just went with it and drove it,” Andrus said. “Our energy level at the beginning of the game wasn’t really there. But it was better in that last inning. They gave us a few extra outs because of the errors and when that happens, you’ve just got to capitalize and make it hurt.”

After Andrus’ grand slam, it was 11-2, still a run shy of the mercy rule. But Goodman walked and stole second and came home with the game-ending run on a single up the middle by Mason Creager.

Desert Hills, 5-1, had seven hits and nine walks in the game. Trey Allred had two walks, a single and a double to lead the offense. Andrus totaled five RBIs. The Thunder continue play in the Summit Invitational with two games on Saturday.

Dixie 5, Olympus 4
Dixie 10, Fremont 0

In the early game, Tyson Fisher and Chase Lundin each knocked in runs in the first two innings to give Dixie a 2-0 lead. The Flyers made it 3-0 on another RBI single by Lundin in the fourth, but the Titans rallied for four runs to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth.

Dixie tied it in the bottom of the sixth when Kayler Yates socked a solo homer over the left field fence on a 3-1 pitch. Yates, who pitched a perfect top of the seventh, was made the winner in the bottom of the inning when Cooper Vest was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded – a walk-off beanball.

File photo of Tyson Fisher, Dixie vs. Snow Canyon, 3A State Baseball Tournament, Orem, Utah, May 20, 2017 | Photo by AJ Griffin, St. George News

The excitement of the early game gave way to a blowout in the second game. But game two had its own kind of excitement. Fisher came out on the mound and was impressive. The senior Dixie State signee pitched six innings in the mercy-rule shortened game and gave up no runs and four base hits. He also walked two batters. Everyone else struck out, and I mean everyone. Fisher recorded all 18 outs in the game via the strikeout.

“I gave up a couple of hits, but other than that it was an all-around good game,” Fisher said. “I had good command of my pitches. My fastball was alive and I had good command of my curve and my slider was open. Chase Lundin worked hard and called a good game back there.”

Of the 18 K’s, eight of them were looking and 10 were swinging. In fact, five of the first six were looking. The Wolves started swinging after that with little success.

“He was around the strike zone all game,” Dixie coach Danny Ipson said. “He did a really good job of keeping their hitters off balance. I thought we swung the bats really well all game, except for a little lull in the middle. But that was a very good pitcher we were facing.”

The Flyers got Fisher all the run support he would need in the first inning. Hobbs Nyberg led the bottom of the first off with a double and he went to third when the ball was bobbled in right field. He scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Payden Harrah and Wyatt Woodland had RBI singles and a fourth run came home on a Fremont error.

Dixie got a run in the fourth and five more in the sixth to end the game early. In the sixth, Fisher had a two-run double and Vest ended the game with an RBI double with one out.

Dixie, 8-0, has now outscored opponents 79-9 in eight games this season. The Flyers play two games Saturday as part of the Kent Garrett Sunshine Classic – vs. Wasatch Academy at 4:30 p.m. and vs. Wood River (Idaho) at 7 p.m.

Snow Canyon 5, Provo 3
Snow Canyon 8, Skyline 3

The Warriors are now 6-0 with the twin killing on Friday. In the early game, the Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead into the fourth inning. Snow Canyon tied it up when Jed Jensen batted home Zack Nowatzke and Tim Shakespeare followed with an RBI single that scored Braden Baker.

It was still 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth when Austin Deming led off with a single and came home on a triple by Stephen Gubler. A balk by the Provo pitcher brought Gubler home to make it 5-3. Brock Secrist then closed out the game in the sixth to give SC its fifth win of the year.

In the later game, Snow Canyon never trailed after putting up a run in the second and six in the third. Up 1-0, the Warriors started the bottom of the third with a single and two walks. Deming and Gubler had consecutive singles to make it 3-0 and Nowatzke brought home two on a single to right field. Gubler and Nowatzke eventually scored to make it 7-0.

SC got another run in the fourth, with the Eagles putting together a three-run rally in the top of the sixth. Makai Lee ended up picking up the win with four innings of relief for the starter Deming. The Warriors had 11 hits, with three each by Gubler and Secrist.

Snow Canyon continues Snow Canyon Classic play with a 1 p.m. game against Ridgeline Saturday and a possible tourney championship game later in the evening.

Pine View 9, Boulder City (Nevada) 5
Sky View 6, Pine View 1

In the early game, the Panthers had nine runs and 12 hits in support of starting pitcher Jaiger Crosby. Luke Green had three of those hits and Roman Lafemina and Tanner Staheli had two each.

The game was tied at 3-3 going into the bottom of the fourth, when Pine View exploded for five runs. Tanner Staheli hit a two-out, two-run homer to break the tie. Weston Sampson and Luke Green also had RBIs in the inning. Staheli ended up with three RBIs and Green had two doubles.

In the later game, the Panthers couldn’t get the offense going against the visiting Bobcats and pitcher Kooper Kunz. He allowed just three hits and one run in six innings of work. PV had one extra-base hit in the game, a double by Green.

The Panthers continue tournament play Saturday with two more games on their home field.

Cedar 11, East 3

The Redmen got their second win of the year by beating the Leopards handily. Cedar trailed 3-2, but scored four runs in the third and four more in the fourth to take control of the game.

Korby Myers had three hits and two RBIs for Cedar, while Chase Houston and Markus Johnson had two hits each. Houston had a triple in the fourth-inning rally. The Redmen also stole seven bases in the game.

Ethan Boettcher and Tanner Eyre teamed up to shut down East, allowing just one earned run.

Cedar, 2-5, plays Sky View at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pine View High School.

South Summit 9, Hurricane 4
Hurricane 21, Green Canyon 17

Five Tiger errors meant Hurricane starting pitcher Rylee Kent was tagged with five unearned runs in the game. It was still a tight game at 5-4 going into the fourth inning, but the Rams scored four more times and Hurricane’s offense dried up.

No Tiger had more than one hit in the contest, though Brian Long singled and walked twice. Austin Wright had two RBIs.

In the later game, Hurricane trailed 9-2 after two innings and 11-6 after four. But the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 11-11 with five runs in the top of the fifth. Both teams scored twice in the sixth to make it 13-13. The Tigers then plated eight runs in the top of the seventh to gain the win.

Wright had an RBI double and Brock Starley hit a two-run triple in the big rally. Rylee Kent finished the game with threes wild – hits, runs and RBIs – and four Tigers had two hits each (Long, Wright, Kage Akipoleki and Isaac Blair).

The Tigers rapped out 15 hits and drew eight walks in the game. Green Canyon also committed eight errors.

Hurricane will play again Saturday with the time/opponent yet to be determined.

Friday’s Region 9 results
Desert Hills 12, Uintah 2
Dixie 5, Olympus 4
Dixie 10, Fremont 0
Snow Canyon 5, Provo 3
Snow Canyon 8, Skyline 3
Pine View 9, Boulder City (Nevada) 5
Sky View 6, Pine View 1
Cedar 11, East 3
South Summit 9, Hurricane 4
Hurricane 21, Green Canyon 17

Region 9 preseason records
Dixie  8-0
Snow Canyon  6-0
Desert Hills  5-1
Pine View  5-1-1
Canyon View  4-1
Hurricane  4-3
Cedar  2-5

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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