Here’s the lowdown on 4A baseball pod Saturday

Snow Canyon's Brooks Sampson (20), Snow Canyon vs. Cedar, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Apr. 5, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Baseball is unique from other boys sports in many ways, including its playoff system. Saturday is baseball’s one-of-a-kind pod day, with the four 4A region champions hosting four four-team pods throughout the state.

At least, it’s supposed to be.

Perhaps the biggest story on pod weekend is not Dixie’s chances at repeating as champs, or the odds of a northern team sneaking into the winner’s bracket. Instead, Mother Nature is stealing all the headlines. With rain coming down in buckets up and down most of the state, coaches have almost all agreed to move the games to southern Utah.

Here’s a quick and maybe confusing rundown:

  • Sky View (the Region 12 champ) will now “host” its pod at Snow Canyon and Desert Hills High Schools.
  • Spanish Fork, the Region 10 winner, brings its pod to Hurricane and Pine View High Schools
  • Dixie, thankfully, will still host its own pod at Flyer Field
  • Juan Diego is the lone holdout, with the Soaring Eagle determined to dodge rain and lightning and hold its pod on its home field in Draper

The entire schedule, with times and locations, is listed below. Of course, all times and locales are subject to change based on the weather.

Let’s take a look at each pod as we get set for the first and second rounds of the state 4A baseball tournament.

Sky View pod at SCHS/DHHS
10 a.m. — Sky View vs. Ogden at Desert Hills (ESPN Radio)
10 a.m. — Salem Hills vs. Desert Hills at Snow Canyon
1:30 p.m. — Winners bracket game at TBD
4 p.m. —  Losers bracket game at TBD

No. 1 seed/host – Sky View
Bobcats are 18-4 overall, went 13-2 in Region 12
Best win: Beat Pine View 6-1 in preseason
Worst loss: Got 10-runned by Bear River, breaking 13-game win streak
Top pitchers: Eric Carter (5-1, 1.92 ERA) and Jake Dygert (5-2, 2.78)
Top hitters: Ryder Lundahl (.431 BA, 14 extra-base hits) and Chris Broadbent (.289, 4 HRs)

No. 2 seed – Salem Hills
Skyhawks are 17-8 overall, went 7-5 in Region 10
Best win: 10-runned a good Las Vegas team in March
Worst loss: Got shutout 2-0 by a pretty mediocre Mountain View team last week
Top pitchers: Reed Carter (4-3, 2.38 ERA) and Kade Hancock (4-1, 0.35)
Top hitters: Sophomore Kyle Coburn (.388, 31 hits) and junior Canyon Haveron (.350, 26 RBIs)

No. 3 seed Desert Hills
Thunder are 16-6, went 7-5 in Region 9
Best win: Beat Snow Canyon 4-3 two weeks ago
Worst loss: Stunned by Cedar 2-1 to open region play
Top pitchers: Drew Thorpe (7-1, 1.31 ERA) and Blake Milne (4-3, 1.63)
Top hitters: Bronson Andrus (.417, 36 RBIs) and Sam Rhoton (.390, .530 OBP)

No. 4 seed Ogden
Tigers are 9-15, went 7-11 in Region 11
Best win: Won 2 of 3 against Bonneville to earn playoff spot
Worst loss: Been 10-runned three times this year, including 13-0 loss to Juan Diego
Top pitchers: Max DeCorso (2.97 ERA, 46 Ks) and Julian Gomez (3.92, 0 HRs allowed)
Top hitters: Max DeCorso (.434 avg., .492 OBP) and Matt Garceau (.400, .560 slugging)

Spanish Fork pod at PVHS/HHS
11 a.m. — Spanish Fork vs. Pine View at Hurricane (ESPN Radio)
11 a.m. — Bear River vs. Tooele at Pine View
2 p.m. — Winners bracket game at TBD
2 p.m. — Losers bracket game at TBD

No. 1 seed/host Spanish Fork
Dons are 17-8 overall, went 11-1 in Region 10
Best win: Beat Taylorsville and Timpanogas in Dixie State Invitational
Worst loss: Followed those two wins with embarrassing 13-0 loss to Skyridge
Top pitchers: Tyler Sorensen (5 wins, 2.74 ERA) and Cy Nielsen (1.40 ERA, 54 Ks)
Top hitters: Andrew Pintar (.397 avg, 29 hits) and Josh Cowden (.388 with 4 triples, 5 HRs)

No. 2 seed Bear River
Bears are 15-8 overall, went 11-4 in Region 12
Best win: Beat Sky View 15-5
Worst loss: Mercy-ruled by Pocatello, Idaho
Top pitchers: Jake Dahle (5-2, 1.72 ERA) and Parker Coombs (3-2, 3.20 ERA)
Top hitters: Wyatt Roholt (.387, 12 extra base hits) and Makayden Kent (.386, 2 HRs)

No. 3 seed Tooele
Buffaloes are 11-13 overall, went 10-8 in Region 11
Best win: Started year 0-8, then beat Bonneville 20-10
Worst loss: Fell 7-3 to lousy Payson team in season finale
Top pitchers: Payton Shields (3.61 ERA, 30 Ks) and Ryan Peterson (3.85, 2-0 record)
Top hitters: Jaden Park (.421 avg) and Payton Shields (.386, 16 runs)

No. 4 seed Pine View
Panthers are 14-7 overall, went 7-6 in Region 9
Best win: Beat Desert Hills 10-4
Worst loss: Swept by Snow Canyon 10-0 and 12-0
Top pitchers: Tanner Staheli (1.65 ERA, 5-1 K/BB ratio) and Cody Riddle (3.45, only 17 hits allowed)
Top hitters: Roman Lafemina (.406 avg, 22 runs) and Cody Riddle (.385, 10 BBs)

Dixie Pod at DHS
10 a.m. — Park City vs. Ridgeline
1 p.m. — Dixie vs. Lehi (ESPN Radio)
4 p.m. — Losers bracket game
7 p.m. — Winners bracket game

No. 1 seed/host Dixie
Flyers are 22-3 overall, went 11-1 in Region 9
Best win: 10-0 mercy killing of Snow Canyon to end regular season
Worst loss: None, but 4-1 loss to SC was biggest
Top pitchers: Cooper Vest (0.33 ERA, 3 no hitters this season) and Tyson Fisher (0.98 ERA, 72 Ks)
Top hitters: Tyson Fisher (.522 avg, 7 HRs) and Hobbs Nyberg (.500 avg, 29 runs)

No. 2 seed Park City
The Miners are 19-6 overall, went 16-2 in Region 11
Best win: Beat Juan Diego 13-3
Worst loss: Whipped by Pine View 8-3
Top pitchers: Wyatt Hudgens (7-1) and Sam Strader (7-2)
Top hitters: Payton Gross (4 HRs, 8 2Bs) and Max Mobley (11 extra base hits)

No. 3 seed Ridgeline
RiverHawks are 11-12 overall, went 9-6 in Region 12
Best win: Took 2 of 3 from Bear River to clinch playoff spot
Worst loss: Started season 0-4, including 14-1 loss to Weber
Top pitchers: Shawn Triplett (4-2, 3.09 ERA) and Daxton Purser (3.32 ERA, 39 Ks)
Top hitters: Daxton Purser (.431 avg, 4 HRs) and Brock Bradfield (.411, 23 hits)

No. 4 seed Lehi
Pioneers are 11-12 overall, went 5-7 in Region 10
Best win: Won 2 play-in games (Mt. View and Uintah)
Worst loss: Mercy-ruled by Spanish Fork last week
Top pitchers: Casey Anderson (3-1, 1.17 ERA) and Hayden Jacobson (0.60 ERA, only 5 BBs in 35 innings)
Top hitters: Gentry Cox (.333) and Hayden Jacobson (.333)

Juan Diego pod at Juan Diego High
11 a.m. — Mountain Crest vs. Juan Diego
1:30 p.m. — Orem vs. Snow Canyon (ESPN radio)
5 p.m. — Winners bracket
5 p.m. — Losers bracket at Corner Canyon High

No. 1 seed Juan Diego
Soaring Eagle is 19-5 overall, went 17-1 in Region 11
Best win: Beat 6A Northridge 10-7 in preseason
Worst loss: Had 12- game win streak stopped in 13-3 mercy-rule loss to Park City
Top pitchers: Sam Strader (7-2, 1.82 ERA) and Wyatt Hudgens (7-1, 1.97 ERA)
Top hitters: Payton Gross (.456 avg, 4 HRs) and Colton Thompson (.395, 29 RBIs)

No. 2 seed Snow Canyon
Warriors are 22-3, went 10-2 in Region 9
Best win: 4-1 over Dixie last week
Worst loss: Nest day lost 10-0 to the Flyers
Top pitchers: Breck Eichelberger (8-0, 0.27 ERA) and Austin Deming (4-0, 0.52 ERA)
Top hitters: Austin Deming (.493 avg, 8 HRs) and Stephen Gubler (.403, 23 RBIs)

No. 3 seed Orem
Tigers are 11-14 overall, went 6-6 in Region 10
Best win: Won 4-0 at Spanish Fork
Worst loss: Lost 10-0 to Uintah
Top pitchers: Jamison Finch (1.88 ERA, 54 Ks) and Connor Snow (2.51 ERA, 22 Ks)
Top hitters: Stetsen Madsen (.432) and Chris Daley (.397)

No. 4 seed Mountain Crest
Mustangs are 7-14 overall, went 7-8 in Region 12
Best win: Took 2 of 3 late in year from Ridgeline to get into playoffs
Worst loss: Got 10-runned by Bear River twice
Top pitchers: Hayden Simper (1.65 ERA) and Caleb Archibald (1.11 ERA)
Top hitters: Tadon Burbank (.348) and Hayden Simper (.303)

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