ST. GEORGE — 4A baseball teams from Regions 10 and 11 battled on another in four games in a pristine playoff setting at Larry H. Miller Field at Brigham Young University in Provo on Monday.
And they will do it again Tuesday as both regions had two winners on the first day of bracket play at the 4A state tournament.
Snow Canyon used a walk-off homerun to beat Bear River, Mountain Crest beat Desert Hills, Crimson Cliffs was shocked by Green Canyon and Dixie handled Ridgeline in the nightcap.
So the Warriors and Flyers advanced to the winner’s side of the double-elimination bracket.
Desert Hills and defending state champion Crimson Cliffs will have to go through the loser’s bracket to keep their seasons alive and will face elimination games on Tuesday, May 16.
Full brackets can be viewed at the UHSAA tournament website.
Following are recaps of Monday’s 4A playoff baseball games at BYU.
Snow Canyon 3, Bear River 2
Ryder Harrison hit a two-run homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Warriors (21-5) walked-off the Bears.
The ending provided plenty of drama after Bear River starting pitcher Degan Rigby kept top-seeded Snow Canyon’s potent offense in check for more than six innings.
“Ryder had good at-bats all day, so I was excited for him to be in that spot,” Snow Canyon coach Reed Secrist told St. George News.
“I was hoping for something in the gap, score Crew (Secrist) from second, but as soon as he hit it I thought it had a chance,” the coach added. “I was very excited for him and his teammates to get to experience that.”
The No. 8 seeded Bears (15-9) got to Snow Canyon starter Coden Herman in the third inning. Talon Marble hit an RBI single and the Bears scored a second run off of a wild pitch for the early 2-0 lead.
That appeared to be all the run support Rigby would need. The Bears ace put up four straight scoreless innings.
The only blemish on his sheet was Snow Canyon’s run in the fifth, which came after Makaio Swensen crossed the dish on a fielder’s choice. Harrison picked up an RBI on the play and the Warriors were down 2-1 entering the seventh and final frame.
Rigby coaxed a lead-off flyout, but it would be the last out he recorded. Crew Secrist then belted a double, representing the tying run at second base.
That set up Harrison’s heroics, crushing a homerun over the left-field wall to send the Warriors bench into hysterics.
It was a bad beat for Rigby, whose losing line on the hill read 6.1 innings pitched, three runs allowed off of six hits, two walks and three strikeouts for Bear River.
“I’ve known Degan for a little while,” Secrist said, noting that Rigby played for one of his summer teams. “I knew it would be close. We just couldn’t get a run across against him, he was in a zone all game long.”
Snow Canyon pitcher Jackson Kirby relieved Herman in the fourth inning, got out of a jam, and threw 2.2 innings of scoreless ball to get the win.
“That is a kid who is going to be a big star for us,” Secrist said, adding that it was difficult to get varsity innings for Kirby so he accepted a role on the junior varsity squad for much of the season.
“He just has a great attitude and he’s a hard worker. I love that kind of kid who just wants to accept his role and then gets after it,” Secrist added.
Snow Canyon faces Mountain Crest Tuesday in the nightcap, scheduled for 8 p.m. at BYU.
“I like where we’re at right now. One game at a time,” Secrist said. “Our pitching is set up to do some good things.”
Writer’s note: this report was edited to correctly identify Snow Canyon pitcher Jackson Kirby.
Mountain Crest 5, Desert Hills 1
The Mustangs (19-7) needed one big hit to pull out the victory, and Kaden Deeter provided it.
In the top of the sixth, Deeter belted a bases-clearing triple that sealed No. 4 Mountain Crest’s four-run victory over the No. 5 Thunder.
Up until that point, the game was a well-pitched, tightly played one-run contest.
Desert Hills (14-12) took a 1-0 lead in the third. Corbin Thompson started the inning with a lead-off single, then safety runner Cooper Cluff made his way to third base.
Then Cole DeCastro hit a ball back up the middle for an RBI as Cluff scored on the play.
Mountain Crest got two runs in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of a passed ball and a balk to grab a 2-1 lead.
The score stayed that way for three innings a while as both starting pitchers did their jobs, keeping their teams in the game.
Landon Musgrave pitched for Desert Hills, giving up the two runs (one unearned) off three hits in five innings of work. He walked four batters and struck out four others.
Meanwhile, starter Andrew Nielsen for Mountain Crest threw 6.2 innings in the win. He scattered three hits, yielded one run and walked three batters. The right-hander struck out 10 Thunder hitters.
Kyler Terry relieved Musgrave for Desert Hills at the start of the sixth inning.
He struck out the first batter he faced but then had control issues. Terry walked a batter, hit the next man with a pitch and walked a third to load the bases.
That set the stage for Deeter, whose triple rolled to the left-field wall and plated the critical insurance runs for Mountain Crest.
Desert Hills will face Bear River in an elimination game Tuesday in the first game of the day at 12:30 p.m.
Green Canyon 5, Crimson Cliffs 1
Two players in particular led the No. 7 Wolves to the huge upset over the defending 4A state champs.
Third baseman Coleman Bobb made at least three critical defensive plays and he led the Wolves at the plate with a homerun, a double and two RBI. He also scored two runs.
Wolves (15-11) starting pitcher Cade Atkinson was nothing short of spectacular, efficiently yielding five Mustangs hits in seven full innings of work. He worked around six walks and struck out one in the complete game victory.
Crimson Cliffs (20-4) manager J.D. Abbott started rarely-used Jarvis Osborn on the hill. The junior left-hander limited Green Canyon to one run in five innings and was saddled with the hard-luck pitching loss despite keeping the Wolves at bay for most of his outing.
Perhaps Osborn’s biggest mistake came in the second inning when he left a pitch out over the plate for Bobb, who smacked an RBI double off the wall for an early 1-0 Green Canyon lead.
The score stayed that way till the top of the sixth, when Steele Barben relieved Osborn.
Atkinson rudely greeted Barben with an RBI single. Then Bobb walloped a two-run homer, a moon shot that cleared the pine trees behind the left field wall for a 4-0 Wolves advantage.
Ty Maynard got a run back for Crimson with his RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. Then pinch hitter McKay Wright stepped to the dish with runners on first and third with two outs.
Wright smacked a deep ball to right-center field. The Wolves centerfielder tracked it down and made a leaping grab to pluck the pill from the sky.
The fielder rolled and came to a stop, holding up his glove to show the caught ball. As he did so, he dropped the ball.
Confusion reigned as the umpire initially signaled an out, before the fielder dropped the ball. The umpires conferred, confirmed the out, and Crimson’s best threat of the day ended on a controversial call.
Green Canyon provided the final margin in the top of the seventh with Atkinson’s RBI single, which caromed off of Barben’s shoe for a base hit.
Any hope of a Crimson comeback in the bottom of the seventh was stymied by Bobb’s over-the-shoulder basket catch of a Crimson fly ball.
The Mustangs will look to keep their title defense alive in an elimination game against Ridgeline Tuesday at 3 p.m.
Dixie 10, Ridgeline 1
The Flyers (18-7) were in control throughout, scoring four runs in the fourth and six more in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win.
Braxton Yates put in a dominant performance on the hill. The junior hurler for Dixie pitched six full innings in the win, scattering six hits and giving up the one run. He walked one batter and struck out eight Riverhawks.
Dixie broke through in the fourth with three consecutive doubles. Cooper Bartholomew, Cayson Bell and Trace Franco each finished with two hits in the contest for the winners.
Bartholomew and Franco each collected two RBI in the win and four other Flyers (Max Orton, Boston Vest, Logan Leavitt and Yates) each accounted for one RBI for Dixie.
Ridgeline (16-10) got an RBI double from Trey Purser.
Dixie advanced to face Green Canyon on Tuesday in a game scheduled at BYU for 5:30 p.m.
Look for continued coverage of the 4A baseball tournament in St. George News and stream the games live at The Fan Sports Network.
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