Sports Commentator Patrick Blake is host of the Blake’s Take show, airing weekdays from 5-6 p.m. on KZNU Sports Radio Southern Utah Sports Network – 93.1 FM 1450 AM – with live stream online at http://www.KZNUsports.com.
ST. GEORGE – The 3A state baseball playoffs get underway Saturday. The 3A playoffs are double elimination and should be full of drama. The top four teams in every Region qualify for the State playoffs.
Region 9 four teams are, Canyon View, Dixie, Cedar and Snow Canyon. If you look at the standings it looks like Cedar City is dominating much softball but that’s not the full story.
Snow Canyon is one of the best teams in the state but will have a tough road to the championship. Snow Canyon had to forfeit four games and fell from first to fourth.
Teams are placed in four team pods that will come to a head in the state championship game on Saturday May 19 in Kearns at Kearns High School.
The top seed out of Region 9 is the Canyon View Falcons. The Falcons will have Union, Delta, and Grantsville in their pod. Delta plays Grantsville at 9:30 a.m. Delta is the three seed out of Region 12 finishing with a 5-5 record. Grantsville took second in Region 11 with an 8-4 record. The Falcons play Union at 12:30 p.m. Union is the four seed out of Region 10. It ended the season with a 3-7 record. The top seeded Falcons ended the season with a 10-2 record. The winners will play at 3:30 p.m. at Canyon View while the losers play at 3:30 p.m. at Cedar High School.
The second seed out of region 9 is s the Dixie Flyers The Flyers ended the season with an 8-4 record. They are in the Stansbury pod along with Carbon and Park City. Top seed Stansbury takes on Carbon at 10 a.m. Stansbury has a perfect 12-0 record in Region 11 while Carbon was the four seed in Region 12 is 5-5 on the season.
The Flyers play Park City at 1 p.m. Park City went 5-5 in Region 10 to take third place in the region. The winners will play at 4 p.m. while the losers play later in the day as well. No time or site has been set for the losers’ bracket games in the pod.
The third seed in Region 9 is the Cedar Redmen. The Redmen finished in a tie for second but lost the tie-breaker with Dixie. The Redmen ended the season with an 8-4 record and will take on Wasatch in the Spanish Fork pod. Wasatch is the second seed out of Region 10 going 7-3 on the season. Spanish Fork is the No. 1 ranked team in all the state (all classifications). Spanish Fork went 10-0 on the season outscoring opponents 80-9 in Region 12 play. Spanish Fork will host Morgan at 10 a.m. Morgan is the four seed out of Region 11 and went 7-5 on the season.
The Redmen-Wasatch game is also at 10 a.m. but will be at Volunteer Park. The winners of the morning games will play at Spanish Fork at 1 p.m. while the losers will play at Volunteer Park also at 1 p.m.
The fourth and final Region 9 team is most likely the best Region 9 team. The Snow Canyon Warriors who finished Region play with a 6-6 record because of the four forfeits. The Warriors take on the three time defending state champs Juan Diego in the Juan Diego pod. Juan Diego went a perfect 10-0 on the season in Region 10. The two great teams play at 1 p.m.
The other two teams in the pod are Payson and Bear River. Payson is the two seed out of Region 12. Payson went 7-3 on the year. Bear River went 8-4 in Region 11 and in the third seed in the pod. Winners and losers will play at 4 p.m. The winners will stay at Juan Diego while the losers’ bracket games will be held at Alta High School.
For more SPORTS talk, tune into Blake’s Take weekdays from 5-6 p.m. on KZNU Sports Radio – 93.1 FM 1450 AM – or online streaming live on KZNU Sports website: www.kznusports.com
Twitter: @BlakesTake