ST. GEORGE – Snow Canyon might be trailing Desert Hills by two games in the standings, but the Warriors are starting to look like the defending-state champions that they are.
Friday night, Snow Canyon put on an offensive show in blasting a young Pine View team 15-0. Chandler Day led the way with four extra-base hits.
“I was definitely seeing the ball well tonight,” Day said. “I was just trying to do my job of getting on base and a couple of them found the gaps out there.”
Day led the Warriors on a 14-hit day and also crossed the plate four times and had two runs batted in.
“Day’s been doing that all year,” SC coach Reed Secrist said. “He always puts the ball in play. I could put him lower in the line-up and he could pick up a lot more RBIs, but we like him right at the top.”
While Day and his teammates were smacking the ball around off of four different Pine View pitchers, Brogan Secrist had things well under control on the mound for Snow Canyon. He allowed just three hits and struck out eight Panthers.
“Pine View’s a good team, but very young,” Brogan said. “I used mostly fastballs to get ahead early in counts, then went to the off-speed stuff.”
The game actually started out like a pitcher’s duel, with Secrist and Pine View starter Micah Morgan holding the offenses scoreless through the first two innings. But a four-run rally in the third inning seemed to open the floodgates for the Warriors.
Day led off with a double, then scored on an RBI single by Clint Gates. Secrist then doubled down the left field line to score Gates and make it 2-0. After a Pine View error, Tyler Wardell pushed a run home on a fielder’s choice as did Brady Sargent.
That 4-0 advantage went to 6-0 in the fourth on RBIs by Secrist and Riley Gates, then ballooned to 9-0 in the fifth when Sargent, Jake Lindsay and Day all scored.
Snow Canyon invoked the 10-run mercy rule in the sixth by pushing the lead to 15-0 and getting the Panthers out in the bottom of the inning. Despite the big win, Coach Secrist was still a bit disappointed
“We’re still not doing some of the little things that championship teams have to do,” he said. “We the lead-off hitter in the first two innings double and didn’t get him home either time. If Brogan doesn’t get some key strike-outs in the first and second innings, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
The Warriors, 11-5 overall and 5-2 in region play, have scored 58 runs and only allowed eight in region play, though they still trail Desert Hills by two games. Snow Canyon beat Dixie 10-0 last Friday.
“We’ve still got some things to work on,” Day said. “We’re still not where we need to be in some things. But we’ll get there.”
Snow Canyon hosts Canyon View Tuesday night at Warriors Stadium.
The Panthers, 5-9 and 1-6, will try and stay out of last place with a battle at Hurricane Tuesday night.
Desert Hills 9, Cedar 2
The Thunder stayed undefeated in region play with the easy win at Cedar City. It took a walk-off hit by Bryce Gibson to beat Cedar in St. George, but no such heroics were necessary this time around as Desert Hills dominated. Kaleb Caplin allowed just three hits from the mound and the Thunder played error-free baseball for the fifth time in seven region games.
Caplin and Ty Rutledge both doubled and the Thunder had 15 hits. Desert Hills has now won nine straight and is 12-3 overall (7-0 in region). The Thunder play at home against Dixie Tuesday night.
Cedar fell to 9-8 overall and 3-4 in region. The Redmen are currently in fifth place, a half-game behind Canyon View. Only four teams qualify for the playoffs. Cedar is off Tuesday and plays at Canyon View Friday.
Dixie 8, Hurricane 2
Tanner Wilde and Drew Batchelor were among the hitting stars for Dixie and the Flyers routed the Tigers. Braxton Ipson got the win for Dixie, which improved to 4-3 in region and 13-5 overall. The Flyers are currently in third place, a game behind second-place Snow Canyon.
Dixie plays at first-place Desert Hills Tuesday evening. The two teams met Mar. 22 with the Thunder coming away with a 6-2 victory.
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