COMMENTARY — Here’s some quick perspective on this week’s Region 9 contests.

In baseball, the headline match-up this week is Desert Hills and Cedar. Tonight the Thunder and Redmen play at DHHS with one of the teams emerging with its first region loss. They both have had their region byes, so they’ve only played two region games so far, but won them both pretty handily.

The Thunder, 10-2 overall, outscored Dixie 15-5 in two region games and they are coming off a weekend sweep up in Salt Lake City over 5A Fremont, 4-0 and 9-0. Desert Hills, of course, is the defending region champion, and it looks like the pieces are in place to do it again, especially with the trio of tough pitchers in Blake Betts, Dylan File and Baden Powell, plus the emergence of young ace Brayson Hurdsman, just a sophomore.

Cedar, 12-1 overall, served notice to the region that it was a contender by sweeping Canyon View last week, including a thrilling 2-0 win with Kayden Lunt out-dueling Zack Brinkerhoff. Did anyone see this coming. The Redmen were 11-11 last year and 5-7 in region, missing out on the playoffs altogether. They still have a tough road ahead, with little big-game experience. But Cedar looks like the real deal. game time at DH tonight is 7 p.m.

Pine View and Canyon View have a very important two-game series this week as well. The Panthers were riding high at 3-0 in region until Friday night’s home loss to Snow Canyon. Brinkerhoff and Dakota Donovan will likely square off today at Pine View. Game time is 7 p.m.

Snow Canyon’s huge road win at PV Friday puts them back in the mix heading into a two-game set with Hurricane this week. If the Warriors can sweep, they’ll be back at .500 in region play. For Hurricane, getting wins this week is crucial to keeping alive playoff hopes. Game time today is 7 p.m.

In soccer, four teams have emerged as contenders, with three teams dropping back in the playoff race. Pine View leads the region race with 13 points, but Snow Canyon, Dixie and Cedar have at least nine points each, while the other three teams have three points or less.

PV is off tonight, while Snow Canyon is at Cedar in an afternoon match. The Redmen have only allowed five goals in eight games this year, while the Warriors are averaging about two goals a game, so it should be quite a match-up, with the wind being a big factor once again. The game kicks off at 4 p.m.

Dixie needs to secure a win at Canyon View, which is 0-4-1 in region play. The Flyers are coming off a scrappy OT win against Snow Canyon. CV has surrendered 21 goals in five region games. Kickoff is at 4 p.m.

Desert Hills and Hurricane square off at DH tonight at 7 with the winner getting a chance to inch closer to the pack of four schools looking for a playoff spot.

In softball, first place is on the line with Cedar hosting defending-region champion Snow Canyon. CHS, 3-0, is just one win away from its entire win total from last season in region. The Lady Warriors are coming off a surprising loss at Dixie in which they out-hit the Lady Flyers 13-3, but got outscored 3-2. Game time is 4 p.m.

Third-place Dixie is at Canyon View. The Flyers are a half-game ahead of the Lady Falcons. That game starts at 4 p.m. as well. The third region game today is Hurricane at Desert Hills with the Thunder looking for their second region win. Hurricane is winless in league play.

TODAY

BASEBALL
Canyon View at Pine View, 7 p.m. (game moved due to weather conditions)
Cedar at Desert Hills, 7 p.m. — Broadcast on 106.1 FM ESPN SportsRadio
Hurricane at Snow Canyon, 7 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER
Dixie at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Hurricane at Desert Hills, 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL
Dixie at Canyon View, 4 p.m.
Hurricane at Desert Hills, 4 p.m.
Snow Canyon at Cedar, 4 p.m.

FRIDAY, APRIL 4
BASEBALL
Desert Hills at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Pine View at Canyon View, 4 p.m. — Broadcast on 106.1 FM ESPN SportsRadio
Snow Canyon at Hurricane, 7 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER 
Dixie at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Canyon View at Hurricane, 7 p.m.
Desert Hills at Pine View, 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL 
Canyon View at Hurricane, 4 p.m.
Desert Hills at Pine View, 4 p.m.
Dixie at Cedar, 4 p.m.

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