TWIR9: Baseball’s wild title game a fitting end to 2014-15 prep sports year

COMMENTARY — The kids are marching today — well, I guess we can’t really call them kids anymore since they’re graduating from high school — and it certainly was a memorable year on the courts, fields, mats and tracks in Region 9.

Saturday the spring sports season culminated with champions being crowned in baseball and softball. We talked all year about how southern Utah’s baseball teams would dominate at state and they did. Hardball fans woke up Saturday morning with three teams left in the state tournament and they were all Region 9 teams.

Cedar and Snow Canyon then battled to a 7-4 final, with the Redmen earning the season sweep and eliminating the Warriors.

Kash Walker hugs Dakota Donovan after the Panthers State Championship victory over Cedar, Pine View vs. Cedar, 3A State Baseball Championship Game, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Kash Walker hugs Dakota Donovan after the Panthers State Championship victory over Cedar, Pine View vs. Cedar, 3A State Baseball Championship Game, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Then came the championship game, a contest that looked like no-contest for four innings. With Pine View up 9-1, folks in the press box began wondering aloud if the title game would end in a 10-run mercy rule. But championship games rarely go according to script and good teams rarely go down without a fight.

Cedar began an epic comeback with a walk by Kyler Carrizosa and the amazing Rykker Tom had two hits in the fifth as the Redmen scored nine runs on four different Pine View pitchers to take a 10-9 lead.

As I interviewed Pine View players after the game, I asked about that fifth inning. I asked if they got nervous or panicked. To a man, they all said they were confident, even after losing the lead. With Donovan on the mound to close out the game and the Panthers bats still rocking the ball, its easy to see why.

Everyone knows the rest of the story: Pine View scores one in the fifth and three in the sixth and Donovan shuts down Cedar the rest of the way and the dogpile on the infield was populated with jubilant Panthers.

Along with all the emotions of a team that had its hard work pay off in the end, as well as the realization that this may be the last baseball game of their careers for the seniors, there was also another reason for tears. The Pine View outfield, Blake Ence, Kash Walker and Connor Clark, had thoughts and memories of a lost parent flood their minds. Blake’s dad, Kash’s father and Connor’s mom weren’t alive to see the boys cradle that championship trophy.

Most of us have lost someone close to us in life and are aware of the acute grief, which slowly turns into a tugging ache over the years. But these young men have had to deal with epic loss at such a young age. For them to feel joy, even if it’s tempered with pain and sadness, makes me feel happy for them.

Some people dismiss sports as silly games and a waste of resources. I’ve always said sports can be an amazing teacher, a tool to prepare young people for life. Where else can someone learn, discipline, goal-setting, hard work and how to deal with adversity?

Back in the day, there used to be the stereotype known as the “dumb jock.” And while classifying a group of people under one umbrella is never fair, I can readily admit that a lot of jocks had no interest in anything to do with academics. But the tables have turned. Nowadays, time and time again, some of the best students in the school are athletes.

Saturday, three Pine View players (Ence, Harrison Goebel and Carter Milne) and one Cedar player (Josh Boyer) were honored as members of the All-Academic state team, a group (which includes Snow Canyon’s Chance Thorkelson) with a combined grade point average of 3.992.

I salute these guys, as well as all the other great student-athletes who are not “dumb jocks.” Lessons learned on the field, really do apply in the classroom and in life.

As the year closes and the seniors receive their diplomas here’s a list of the champions from the past year. It was a memorable one:

Fall sports

Dixie vs. Hurricane, 2014 3AA Football State Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 21, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Dixie vs. Hurricane, 2014 3AA Football State Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Nov. 21, 2014 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Football — Dixie, which finished third in region play, makes a stunning 28-point comeback in the quarterfinals at Stansbury, beats Pine View in a snowstorm in the semifinals and then survives a smash mouth finals vs. Hurricane to take the crown.

Volleyball — Snow Canyon returned to the top of the heap after an epic five-game final against Morgan. The championship run came after a late-season home loss to Desert Hills.

Girls soccer — Cedar finished fourth in Region 9, but beat two No. 1 seeds (Park City and Dixie) en route to a championship win over Desert Hills. It is Cedar’s first girls soccer championship.

Cross country — Desert Hills, led by Jaiden Melendrez and Joshua Thatcher, dominated the boys side, winning by 40 points over Stansbury. Park City edged Pine View in girls XC.

Girls tennis — Lacey Hancock became just the second girl in Utah history to win four straight first singles titles with her 6-2, 6-1 final victory over DH’s Madz Eames and PV’s Hannah Erekson and Hattie Erekson swept the other two singles spots to help the Panthers take state.

Boys golf — Park City swept the top three medalist spots and the Miners won the team title. Dixie was second.

Winter sports

Chaz Petersen (14), Tyler Bennett (5), Pine View vs. Dixie, 3A State Basketball Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 28, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Chaz Petersen (14), Tyler Bennett (5), Pine View vs. Dixie, 3A State Basketball Championship, Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 28, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Boys basketball — In a season full of buzzer-beaters and overtimes, Pine View held off Dixie 46-43 to win the state title behind a big performance from MVP Kody Wilstead. Dixie’s Tyler Bennett hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the quarters to beat Bear River and won in four OTs over D-Hills in the semis.

Girls basketball — Juan Diego was dominant, winning each tourney game by 11 or more. Region 9 champ Cedar and Desert Hills were both eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Wrestling — Dallin Brooks from Cedar, and the Stevenson brothers, Cody and Tyler, from Desert Hills won individual state titles, but Payson dominated the team scores for the title.

Swimming — Park City dominated both the boys and girls team titles at BYU. Zoey Smith, Colby Clark and Nathan Wallace all won gold from southern Utah.

Spring sports

Baseball — MVP Dakota Donovan helped Pine View take the title with a 13-10 championship win over Cedar. It is the Panthers first title since 2003.

Softball — Stansbury won its third straight title as Region 11 was impressive. Region 9 champ Snow Canyon went 2-2 in the state tourney.

Boys soccer — Dixie won its third title in four years, with Tyler Bennett scoring a golden goal in the semis and then scoring twice in the 3-0 championship game over Pine View.

Desert Hills' Katie Perkins sinks a long put at the 18th hole, 3A State Girls Golf Championship Tournament, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
Desert Hills’ Katie Perkins sinks a long put at the 18th hole, 3A State Girls Golf Championship Tournament, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Track and field — Desert Hills set a team-record on the boys side in the win and the Thunder girls also took the title in the rain and cold in Provo.

Boys tennis — Snow Canyon, behind second singles champ Will Benson and three second-place finishes, shocked favored Juan Diego and the rest of the field to take the team title.

Girls golf — Katie Perkins won her third straight gold medal, but this time Pine View’s Taylor Bandley made her do it in a one-hole playoff. The Thunder girls won the team title for the sixth straight year under coach Laurie Dyer.

Whew, what a year!

“This Week in Region 9″ is a weekly column written by Andy Griffin exploring the happenings in Region 9 at all sports venues. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.