ST. GEORGE — After well over six hours of baseball, Desert Hills won the rubber game of a three-game playoff series against Cedar and advanced to bracket play in the 4A state playoffs.
Early Friday afternoon the visiting Reds forced the “if necessary” third game by beating the Thunder 3-2 in extra innings.
But then Desert Hills’ bats erupted and the Thunder rumbled past Cedar 16-7 in the evening clincher.
“That’s just why you got to keep playing baseball,” Desert Hills coach Kevin Cave told St. George News. “It’s like one of those games that there’s no clock so you just got to keep playing and playing and playing. Today was a real example of that.”
Desert Hills entered the day up one in the series after beating Cedar 10-4 Thursday night.
But Cedar evened the series behind a fine pitching performance from Kason Crandall. The senior walked three and struck out three over seven full innings, yielding two unearned runs.
The Reds trailed 2-0 going into the top of the sixth, when Lawson Black drew a walk with the bases loaded.
Then Brock Anderson scored on a passed ball in the top of the seventh to tie the game 2-2.
Up again with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, Anderson walked and brought in the winning run. Myles Topham tossed three strikeouts to get the save for Cedar.
But in the decisive rubber match Friday evening, Desert Hills scored three quick runs in the first inning and the Thunder bats kept booming all game.
It was a war of attrition for both pitching staffs as the teams combined for six pitching changes during the contest.
“It’s excellent to get all of these pitchers in today,” Cave said. “Not getting that first one, despite having a lead, that got us a bunch of guys in the game pitching innings before state playoffs next week.”
Desert Hills trailed 6-5 before the Thunder struck for six runs in the fourth inning to put the game away.
Eric Olsen started the winning rally when he got hit by a pitch, then stole second. Cooper Kluff walked and Cole DeCastro bunted for a hit to load the bases.
A hit batter and a walk brought in two Thunder runners. Kyler Terry followed with a hit up the middle that scored two more.
Andrew Wilson and Taylor Mosher hit back-to-back RBI singles and Desert Hills forged a lead it would never lose at 11-6.
Cedar finishes the year with a record of 8-20.
Meanwhile, Desert Hills improved to 15-12 and advances to face Pine View in bracket play in the 4A state tournament Monday at 7 p.m. at Dixie State University.
“We’ve been getting better every step of the way, and that’s sort of been the goal all season,” Cave said. “We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and play our best baseball at bracket time.”
Snow Canyon 18, Logan 8 | Snow Canyon 18, Logan 4
The defending 4A state champions had little difficulty in their first-round series against visiting Logan.
The Warriors won by 10 Thursday night and followed that up with a big 14-run win Friday. Snow Canyon generated a combined 36 runs off of 33 hits in the two-game series sweep.
View the 4A state tournament bracket and game times at the UHSAA website.
Photo Gallery
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills and Cedar in a 4A state baseball playoff game, St. George, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
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