4A baseball playoffs: Hurricane blows past Ridgeline; preview of tournament matchups

Hurricane at Ridgeline, 4A baseball playoffs, Millville, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by Tina Lerohl for Cache Valley Daily, St. George News

ST. GEORGE —  The Hurricane Tigers pulled off the upset of the opening round of the 4A state baseball playoffs Friday.

Hurricane at Ridgeline, 4A baseball playoffs, Millville, Utah, May 13, 2022 | Photo by Tina Lerohl for Cache Valley Daily, St. George News

It was difficult enough beating No. 7 seed Ridgeline on the road once. Hurricane, the No. 10 seed, beat the Riverhawks twice in one day.

With the wins, the Tigers joined five other teams from Region 10 in the eight-team bracket portion of the tournament, starting Monday at Dixie State University.

Ridgeline beat Hurricane 7-2 in game one of the series Thursday.

“We talked a lot about now that we lost our first game, we had nothing to lose,” Hurricane junior Sam Johanson told St. George News by telephone. “We were all rested on that second day and ready for action, ready to go out with a bang.”

The Tigers came right back to score three runs in the first inning and two runs in the seventh of game two Friday afternoon in a 5-3 victory, forcing the decisive “if necessary” game.

“We were confident going up against Ridgeline,” Johanson said. “Typically Region 10 is a little bit stronger throughout the state, so we were confident playing someone new out of region. We weren’t well known, we could surprise them.”

Three different Tigers batters collected two RBIs in that third game and Hurricane went on to stun Ridgeline 6-2.

Johanson hit a homerun, a double and drove in two in the decisive win. Tigers Josh Wright and Casey Robinson also drove in two runs apiece.

“We’ve been playing together for a while now,” Johanson said. “I’ve known Josh and Casey since freshman year. We’re really close on this team.”

The brackets of the 4A state baseball tournament can be viewed at the UHSAA website

Hurricane advances to face No. 1 seed and Region 10 champion Dixie Monday at Dixie State University at 1:30 p.m. 

The Tigers only managed one win in Region 10 play this year. They lost to Dixie 7-5 at Dixie and 13-3 at home.

“It’s going to be fun starting off playing Dixie,” Johanson said. “Our first two games were super intense, there was a lot of yapping on both sides and both sides were warned. It’s pretty intense for starting off the state tournament.”

Monday’s schedule

Dixie State University’s Bruce Hurst Field

  • Snow Canyon vs. Bear River, 11 a.m.
  • Dixie vs. Hurricane, 1:30 p.m.
  • Crimson Cliffs vs. Green Canyon, 4:30 p.m.
  • Pine View vs. Desert Hills, 7 p.m.

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