Snow Canyon bounced back for a payback win Friday night in beating Canyon View, while Pine View an Desert Hills both hit the road and came away with tight victories in a wild evening in Region 9. The three contests were decided by a total of five runs. Here’s a recap of the action:
Snow Canyon 8, Canyon View 5
He’s not very big, but apparently Isaac Rhea is strong enough to carry his team to a victory.
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior broke a 5-5 tie in the fifth inning with a 2-run homer over the 21-foot fence in center field at Warrior Field, plus pitched four stellar innings of relief to lift Snow Canyon to the 8-5 victory Friday night. The win avenges Tuesday’s 8-2 Falcons win and earns the Warriors a season split with Canyon View.
“We had to get this one,” SC coach Reed Secrist said. “You start out 2-2 in this region and that could be trouble. It was good to come out on top and feel good about things going into the weekend.”
Rhea had a total of four RBIs in the game, knocking a man home with a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout. But as good as he was at the plate, Rhea was even better on the mound. He entered the game in the fourth inning with the Warriors trailing 4-3. An unearned run came in during that inning, but Rhea didn’t allow another Canyon View runner past second base the rest of the night. Rhea struck out two batter and forced the third to pop up in the seventh inning to close out the win.
“The pressure was on us,” Rhea said. “We needed to win this game after Tuesday night. I just tried to take it one inning at a time on the mound and throw strikes. I like to get up there and work fast. Just give me the ball and let me throw it again. I don’t throw as hard as some of the guys around. I use a little more finesse.”
Rhea needed that finesse to slow down a Canyon View team that had put up four runs in three innings. Zac Savage had a towering home run and the Falcons took advantage of four Snow Canyon errors and some wildness by SC pitcher Ike Jorgensen to open up that 5-3 lead after four innings.
But the whole tenor of the game changed in the fifth. Brady Sargent hit a line drive home run over the left field fence with one out to begin the Warriors rally. Nick Dolce followed with a ground ball that turned into a two-base throwing error on CV. Chance Thorkleson then tied the game at 5-5 on a line-drive single to center field.
Rhea then took a 1-0 pitch from Zack Brinkerhoff and sent it into outer space, putting the Warriors ahead 7-5.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Rhea said of Brinkerhoff. “He beat us last year and we just had to battle and put the ball in play. On the home run, he just left a curveball a little bit up and I put a good swing on it.”
Snow Canyon added an insurance run in the sixth when Brad Grisenti came in on a wild pitch from CV reliever Keaton Kringlen.
Brinkerhoff, who is 23-7 in four years of pitching for the Falcons, didn’t have his best stuff, walking four, hitting a batter and giving up six earned runs. BUt the Falcons were still in the game, thanks to the hitting of Savage, Xavier Stoker and Jackson Vasi. Canyon View trailed 2-0, but built leads of 4-2 and 5-3 before SC’s big fifth inning.
Snow Canyon, which got a perfect day at the plate for Thorkleson (two hits, two walks, two RBIs), improved to 11-1 overall, 3-1 in region play. The Warriors have back to back games with Cedar next week. Tuesday, it’s a 4 p.m. game at Cedar. Wednesday it’s a 7 p.m. game at Snow Canyon.
The Falcons, 6-7 overall and 2-2 in region, are home for Pine View Tuesday at 4 p.m. and then at Panther Field Wednesday night.
Stats: cvsc32715
Desert Hills 3, Cedar 2
The Thunder went to 2-0 in region with the sweep over the Redmen.
Kayson Bowler out-dueled Dusty Hanna in the impressive pitcher’s face-off. Bowler scattered seven hits and his defense backed him up with just one error in the game.
The tying run was at second base in the bottom of the seventh when speedy Trey Winget snared a dying liner in shallow center field off the bat of Josh Boyer. The sliding catch saved the day for Desert Hills and ended the game.
Cedar went into the seventh down 3-1, with No. 8-hitter Ryan Slack finding his way on base with two outs. Kyler Carrizosa followed with a two-out RBI double to slice the DH lead in half, making it 3-2. Boyer, the Cedar lead-off hitter, then hit the dying quail to center that Winget tracked and caught to end the game.
Desert Hills had a two-run single from Chad Nelson that plated Trey Allred and Braiden Irvin in the top of the first. The Thunder upped the advantage to 3-0 in the second on a sacrifice fly from Brayson Hurdsman that scored Winget.
Cedar got a run back in the third, setting up the tense finish in the seventh.
Desert Hills, 9-4 overall and 2-0 in region, lost to Cedar in a preseason tournament, but took the two-game sweep over the Redmen when it really counted. The Thunder are at Dixie Tuesday night and then battle the Flyers at Thunder Field Thursday night.
Cedar, 9-4 and 1-3, hosts Snow Canyon Tuesday at 4 p.m., then goes to SCHS Wednesday for a 7 p.m. start.
Pine View 7, Hurricane 6
A four-base error in the sixth spelled doom for the Tigers, who held a 6-4 lead going into the sixth inning.
Hurricane scored three runs in the first inning and three in the third to push out to the two-run advantage. But the throwing error, which came on a sacrifice bunt by Ty Johnston with runners on first and second, cleared the bases and put the Panthers ahead 7-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Johnston scored all the way from first on the overthrow.
Brooks Barney pitched three innings of scoreless relief to ge the game to the seventh, where Dakota Donovan slammed the door on any Hurricane comeback thoughts, striking out two and retiring the Tigers in order. Barney and Donovan combined to allow Hurricane no hits and just one walk through the game’s final four innings.
Donovan, Harrison Goebel and Logan LaFemina each had three hits for the Panthers, who improved to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in region play. Pine View plays at Canyon View at 4 p.m. Tuesday, followed by a night game at PVHS Wednesday.
Drake Hermansen was the hard-luck loser for HHS, giving up eight hits and four earned runs. He also batted well, knocking in three runs and scoring two himself. Kyle Williams had two hits for the Tigers. All 12 hits between the two teams were singles.
Hurricane, 4-8 overall and 0-4 in region play, has a region bye next week. The Tigers will host Kanab Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Stats: pvhur32715
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Snow Canyon shortstop Brad Grisenti makes a throw from his knees, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Nick Dolce takes a cut for Snow Canyon, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Canyon View's Keaton Kringlen (7), Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Snow Canyon starting pitcher Ike Jorgensen, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Canyon View starting pitcher Zach Brinkerhoff (10), Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Nick Dolce takes a cut for Snow Canyon, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Jaden Black rips a pitch through the infield for the Falcons, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Nick Dolce with a throw from the infield for Snow Canyon, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Falcon batter Zac Savage watches the ball fly over the wall in center field for a home run, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Zac Savage (18) gets congratulated by his Falcon teammates after his home run, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Logan Opdahl takes a swing for the Warriors, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Canyon View's Keaton Kringlen. File photo from Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News Keaton Kringlen (7) rounds third base and heads for home for the Falcons, Canyon View vs. Snow Canyon, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 27, 2015 | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News
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