KEARNS – Pine View continued its hot streak, advancing to the 3A state semifinal round with a 12-6 win over Carbon Thursday. Meanwhile, Dixie won two elimination games, including one against rival Desert Hills, to live to play at least one more day. Cedar also won an early game, but had its late game suspended due to rain and lightning.

The Panthers will meet former Region 9 foe Canyon View in Friday’s 4 p.m. semifinal with the winner advancing to the state championship game Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Dixie is hoping to make it to Saturday as well, but will need to win two on Friday, starting with an 11 a.m. meeting with Carbon.

Desert Hills and Cedar both won early games to advance, but the Thunder were ousted Thursday evening by Desert Hills. Cedar trails Juab 4-1 in the top of the third in a weather-suspended game that will resume at 9 a.m. Friday.

Here’s a recap of the day:

Pine View 12, Carbon 6

Dakota Donovan and Jarod Stirling homered and the duo combined for seven RBIs as the Panthers held off the plucky Dinos.

Donovan’s three-run shot came in the first inning and Pine View built a 5-0 lead through two and a half innings. But Carbon, a No. 3 seed from Region 12, hung in there and even pulled to within 5-3 with two runs in the bottom of the third and another in the bottom of the fifth.

But the Panthers broke it open in the top of the sixth. Two infield hits and a Carbon error loaded the bases for Stirling, who stepped up and jackknifed a hard single to right field. The Dinos right fielder charged the ball hard, perhaps hoping to make a throw to the plate. But when the ball rolled under his glove and all the way to the wall, Stirling was able to motor all the way around the bases to make it a 9-3 Pine View lead.

Though it was ruled a two-run single with a three-base error, Stirling would get a real home run in the top of the seventh when he deposited a Carbon fastball over the left field fence. On the day, Stirling had two hits, two runs scored and four runs batted in.

Cole Fossat hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh for the Dinos, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Carbon falls to the one-loss bracket.

Brooks Barney had two hits and Donovan pitched six innings for the Panthers, who improve to 19-6 on the year. Donovan’s homer, a three-run dinger in the first inning, is his second in as many games after going homer-less during the regular season.

Boxscore: PVCar51916

Canyon View 4, Richfield 3

The two Region 12 squads played this one tight all the way, with the Falcons scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth.

Richfield led 2-0 after just a half-inning as Trent Utley and Hunter Gibbons had RBI singles off of CV starter Kenneth Lambeth. But the Falcons answered with a Conner Clark two-run homer and a Jackson Vasi RBI single to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first.

The score would stay that way until the top of the fifth, when Gibbons picked up his second RBI single of the game to tie the score at 3-3.

But in the bottom of the six, Vasi ripped a double down the third base line that brought Clark all the way around from first to score what turned out to be the winning run.

Lambeth got the win and Clark pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save as Canyon View (19-5) advanced to the state semifinals.

Boxscore: CVRich51916

Dixie 4, Grantsville 2
Desert Hills 5, Juan Diego 1
Dixie 8, Desert Hills 5

The two Region 9 teams had to play at alternate sites Thursday morning just to get the right to play at Gates Field.

Dixie beat Grantsville at Granger High School behind another impressive outing from sophomore pitcher Tyson Fisher. The 6-foot-4 16-year-old had a perfect game going into the fifth inning before settling for the 4-2 win. Kaylor Yates worked the Flyers out of a jam with a double-play ball in the seventh inning with two men on.

“Tyson really pitched well and the team played great defense behind him,” Dixie coach Danny Ipson said.

The Thunder eliminated he Soaring Eagle behind an impressive — and odd — performance by Brayson Hurdsman. The D-Hills senior was lifted in the seventh for reliever Trey Winget, but then returned to save his own game with two strikeouts with the bases loaded to close out the game. We’ll have to check out the official rules, but it seems Hurdsman got the win AND the save in the same game.

Preston Creager hit two home runs in the Thunder win and Chad Nelson also went yard as D-Hills knocked out the Region 11 champs.

That set up a loser-out game between region rivals Dixie and Desert Hills, who both went 6-4 in Region 9.

The Flyers threatened to run away with it early on, scoring four runs in the first inning, including a three-run bomb to center field by Fisher. But Dixie left the bases loaded in the first and had them loaded with no outs in the second before coming away with no runs.

In fact, that was a bit of a theme in the game for the Flyers, who left a total of 11 men on base in the contest.

And while Dixie was struggling to get that one clutch hit, Desert Hills was making its comeback. The Thunder picked up three runs in the third, with Trey Allred scoring on a wild pitch and Quinn Kiser singling home Mason Creager. The third run, which made it a one-run game, sparked debate all over the ballpark as Trey Winget sprinted for home and slid in under the tag of Dixie catcher Chase Lundin. The straight steal of home was as close as a play can get and sent Ipson into a tirade directed at the home plate umpire.

When cooler heads prevailed, the game resumed and Dixie got of the top of the third with no more damage done.

Desert Hills took its first lead of the game as Mason Creager doubled, followed by a walk from Winget. Quinn Kiser then doubled to left field to bring both men home and make it 5-4 Thunder.

Dixie again left the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, but the sixth inning was another story. A leadoff walk by Chance Vowell was followed by a Fisher double, then a Trevor Connell walk loaded the bases with no one out. Payden Harrah then tied the game at 5-5 with a single to center to plate Vowell. Fisher gave Dixie the lead by sprinting home on a ball that got away from the D-Hills catcher. Wyatt Woodland and Duncan Staheli completed the four-run rally with RBI singles to make it 8-5.

Yates earned the win by pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and Dixie, 17-7, advanced to Friday’s set of games in the one-loss bracket (see schedule below).

Fisher ended the DH game with three hits, three RBIs and seven total bases in four at-bats. Harrah had three hits as well and Woodland had two base knocks.

Desert Hills, which ends the year with a 14-14 record after going 2-2 in the state tournament, got three hits and three RBIs from Kiser. Trey Allred, battling a shoulder injury, still picked up a pair of hits.

Boxscore: DIXDH51916

Cedar 2, Logan 1
Juab 4, Cedar 1 (weather suspended in third inning)

Treyson Esplin won this one for the Redmen in the bottom of the seventh with a walk off single hot shot down the right field line.

Logan led most of the game, but a double by Drake Lewis tied it up in the fourth and the game stayed knotted at 1-1 until Esplin’s game winner.

Juab had beaten Bear River in extra innings earlier in the day, and the Wasps carried that momentum into the game against the Redmen. But Mother Nature had other ideas as the rain and lightning arrived and put the game to a halt.

The two teams will resume the elimination game today at 9 a.m. at Gates Field.

Friday’s 3A Tournament schedule
9 a.m. — Cedar-Juab game resumes
11 a.m. — Dixie vs. Carbon, elimination game
1:30 p.m. — Cedar-Juab winner vs. Richfield, elimination game
4 p.m. — 3A Semifinal — Pine View vs. Canyon View, winner advances to 3A Championship
7 p.m. — Dixie/Carbon winner against survivor of Cedar/Juab/Richfield

Saturday’s 3A Tournament schedule
9 a.m. — Loser bracket finale
11:30 a.m. — 3A Championship game
2 p.m. — 3A Championship game B (if necessary)

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