ST. GEORGE — The baseball team at Crimson Cliffs is one win away from a 4A state championship.

The Mustangs rallied behind the right arm of Steele Barben and the hot bat of Trey Evans to beat Snow Canyon 8-7 Friday night in an entertaining game one of their championship series.

A double-steal in the bottom of the sixth inning ended up scoring the winning run for Crimson Cliffs.

“We talked about getting an extra (run). We knew we were going to have to because that’s a tough team offensively,” Crimson Cliffs coach Justin Abbott said. 

“I know we were up three then, but it’s always better to be up by four,” he added. “That was a big one for us.”

It was not surprising that the two hottest offenses in the 4A state tournament put up 15 runs in the contest, considering the teams combined to win seven straight games and scored 101 runs in the process before Friday night’s contest.

“I know we scored some runs early on and we had a couple of quick games because we scored, but we can’t think that way,” Abbott said. “We’ve got to get back in the dugout as soon as possible and get our guys up to the plate.”

Isaac Lyon’s sacrifice fly gave Snow Canyon a 1-0 lead. But Crimson Cliffs came back with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Jayger Baldwin belted an RBI triple for the Mustangs. Ty Maynard followed with his RBI single and Jayz Estridge batted in a run and the Mustangs led 3-1.

Snow Canyon loaded the bases in the top of the second but scored only once when a 4-6-3 double play allowed a Warriors run to cross, cutting the lead to 3-2.

The Warriors threatened again in the top of the third. Lyon walked and Jake Johnson doubled, putting runners at second and third. Then Abbott decided to go to the bullpen and brought in sophomore Steele Barben.

“The guy is a competitor. He wants the ball,” Abbott said. “He just gets it done and he wants the ball. He did a fantastic job of getting us back into the dugout.”

Barben immediately established his devastating curve ball, a pitch he threw for strikes early in the counts against the Warriors.  

Barben got Lindsey to line out. Ryder Harrison plated a run with his sacrifice fly, then Hayden Smith hit an RBI single. Barben struck out Drake Kelly to end the Snow Canyon threat but the Warriors led the game at 4-3.

They would not score again as Barben went on to put up three scoreless innings. His winning line showed 4.1 innings pitched, four hits, three runs (one unearned), one walk and a whopping eight strikeouts.

Estridge hit a double to the wall that scored a Mustangs run, tying the game 4-4 after three innings.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of fourth, Evans struck again. The sweet swinging sophomore crushed a three-run home run that put Crimson Cliffs in the lead for good at 7-4.

Evans has homered three times in the tournament, including two grand slams, and has driven in 15 Mustangs runs.

“No panic in that kid at all, man,” Abbott said. “At 16-years old he goes up there like he’s already been playing the game for 30 years. His approach at the plate, he’s calm, he’s collected. He’s ready for the moment, there’s no doubt about that. He smoked that ball to right, that was a big time hit for him.”

The score didn’t change till the bottom of the sixth, when Crimson Cliffs initiated a double steal and Logan West dove across the plate for the vital insurance run.

That proved to be the winner after the Warriors loaded the bases in their final at-bat. Lindsey brought everyone home with a bases-clearing double to the wall that provided the final tally.

Aaron Morris relieved Barben and secured the save for Crimson Cliffs.

Game two is Saturday at noon. If the Mustangs win, they are the 4A state champs.

If defending champion Snow Canyon wins, a decisive game three is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bruce Hurst Field on the campus of Utah Tech University.

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