ST. GEORGE — An all-star lineup of Region 10 baseball players from the St. George area won the American Legion state championship and advanced to the Western Regionals.
“It was a fun week,” coach Shane Johanson told St. George News after the Sentinels got back from winning the state championship in Logan.
Players from high schools around the region make the ball club every summer.
This year’s team includes Gavin Hadley, Jayz Estridge, Tristen Bird, Sam Johanson, Karson Stauffer, GJ Erickson, Brandon Roundy, Brock Roundy, Mason Shumaker, Ian Becker, Dylan Becker, Canyon Kutch, Jake Sanderson, Malcolm Bartholomew and Hunter Lee.
The Sentinels played seven games at the state tournament, beating Highland in their first contest 9-0.
In the second game, St. George lost to Mountain Crest 3-1.
The Sentinels won their next five games to capture the title, including victories over Ridgeline (9-4), Stansbury (17-9) and Helper (12-0).
On the final day of the tournament, St. George faced the challenge of having to beat Mountain Crest twice to win the title. They did just that, defeating the Trappers in back-to-back games 7-3 and 14-5.
“They threw their best pitcher in that first game against us, and he threw a really good game,” Johanson said. “We didn’t have our hitting going yet. It’s never fun to lose but that was a really good chance for our team to come together and play together.”
When the Sentinels and Trappers played for the title, it was a different story.
“We got our hitting going,” Johanson said. “We were hitting really well at the end of the week, and we have a really deep pitching staff. I thought we were strong in both (championship) games.”
Forging team chemistry is difficult on summer teams, Johanson said, with players needing to work or go on vacation or play for other teams.
“We were changing lineups back and forth because we didn’t see everybody all at once,” he said. “But once we got to state we were in an airb&b, staying together, coming together as a team.”
Canyon Kutch, fresh off winning a state championship with Crimson Cliffs two months ago, was named Defensive Player of the Tournament. Sam Johanson, who was at the 4A state tournament with Hurricane, was chosen Most Valuable Player by tournament officials.
Now the Sentinels travel to Fairfield, California for the Western Regional tournament starting August 3.
“It will be a step up in competition, but we’ve got a really good team. I like our guys. We can compete at a regional level,” Johanson said. “We’ll be facing guys who will be throwing hard, 80s to 90s (mph), but our guys have played in Region 10 and have faced that kind of pitching before.”
“Our guys should rise to the occasion, and with our pitching depth we should be able to be in games,” he added. “We’ll show well.”
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