ST. GEORGE — The T-Birds just keep flying higher.

Piute defeated Panguitch in the 1A state baseball championship game for the fifth consecutive year Saturday afternoon at Snow Canyon High School, beating the Bobcats 7-2.

“It gets better and better every year,” Piute pitcher Brooks Dalton told St. George News after being the most hugged player on the planet during the victory celebration. “This is by far the best.”

Just like last year’s title game between these two rivals, Saturday’s edition was a crisply played ballgame that turned on only a couple of key moments. Either team could have won.

“It was fun,” Dalton said. “It’s always fun to play that kind of game.”

Dalton limited Panguitch to two runs off of four hits over seven innings, going the distance to earn the win.

“I’m speechless. It’s crazy,” Dalton said. “I came into the game with no plan, honestly. I just knew I had to pound the zone, hit my spots. That’s exactly what I did.”

Bobcats starting pitcher Shae Miller matched Dalton throw for throw throughout the pitcher’s duel.

Panguitch jumped ahead after plating two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Miller helped his own cause with a single and two RBIs in the frame, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.

The T-Birds scored seven unanswered runs in the final three innings to secure the victory. Piute broke the contest open with a 3-run fifth inning.

Kade Severe’s double to the left field wall scored two T-Birds and Dalton’s single scored a run and Piute led for good 3-2.

The visiting team made it 6-2 after the sixth inning. This time it was Dax Morril stroking a double for two RBIs and another RBI single from Dalton that upped Piute’s lead.

The T-Birds scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh to provide the final margin.

The Bobcats got a runner aboard in the bottom of the frame via a walk, but he was stranded on base after Dalton retired the side.

The two schools in this rivalry are separated by 35 miles but not much else. And after meeting five times in a row for the state baseball championship, the teams are bonded together on the diamond.

“I love it. They’re my favorite team to play against,” Dalton said. “I got so many buddies on that team, it feels like my own team.”

And Dalton had a simple message for the countless family members and friends who poured onto the field to congratulate the T-Birds.

“Wouldn’t have been here without them,” he said.

Piute cemented its dominating baseball legacy with its sixth state championship in the past seven seasons. The program has won 10 overall state titles.

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