ST. GEORGE — Fans of Region 10 baseball were in for a surprise Tuesday morning when the 4A state tournament brackets were released by the Utah High School Activities Association.
Defending 4A state champion Crimson Cliffs won Region 10 with an 11-1 mark in region play and a 21-3 overall record.
Yet when the RPI (ratings percentage index) numbers were crunched and the brackets figured, it was state runner-up and Region 10 second-place finisher Snow Canyon (10-2, 20-5 overall) that earned the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming state tournament.
“Of course when I woke up this morning I was hoping to see us in that No. 1 spot,” Crimson Cliffs coach JD Abbott told St. George News. “When you win the region and have the most wins and least losses in the region, you feel like you’ve earned that spot.”
The RPI system is what it is, Abbott said, noting that Snow Canyon played some teams that had higher strength of schedule numbers than some of Crimson’s opponents.
“But we were in the No. 2 spot last year too,” he added. “We just have to go out and compete, be the best version of us and not worry about what everyone else is doing.”
After winning the program’s first state championship last year and returning almost that entire club, Crimson Cliffs entered the season expecting to win Region 10.
“Yeah, I think so. These guys always expect to do some good things,” Abbott said. “And I think that’s a good thing, for all of them to have that confidence.”
Statistically, the Mustangs have multiple players in the top 25 of most categories. (All statistics provided by Maxpreps.)
Senior shortstop Petey Soto, headed to play at Utah Tech next year, leads Crimson Cliffs with a .500 batting average, 23rd in the state. He also scored a 12th-best 33 runs.
Crimson senior catcher Brexten Starley swatted seven homers and collected 38 RBI, fourth in the state.
The pitching numbers are most daunting for Crimson opponents.
Jaiven Ross has 61 strikeouts and is ninth in ERA at 0.93. Senior Aaron Morris leads all Utah pitchers with a microscopic 0.24 ERA. And senior ace lefthander Beau Sampson is 5-1 with 43 strikeouts.
Abbott knows that numbers don’t really mean anything now.
“Everybody is 0-0,” he said. “I like that we’re healthy. There’s not really anything holding us back, except for maybe beating ourselves. Everybody plays the best of the best going down this stretch.”
Top 3 seeds from Region 10
After No. 1 Snow Canyon and No. 2 Crimson Cliffs, Dixie earned the third seed at the 4A state tournament and also earned a first-round bye.
The Flyers (17-7) finished third in the Region 10 standings at 8-4. Dixie split a home-and-home series with Desert Hills to finish the regular season, losing 8-4 on May 5 and winning 7-2 on May 2.
After the first-round bye, Dixie awaits the winner of No. 6 Ridgeline (14-10) and No. 11 Sky View (8-13), both out of Region 11.
No. 9 Pine View (5-15-2) plays at No. 8 Bear River (13-9) in the first round, with game one scheduled for May 11 at Bear River at 4 p.m.
No. 10 Hurricane (6-12) plays at No. 7 Green Canyon (14-11) in another first-round Game 1 May 11 at 4 p.m.
The only local opening-round playoff series will be played at Desert Hills, where the No. 5 Thunder (13-11) hosts No. 11 Cedar (5-20).
Desert Hills finished fourth in Region 10 (6-6) while Cedar was fifth at 3-9. The two ballclubs met three times in the regular season with the Thunder winning all three by a combined score of 31-2.
Game 1 is at Thunder Field Thursday, May 11 at 4 p.m.
No. 4 Mountain Crest (17-7) hosts No. 13 Logan (0-19) in the final first-round 4A playoff series.
Photo Gallery
A Desert Hills batter draws a walk against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
A Desert Hills runner scores against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
Desert Hills drives in a run against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
A Desert Hills runner scores against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
A Desert Hills runner rounds third and goes on to score against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
A Desert Hills runner rounds third and goes on to score against Dixie in a Region 10 baseball game, St. George, Utah, May 5, 2023 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News
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