ST. GEORGE — Snow Canyon and Dixie are the two remaining unbeaten teams at the 4A state baseball tournament after two days of play.
Tuesday’s action at Brigham Young University in Provo found the Warriors rallying to win in dramatic fashion while the Flyers cruised to a comfortable victory behind the pitching of Cayson Bell.
Meanwhile, defending champion Crimson Cliffs got back on the victory path after a bounce back win and Desert Hills saw its season end in a marathon of a ballgame.
Games now shift to the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, where the next four days of the tournament will conclude with a champion crowned on Saturday.
Complete brackets can be viewed at the UHSAA tournament website.
Follow continuous coverage of the 4A baseball tournament at St. George News and The Fan Sports Network.
Following are brief recaps of Tuesday’s games at BYU.
Bear River 11, Desert Hills 10
The Bears and Thunder were tied twice and had three lead changes in the last two innings as both teams battled valiantly to keep their seasons alive.
The teams combined for 21 runs, 27 hits and seven errors, although six of those miscues were by the Bears.
Desert Hills trailed early 3-0, tied it 3-3 after three innings, then took a 6-3 lead in the fourth frame. But Bear River answered with a 3-spot in the fifth to tie things up at 6-6.
Two more Bears scored in the sixth, but Desert Hills took a one-run lead after rallying in the bottom of the frame.
Bear River scored three more in the top of the seventh and then held on for dear life. Desert Hills got one run across and left the bases loaded on a called third strike to end the game.
Bear River advanced to Wednesday’s bracket play at UVU. The No. 8 Bears play No. 4 Mountain Crest in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Desert Hills finished the season at .500 with a 14-14 overall record.
Crimson Cliffs 8, Ridgeline 1
The No. 2 seed Mustangs recovered from a stunning loss on Monday to come back and eliminate Ridgeline on Tuesday.
Jaiven Ross pitched the Mustangs to the comfortable victory while McKay Wright and Ty Maynard each drove in two RBI for the winners.
Four other Mustangs (Ty West, Brexten Starley, Tate Maynard and Parker Andrus) each accounted for one RBI in the win.
Ross limited the Riverhawks to just three hits while the Mustangs banged out 10 knocks in the convincing victory.
Crimson Cliffs (22-4) advanced to Wednesday’s elimination game versus Green Canyon at 1:30 p.m. at UVU. Ridgeline goes home with an overall record of 16-12.
Dixie 8, Green Canyon 1
Cayson Bell limited the Wolves to just two hits in the contest. The senior righthander dominated on the hill.
Ridge Erickson hit a big double and finished with three RBI for the winners. Logan Leavitt hit a tripe for Dixie and finished with two RBI.
Three other Flyers (Boston Vest, Blake Watson, Braxton Yates) each recorded an RBI for the victors.
No. 3 Dixie (19-7) will face the winner of the Crimson Cliffs/Green Canyon contest on Wednesday night at UVU at 7 p.m.
Snow Canyon 6, Mountain Crest 5
For the second time in as many days, the No. 1 seed Warriors overcame an early deficit and won with a dramatic, late-inning hit.
Sam Lindsey’s triple in the bottom of the sixth plated Crew Secrist and Ryder Harrison and provided the final margin of victory for the Warriors.
Snow Canyon trailed 4-1 after the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the frame Makaio Swensen got a run back for the Warriors with an RBI single.
Mountain Crest bumped up its lead to 5-2 in the sixth after a fielder’s choice brought in a run.
Talan Kelly started the winning rally for Snow Canyon in the bottom of the sixth with his single. A groundout and a strikeout put the Mustangs one out away from getting out of the inning.
Then Swensen came through again with an RBI double and Secrist walked, putting runners at first and second. Harrison smacked a single to get the Warriors within one run at 5-4.
And the stage was set for senior Lindsey, who belted a triple to the right-field wall to drive in the winning runs.
Kelly and Swesen shared the pitching duties for Snow Canyon and the Warriors wrapped up the win with a scoreless seventh.
Snow Canyon (22-5) awaits the winner of Wednesday’s Mountain Crest/Bear River contest. The Warriors will play that game at UVU, scheduled for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
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