ST. GEORGE — It has become a cliche in sports to say a team is family. Every team does it, at every level.

The metaphor works so well because, of course, you’ll do anything for your family. Family bonds are the tightest, family bonds don’t break.

For example, ask Crimson Cliffs baseball coach Justin Abbott to talk about Mustangs senior shortstop Petey Soto.

“For me, he’s a little bit different, it’s not just baseball,” Abbott said. 

Soto’s father Pedro, a coach who worked with Abbott, passed away during Soto’s junior year, the first season Crimson won the 4A state championship.

“It’s a relationship I’ll hold forever,” Abbott said. “Petey has a special place in my heart and in my family’s heart. It just so happens that he’s an unbelievable baseball player.”

Soto, bound for Utah Tech, batted over .500 this season. He had three hits and two RBI in the championship game victory over Snow Canyon, helping the Mustangs win back-to-back state titles.

“I can’t imagine losing my dad and having the best two years he just had without his biggest fan by his side,” Abbott said. “He’s a tough kid and I’ll look up to Petey for a long time.”

Soto’s story is just one of many that defines the Mustangs, these two-time state champions with a depth at senior class that no other team in Utah could match. 

“Those guys are special friends and athletes. What they did on the field was mesmerizing for me and our coaching staff,” Abbott said. “As much as us, it was a culture that was driven by the players and the love they have for each other.”

Abbott speaks of the baseball dugout as a sacred place. It crafts unique personalities into unique teammates.

“All of the antics and traditions in our dugout were started by our players,” Abbott said. “The dugout just does something different to an athlete, it’s a special place to be, creates special bonds. I’m so proud of those boys that connected the way they did.” 

Another player at the front of the senior pack was outfielder Jayger Baldwin. Batting leadoff, Baldwin always found ways to get on base. And he shined in the outfield, making highlight-reel catches in both state championship tournaments. 

“He’s a one-of-a-kind kid, I’ll tell you what,” Abbott said after a state tournament game in Orem last week. 

“He’s special in so many ways. He’s an excellent player, teammate and young man. He is a fan favorite,” Abbott added. “And if programs have a guy like Jayger Baldwin, they’re pretty darn lucky.”

A trio of Mustangs starting pitchers, two of them left-handers, dominated batters in Region 10 and at state for the past two years. 

Beau Sampson, Jaiven Ross and Aaron Morris provided Crimson Cliffs with depth on the hill that was simply impossible for high school teams to match.

Baldwin, Sampson and Ross will all go on to play together at Salt Lake Community College.

“It all just fell into place perfectly,” Baldwin said after the state championship game against Snow Canyon last Saturday at Utah Valley University in Orem.

“It’s so phenomenal,” Baldwin said. “I’ve wanted to play college baseball ever since I can remember, and it’s finally coming true.”

Also going to the next level is senior catcher and first baseman Brexten Starley, who homered in back-to-back games against Snow Canyon in the state championship series.

Starley maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average all four years of high school and will play at the College of Southern Idaho.

Abbott began coaching Starley at age 12. From then till now, he said, he has lost track of the number of times he sat down to talk baseball, and life, with Starley.

“We talked about the game and how much it means to us,” Abbott said. “We hugged about things we did well and we cried about things we could have done better. On the baseball field, in the dugout and in the classroom, Brexten has just been remarkable.”

And you can’t talk about the Mustang seniors without mentioning the twins Ty Maynard and Tate Maynard.

Both were outstanding utility players capable of playing any position and producing hits from anywhere in the lineup.

“They’re hard-working guys,” Abbott said about the twins. “Before practice on multiple occasions, they’d be at the ranch or roping or working on that movie set with Kevin Costner. They played the game the right way. They just made plays and got hits.”

The seniors had a core group of AJ Johnson, Dean Berrett, Fox Challis and Brecken Smith that may not have been able to get on the field as much as they wanted but filled valuable leadership and team roles in the dugout.

“This is the first graduating class that has been here all four years,” Abbott said. “People wanted to be part of something that’s special. It was a real culture that guys bought into and it brought them together.”

Senior Fehi Faonelua came to Crimson from Hawai’i. Besides being a shutdown closer out of the bullpen, he was also a vocal leader who liked to share his culture by leading the Mustangs in the Haka.

As seen in the attached video above, the Haka is a traditional celebration dance originating from the Maori culture in New Zealand that is performed by Polynesian cultures throughout the world.

It’s also performed by quite a few victorious sports teams in the state of Utah.

“We thought, what a great opportunity for our guys to do something together and to learn about other cultures,” Abbott said, adding that the Mustangs went to the Liahona Academy in Hurricane to work with coaches and students who taught the Crimson Cliffs ballplayers how to Haka.

Abbott said the Mustangs performed the Haka maybe 10 times since that one practice day at Liahona.

“Every time we did it, it gave me goosebumps,” Abbott said. “We’re going to remember that for a long, long time.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.