ST. GEORGE — Baseball is back in St. George.
Players and coaches from six different high schools converged on Findlay Subaru Wednesday morning for The Fan Sports Network’s Region 9 baseball media day.
In a poll of coaches and media, Snow Canyon was predicted to win the region while Dixie’s Boston Vest and Crimson Cliffs’ Trey Evans were named preseason co-MVPs.
The top storyline going into the season is at Crimson Cliffs, where the Mustangs are attempting a rare 3-peat of 4A state titles. The back-to-back champs will have a new look this year with several younger players getting diamond time.
Snow Canyon, back-to-back 4A state runner-up to Crimson, returns almost its entire roster from last year and features a senior-laden lineup.
Also bringing back almost a full senior lineup is Dixie. The Flyers have several players who already signed to play in college and they are a confident bunch.
Click here for the YouTube stream of The Fan Sports Network team interviews at media day.
Follow St. George News Sports and The Fan Sports Network for complete coverage of the baseball season including the state playoffs in May.
St. George News spoke with a player from each of the teams at media day to get a preview of the prep baseball season.
Pine View Panthers
First-year head coach Kyler Walker will have a couple of solid seniors to rely upon as Pine View looks to rebound from a 4-17 season that featured two wins in the gauntlet of region play.
“We haven’t had a state championship not come out of Region 9 since I think 2014,” senior Andrew Shakespeare said. “Every year we go and show the 6A schools that we dominate. We play baseball all year round here and I think it shows.”
Fellow senior and star pitcher Nash Schroeder also attended media day along with Kyson Milne.
Shakespeare noted that there’s been a mindset switch at Pine View that is going to help them as the year goes on.
“Last year I feel like we didn’t put in as much work,” Shakespeare said. “All this fall and even in winter I was getting texts from my sophomore boys, all wanting to go hit. It seems like that mindset is going to change us this year and make us dominate.”
Pine View opens the season Wednesday at home against South Sevier, with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
Desert Hills Thunder
Fourth-year head coach Kevin Cave will direct a Thunder team that has a promising junior class and a lot of young and potentially talented players.
The Thunder finished 15-14 last year and was an even .500 in region play (6-6). Desert Hills went 2-3 at the 4A state tournament and was eliminated by Bear River.
Both coach Cave and the Thunder players mentioned the importance of team chemistry.
“As a team when baseball ends we all go get something to eat,” junior Beau Wall said. “Or on our weekends off we’re all going bowling or golfing. We like to hang out with each other outside of baseball. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Wall said that the only senior on the squad, Cooper Cluff, has kind of “taken the juniors under his wing” in a leadership role that helps the young team.
Haigen Reed, Jace Fillmore, Andrew Wilson and Crew Christensen form a solid corps of juniors to build around at Desert Hills.
Wall said that he thinks Region 9’s baseball recipe includes a couple of different ingredients.
“We get year-round baseball and we get a lot of guys down here that love to play baseball,” Wall said. “When you mix those two things with the competitive nature of the region we got down here in St. George, you get a lot of great players.”
Desert Hills opens the season at home against Park City Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Hurricane Tigers
Third-year head coach Steve Pearson has a balanced team returning to improve upon a 6-14 season last year.
The Tigers were 2-10 in region play and were eliminated by Green Canyon in the playoffs.
“I think that our team chemistry is probably the best I’ve ever seen,” senior Landon Stewart said. “Most of the seniors have been playing together since we were 9 or 10. I think that’s huge.
“We know how we play, we know how to communicate with each other, we all love each other,” he added.
Stewart and senior teammate Luke Hirschi were part of a successful American Legion team from the area that beat some good national teams last summer.
“A lot of times we don’t get to see a lot of big arms in the offseason, but in that regional we saw three guys who ended up being drafted,” Stewart said, adding that experience gained against hurlers who can throw in the lower-90s is great preparation for Region 9 play.
Also attending media day with the Tigers were Caleb Pearson, Manny Santos and Burke Scholzen.
Hurricane (1-1) has already started the season, beating Enterprise and losing to Beaver.
The Tigers host Logan Thursday at 4 p.m. in Hurricane.
Snow Canyon Warriors
Veteran manager Reed Secrist, entering his 20th season on the bench for Snow Canyon, has an experienced and motivated group of Warriors to work with.
The Warriors went 23-7 last year including a 10-2 showing in the region, good for a second-place finish.
High expectations are the norm for Snow Canyon and it’s no different this year as a Deseret News preseason poll ranked the Warriors No. 1 in 4A.
“We got a target on our back for sure,” senior catcher Hayden Smith said. “But if we play to our potential, we’re going to have a good season.”
Coach Secrist said he has potentially 10 players on the roster who can be called upon to pitch. The rotation will be anchored by senior (and Utah Tech-bound) Tank Kelly and senior Makaio Swensen.
Then a deep and experienced lineup at Snow Canyon features veteran seniors like Crew Secrist, Damon Ence, Kyson Goates, Ryder Harrison and Jackson Kirby.
So many seniors are on the roster, coach Secrist said, that he didn’t think it necessary to name captains.
“I think I can speak for everyone when I say this: We all love playing with each other and we’ve created a pretty good bond with each other,” Smith said.
Snow Canyon opens the season Friday at home at 7 p.m. against Spanish Fork.
Crimson Cliffs Mustangs
Fifth-year head coach Justin Abbott and the two-time defending 4A champs have a rare opportunity to go where few have gone before: the 3-peat.
“It fires us up, 100 percent,” senior Trey Evans said. “I think if we go out there and just do our thing, we’re very capable of it, for sure.”
Crimson finished with a sparkling 27-4 record last year including first place in the region at 11-1.
Crimson’s unmatched pitching depth fueled their consecutive championships. While they lost a lot of that to graduation, the Mustangs have plenty of experienced players to rely upon this year.
Leading the way is Region 9 preseason co-MVP Evans, an outfielder with a sweet swing who is already signed to play for Southern Nevada when he goes to college.
Evans grew taller and added a lot of muscle during the offseason. He said he was inspired to get in the weight room every day to help fully recover from a hamstring injury.
“It’s hard coming off an injury,” he said. “It motivated me to work harder, get my speed back up, get stronger than I was last year. Just get better overall.”
Evans joins a veteran group of returning Mustangs that includes Steele Barben, Parker Andrus, McKay Wright, Jarvis Osborn and Dalton Davis.
The Mustangs (0-1) began their quest for a 3-peat on the road in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 5, when they lost to the Desert Oasis Diamondbacks 6-5.
Crimson Cliffs opens its home season in Washington Fields on Thursday when the Mustangs host Westlake at 6 p.m.
Dixie Flyers
Long-time manager Danny Ipson, in his 14th season on Dixie’s bench, fields a veteran group of players that have been together for years.
Dixie finished 19-7 last season including a third-place finish in the region at 8-4. The Flyers went 2-2 at state and were eliminated by Crimson Cliffs.
Senior catcher Ridge Erickson, signed to play for Brigham Young University next year, said the Flyers will have a solid pitching rotation.
“We got a lot of guys, we only lost one guy, our ace Cayson Bell,” Erickson said. Bell also joined BYU after his graduation from Dixie. “This year we got a lot of guys coming back and we’re excited. They’re going to be good.”
Dixie has some quality depth on the pitcher’s mound in Cooper Bartholomew, Logan Leavitt and Braxton Yates.
And a lineup full of hard-hitters includes Region 9 preseason co-MVP Boston Vest, Max Orton and Trace Franco.
Every one of those Dixie players is a senior.
“We’re getting along great. We’ve been with each other for over 10 years now,” Erickson said. “Our chemistry is really good this year and we’re looking forward to it.”
Dixie opens its season at home Thursday when the Flyers host Springville at 4:30 p.m.
Cedar Reds
Cedar’s coach and players attended media day via Zoom and that interview is included in The Fan Sports Network video on YouTube.
Coach Brad Larson returns for his second season leading the Reds bench. Cedar finished 5-21 overall last year and was 3-9 in region play.
Cedar opens its season at home Thursday at 3:30 p.m. against Grantsville.
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