PLEASANT GROVE — Lone Peak baseball coach Danny Schoonover had mixed emotions entering Thursday's Region 7 contest with Pleasant Grove.
He was returning to his alma mater where he was an all-stater, and he was coaching against Jon Hoover, the winningest coach in Utah high school baseball history, in the final home game of his 30-year career.
"He's had a good career," Schoonover said after the Knights' 3-0 victory. "He didn't need one more."
Lone Peak right-hander Benji Woahn fired a complete-game four-hitter, and Colton Owens had three hits in leading the Knights to the win and a 6-4 record in region play.
Woahn, whose ERA hovers around 2.00 was perfect through three innings before losing the perfect game on a Clay Hooley base hit in the fourth. In recording the shutout he fanned six and didn't walk a batter.
"Benji, he's our guy," Schoonover said. "This is probably the best game he has thrown. He only threw 83 pitches,and he got a head of his hitters."
Hoover agreed.
"He pitched against us last time, and the scouting report on him was he was going to be on the outside part of the plate 90 percent of the time," he said. "We worked on it all week, but when you get into the games sometimes all the game plan goes to pot."
The Vikings tagged Woahn for two hits in the sixth inning and another in the seventh, but both potential rallies were stopped by Lone Peak double plays.
"He's one of those guys that hits his spots really well and lives on the outer part of the plate," Hoover said, "If you're not going to adjust, he's going to stay out there all day, and you're not going to do much."
On the contrary to Schoonover's comments, the Vikings did need another win to stay alive for the third and final region playoff spot. Now, the Vikings face must-win situations in their final two games to stay alive for at least a playoff to get into the playoffs.
"I don't even know the mathematically deal of it," Hoover said. All he knows is his team must win the next two. "Unless we come out with a little more competitiveness, it's not going to make any difference."
Lone Peak scored the only run it needed to win the game with a single by Matt Bezzant in the third inning. Bezzant later drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Nate Empey also drove in a run with a triple in the fifth.
Pleasant Grove starter Tyson Mehlhoff suffered the tough loss. He scattered nine hits and struck out four.
In other games Thursday:
BASEBALL
REGION 1
CLEARFIELD 6, DAVIS 0: Clearfield's Chad Smout fanned eight Davis batters in a Region 1 win.
LAYTON 5, VIEWMONT 3: Layton held off a late-game rally to hold on for the win over Viewmont. Wyatt Bubak had two hits and three RBIs to lead the Lancers.
FREMONT 8, WEBER 4:Cale Sedarholme had the go-ahead double, which knocked in two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to give Fremont the Region 1 win over Weber.
REGION 2
ALTA 8, WEST JORDAN 5:Davey Johnson belted out a three-run homer in the top of the 10th as the Hawks won a thriller over the Jaguars. Kollin Killian threw four shutout innings for Alta after entering the game in the seventh.
REGION 3
TAYLORSVILLE 10, SKYLINE 0:Chad Barben threw a two-hit shutout for Taylorsville in a Region 3 win over Skyline. The Warriors remain perfect in region play.
COTTONWOOD 8, GRANGER 2:Mike Burton earned the complete game victory by allowing just four hits, and he helped his cause with a double.
REGION 4
MOUNTAIN CREST 7, LOGAN 5:Kyle Hamilton went 3-for-3 with one RBI as the Mustangs edged the Grizzlies to improve to 19-0.
SKY VIEW 6, ROY 0:Brian Freeman pitched six innings and gave up only five hits to lead Sky View to a victory over Roy in Region 4 play.
BONNEVILLE 4, BOX ELDER 1:Tanner Jugler only gave three hits while striking out eight to lead the Lakers to victory. Greg Athons added a two-run homer in the second to provide offensive support.
REGION 6
SPRINGVILLE 13, AMERICAN FORK 5:Aaron Jensen struck out 11 to earn the victory and also helped his own cause offensively by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
TIMPVIEW 3, SPANISH FORK 2: Timpview's Cade Cloward controlled Spanish Fork from the mound while pitching a complete game. Cloward had seven strikeouts on the night.
PROVO 9, PAYSON 4:Craig Stringham had two hits and two RBIs in the Bulldogs' win over Payson. Provo improves to 9-4 in region play with the win.
REGION 7
OREM 3, MOUNTAIN VIEW 1:Matt Woolsey singled in two runs in the bottom of the sixth as the Tigers edged the Bruins. Andrew Wilding struck out eight and only allowed two hits in the victory.
REGION 11
MORGAN 3, BEN LOMOND 2:Jake Reece went 2-for-3 and knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning for Morgan in a win over Ben Lomond in Region 11 play.
TOOELE 5, GRANTSVILLE 3:Ryan Hardman had a double and a home run for Tooele in a Region 11 win over rival Grantsville.
BEAR RIVER 12, OGDEN 0: The Bears' Jason Reeder overpowered the Tigers' hitters as Bear River improved to 9-0 in region play.
REGION 12
SOUTH SEVIER 8, NORTH SEVIER 2: The Rams scored five runs in the last two innings to pull away for the victory.
REGION 13
ENTERPRISE 17, PAROWAN 9:Matt Messerly belted out two of the Wolves' six homers as Enterprise crushed Parowan in the region showdown. Enterprise trailed 9-7 going into the sixth but put up a 10-spot in the sixth to pull away for the win.
KANAB 10, MILFORD 0: Kanab raced out to an early lead and never looked back in a shutout win over Milford in the first game of a double-header between the two Region 13 foes.
KANAB 6, MILFORD 2: Kanab finished off Milford in the second game of a double-header in Region 13 action.
REGION 14
JUAB 14, NORTH SUMMIT 9:Colby Park knocked out three dingers for Juab in a win over North Summit. Eric Burton had two doubles and a home run in the losing effort.
E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com