ST. GEORGE — When Wayne High School won the coin toss at the 1A state baseball championship game Saturday at Bruce Hurst Field, it elected to be the visiting team. "We wanted to get something going early and set the tone of the game," said Badger coach Scott Ellett. "We have good hitters and runners who can show aggressiveness with lots of speed."
That game plan worked perfectly, as the Wayne Badgers rode the momentum of six first-inning steals, leading to three quick runs and an eventual 17-4 thumping of Panguitch High to win the Class 1A state baseball championship for the third straight year.
"This was our 51st straight win since we were sophomores," said senior and winning pitcher Jordan Ellett. "This was my favorite championship."
And why wouldn't it be his favorite? Ellett was the winning pitcher in all three Wayne tournament victories, including Tuesday's against Tabiona and Friday's against West Ridge Academy. Ellett capped off a perfect season with a sixth-inning, two-run blast close to the 390-foot mark in left-center, the only home run at Hurst Field during the tournament, moved to St. George because of expected adverse weather conditions up north.
Ellett left the mound Saturday after only two innings with a 6-2 lead. He had given up three singles, but Panguitch managed only one more hit the rest of the way against four relief pitchers.
Wayne outplayed Panguitch in every category, scoring 17 runs on 14 hits while offering up only two errors. Panguitch had four runs on only four hits, but it committed seven errors, most of them leading to Badger scores.
But the turning point came as the game began, with Wayne's aggressive base running in the opening half of the first inning making an immediate and substantial statement. Wayne added steals in every inning, usually with great results because runners advanced to scoring position.
In the second inning, Lance Peterson hustled to score from first behind Colin Anderson on a double by Ellett. In the third, Dallon Chappell's stolen base put him in position to score on a Panguitch miscue two plays later.
It was more of the same in the fourth, with Wayne advancing seven bases on either steals or heads-up tagging after fly-outs. Two base runners even advanced on a pop-up foul ball caught behind first base. Though it wasn't football, steals and base advances were like good yardage pickups on first downs, and errors were like turnovers, with the Badgers taking advantage and scoring at almost every opportunity. The Bobcats didn't help themselves, committing four errors in the fourth and allowing six runs after the inning should have been over.
In the meantime, Panguitch seemed unable to advance what few runners reached base. With bases loaded and only one out in the first, it managed only one run. Three singles in the second inning again netted only one run. In the fourth, after scoring a run on an error, Panguitch had the bases loaded with no outs, but again it managed only one more run to end the inning down 12-4. What could have been a close game suddenly became a rout.
It seemed that Wayne had set the pace early and was not going to let up. Three steals in the fifth earned a run, and two surprise tag-ups on short fly balls in the sixth led to another couple of runs by base runners who had again advanced themselves into scoring position.
"That was our game plan," said coach Ellett, who credited his assistant coaches for the strength of the program. "I am fortunate to have five good assistant coaches who are able to give one-on-one attention."