High school baseball: The 2nd time was the charm for Grantsville as it beat Carbon in Game 2 to clinch 3A championship

Box score

Over the course of his team’s first 30 games this season, Grantsville coach Aaron Perkins said his players had experienced virtually all the highs and lows imaginable. From big wins to frustrating losses to big comebacks — including an eight-run comeback in Friday’s semifinals — to letting late leads slip away, the Cowboys had tasted it all.

That experience made all the difference during Grantsville’s 31st game of the season at Cate Field in West Jordan on Saturday.

“You can’t say enough about our group. We’ve been battling all year and this group has never quit all year.” — Grantsville coach Aaron Perkins

After missing out on a chance to clinch the title in the first game against Carbon with a 5-4 loss, Grantsville regrouped quickly and jumped all over the Dinos in Game 2 on its way to the resounding 14-4 victory to clinch its first state title since 2018.

“You can’t say enough about our group. We’ve been battling all year and this group has never quit all year,” said Perkins. “We’ve won a bunch of games where we’ve come from behind and won, and we’ve won a lot of close games this year and I think all those close games really paid off today.”

In the decisive second game, Grantsville jumped all over Carbon’s pitching staff, scoring five runs in the first inning highlighted by a two-run single by Jaxson George. It added seven more runs in the top of the fifth to open up a 12-2 lead, but Carbon kept its season alive with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to avoid the 10-run mercy rule.

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It just delayed the inevitable, however, as Grantsville scored twice more in the sixth and then Tyson Hainke closed things out in the sixth, ending the game on a strikeout as his teammates mobbed him on the mound.

“I think we had better at bats in Game 2. You’ve got to give Carbon credit too, they’re a great team,” said Perkins. “I think our at bats in the second game, I think we calmed down a little bit and started getting off the fastball.”

Blake Thomas was one of many heroes in Game 2 as he went 2 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs, while George and Zach Hale also drove in three runs.

Jace Sandberg was the hero on the mound as Grantsville customary Game 3 starter in region play pitched four solid innings to pick up the victory.

“I was just going in there trying to throw strikes cause I knew our defense would back me up, cause they’ve been great all year,” said Sandberg.

In a perfect world, Sandberg would’ve never had to pitch on Saturday, and in reality things were set up nicely for Grantsville to get the job done in Game 1 with ace Broc Miller taking the mound.

Perkins gambled by not starting Miller in either of Grantsville’s games on Thursday or Friday in the 3A state tournament, which paid off after his team won both games anyway with its strong pitching staff.

That allowed Miller get a crack at closing out the season in Game 1, but he got into some early trouble in the second inning on some fielding errors as Carbon scored four times to take a 4-1 lead.

Grantsville chipped away at the lead with a run in the third and two more in the fourth to tie it at 4-4.

In the bottom of the sixth though, Rylen Hart led off with a double and then scored on RBI single from Cooper Schade as he gave his team the 5-4 lead. Hart came on to earn the save in the seventh to force a second Game 2.

Perkins told his team after the game it was only fitting the season would end with the “if necessary” game with all the close battles his team had been a part of. His players agreed and approached Game 2 with the necessary mentality.

“We just couldn’t get down, we just had to have a lot of energy to start off and we did that. We had a few big hits and it got our energy going and kept with it the whole game,” said Sandberg.

Sandberg only struck out one batter and at times struggled with command with five walks, but the defense behind him was much sharper than in the first game, which made all the difference.