ST. GEORGE – Call the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs the firemen.
Facing a red-hot Pine View Panthers team on the second day of the 4A state baseball tournament, the Mustangs got out the hoses and cooled the Panthers down to the tune of a 16-2 blowout Tuesday evening.
“That’s just Crimson baseball,” said one of the hard-hitting Mustangs, Canyon Kutch. ”It took a minute for us to figure out their pitcher, but when we did, it was game on.”
Crimson Cliffs trailed 1-0 early as Pine View got an RBI from Nash Schroeder to plate Luke Iverson.
Schroeder was also dealing at the plate early on, holding the Mustangs to just a single baserunner through the first 2 1⁄3 innings, but as Crimson Cliffs made its way through batting order a second time against Schroeder, it was clear things were different.
“I’m so impressed with the way these kids learn and remember things,” Crimson Cliffs head coach Justin Abbott said.
“(Hitting coach) Kyle Boyer has done such a good job of getting these guys prepared and teaching them how to make adjustments.”
Still down 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the third, the Mustangs got a little bloop hit from Logan West and then a walk by Petey Soto. That began an epic rally that featured nine hits, two walks and a total of 10 runs.
The tying hit came from Jayger Baldwin, then Ty Maynard gave Crimson Cliffs the lead. The big blow came moments later when Kutch laced a double that scored a pair of runs, and the game became more of a pitcher management contest than a ‘who’s going to win’ contest.
“We kind of picked up what they were throwing the first time through and then just mashed the ball,” Kutch said.
“We’re hitters at Crimson. We come out attacking the ball.”
It also helped that Mustangs pitcher Bo Sampson was throwing BBs as well. Sampson threw 85 pitches and allowed just one earned run in completing the game.
“He’s a big kid, 6-5 and left-handed,” Abbott said. “This year I felt like emotionally he’s matured so much. He was amazing tonight.”
All totaled, the Mustangs had 13 hits to go with their 16 runs. Kutch, Maynard, Baldwin and Trey Evans all had doubles in the game.
Crimson Cliffs added six more runs in the bottom of the fourth to send the game into mercy-rule territory and Sampson made it stand up, retiring the Panthers without incident in the top of the fifth.
Pine View had won eight straight in the last five weeks, including a 4-3 win over Crimson Cliffs. The Mustangs improved to 18-4 with the win, while Pine View dropped to 19-5.
Crimson stays in the no-loss side of the bracket and will play a yet to be determined opponent at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
The bracket is here.
Pine View drops to the elimination bracket and will try to keep its season alive with a loser-out game against Green Canyon Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
Dixie 2, Bear River 1
Boston Vest hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth and the pitching duo of Cayson Bell and GJ Erickson made it stand up in the winner’s bracket of the state tournament.
The Bears got a couple of men on with one out in the top of the seventh when Bell ran out of pitches.
Erickson came in and allowed a baserunner on a walk to load the bases, but also induced a pair of pop-ups, including one that ended the game.
Bell went 6 1⁄3 innings, but had to leave as he neared the 110-pitch UHSAA cap. He had allowed six hits and one unearned run.
Erickson pitched the final 2⁄3 of an inning to get the save, throwing nine pitches and allowing one walk.
Dixie, 22-4, joins Crimson Cliffs as the the only unbeaten teams at the state tournament. The Flyers will face the winner of Snow Canyon and Bear River at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday to try to clinch the upper bracket of the tournament.
Bear River, 20-6, plays Snow Canyon in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Snow Canyon 19, Hurricane 8
The Tigers, making their first bracket play appearance in 25 years, were eliminated by the defending state-champion Warriors, but it wasn’t easy.
After trailing 9-0, Hurricane pulled to within 11-8 after a home run from Sam Johanson and RBI hits from Josh Wright, Jaxon Jones and Tanner Pastor, but the Snow Canyon offense was just too good.
The Warriors caught fire by scoring eight unanswered in the bottom of the fourth, and three outs later, the game was over via the mercy rule.
Snow Canyon had 13 hits and three home runs (Luke Anderson, Drake Kelly and Logan Mendenhall) en route to its 19 runs.
The Warriors keep their season alive and will play at 11 a.m. Wednesday against Dixie/Bear River.
Green Canyon 12, Desert Hills 4
Nick Bouck held the Thunder scoreless through six innings and the Wolves romped past Desert Hills in an elimination game.
Green Canyon will play Pine View in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Bruce Hurst Field.