Tuesday’s 4A baseball bracket was played at BYU’s Larry H. Miller Field in Provo.
Crimson Cliffs 8, Ridgeline 1
Crimson Cliffs redeemed Monday night’s loss to Green Canyon with a dominant 8-1 win over Ridgeline.
The Mustangs used their rest overnight to refocus and it showed as Crimson Cliffs immediately gained an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.
“I think obviously we know what type of team we are. We got our backs against the wall and we’re going to find out a little bit more about ourselves,” said Crimson Cliffs head coach Justin Abbott.
“We’ve got some guys in different positions trying to play some games in the next few days. We just got to take it one pitch at a time, one game at a time and find out who we are.”
“We know our identity; we know what type of team we’ve been the rest of the season but when you get in this situation it’s the best eight teams around. We just got to make sure we’re doing the little things.”
The Mustangs made sure to make their hitting more consistent following its loss, which resulted in six different players recording RBIs.
Crimson Cliffs McKay Wright had a highlight triple that sent two of his teammates home in the fourth inning.
“Yesterday we kind of struggled, I felt like we needed to prove ourselves today and I felt like we did that,” said Wright.
“We had much better at bats, we struggled with hitting and I felt like we did better everywhere today. Yesterday I didn’t start, and I had an at bat that I hit right at center. I was just trying to do that same thing, stay simple and it ended up being awesome.”
Wright says the win was a much-needed confidence booster for the Mustangs.
“I think our confidence just tripled. I think we’re ready to play now,” said Wright.
Ty West, Brexten Starley, and Jayger Baldwin all hit doubles for Crimson Cliffs.
Ridgeline found a run in the sixth inning, but Crimson Cliffs had run up the score too much for a Riverhawk comeback.
Following the win, Coach Abbott said the state tournament is about taking it pitch by pitch.
“We talked about taking it one pitch at a time,” said Abbott.
“Make sure you’re focusing on your at bat and focusing on situational hitting. We had a great dugout. We had that tenth man in the dugout that just kept everyone going. I’m proud of the way we competed.”
Bear River 11, Desert Hills 10
A back-and-forth game falls in favor of No. 8 seed Bear River who ends No. 5 seed Desert Hills’ season with a 11-10 win.
Bear River was happy to get the win, following the narrow loss to Snow Canyon after a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Things seemed good at first for the Bears after scoring three runs in the top of the first.
However, Bear River struggled to score through the next three innings while Desert Hills took the lead 6-3 after the fourth inning.
Bear River dug deep and scored 8 runs in the final three innings to take a narrow 11-9 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh the Thunder scored a run and trailed just one run.
With the bases loaded and two outs Desert Hills needed just a walk or single to stay in the game and keep its season alive.
The Bears stayed calm and got a strikeout on the final Desert Hills hitter to secure the slim 11-10 4A playoff victory.
Dixie 8, Green Canyon 1
Dixie led the whole way in the 4A bracket play win over Green Canyon.
The Wolves were fresh off a strong win over No. 2 seed Crimson Cliffs and had all the confidence to beat the Flyers.
However, Dixie made sure to dash any hope for Green Canyon.
The Flyers didn’t run up the score quickly, but consistently scored one or two runs in the opening innings to build a 4-0 lead after the third inning.
“I think we’ve been trying to do the simple things and just keeping things simple without trying to do to much,” said Dixie head coach Danny Ipson.
“They have to have each other’s back in terms of ‘Hey if the guy in front of me isn’t successful then I can pick him up.’ Cayson (Bell) and our pitchers have just been fantastic these two nights and have really kept us in the game.”
Green Canyon improved its fielding and held the Flyers scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings while Wolves’ Cooper Findley recorded an RBI to cut the lead to 4-1.
When the bottom of the sixth came, Dixie wanted to cut any hopes of a seventh inning comeback.
The Flyers went on to score four runs in the inning, partially fuled by Ridge Erickson’s double which caused two of his teammates to run home. Erickson recorded three RBIs for the Flyers.
“It’s awesome, the vibe is really great right now and we’re feeling really confident,” said Erickson.
“I was feeling really good. I was just sitting back and I got my hands on top of the ball which felt nice because I’ve been popping it up lately. We’re feeling up there and we can do it.”
Dixie continued its strong fielding in the top of the seventh. The Flyers held Green Canyon scoreless in the seventh and advanced in the 4A bracket.
“I think we’re confident,” said Ipson. “We want to win and have an expectation to do so but we know its going to be hard.”
“We know we know we have to work hard, we have to play well, and we have to play clean. That’s the way its going to have to be for the rest of the weekend.”
Snow Canyon 6, Mountain Crest 5
Late-game heroics once again saved Snow Canyon a loss against Green Canyon in the 4A baseball playoff bracket.
It was a tight game between the two teams, neither of which scored in the two opening innings.
Mountain Crest struck first in the third inning after a fielding error from the Warriors.
Snow Canyon matched the Mustangs with a third inning run of its own on a double and RBI from Hayden Smith.
Mountain Crest started to pull away with three runs in the fourth inning after a triple and two RBIs from Mustang’s Luke Palmer.
The Mustangs scored another run in the top of the sixth and Snow Canyon found itself in a 5-2 deficit.
In the bottom of the sixth Warriors’ Makaio Swensen hit a double, getting his teammate home.
Following Swenson, Ryder Harrison had a single which got Swensen home. Then once again for the Warriors Sam Lindsey had a triple which got two of his teammates runs and a 6-5 lead for Snow Canyon.
The Warriors held off a Mountain Crest run in the top of the seventh and secured the 4A playoff victory.