The Panguitch Bobcats rallied from a five-run deficit in the final inning of the 1A state baseball championship game to defeat archrival Piute 10-9 in St. George on Saturday.
On the final play of the game, Panguitch junior Casey Walter knocked a bases-loaded single to left field with one out in the bottom of the seventh that drove in one run, with the two other baserunners also scoring on an error.
The Bobcats’ six-run rally in the seventh closely mirrored Piute’s seven-run outburst two innings earlier. In the top of the fifth, the T-Birds had combined four singles with five walks to turn a 4-2 deficit to a 9-4 lead.
Panguitch’s spirited seventh-inning response included a leadoff single by Quade Veater, after which fellow senior Camden Englestead walked and the two Ramsay brothers (senior Taycen and junior Traiger) were each hit by a pitch.
After the Bobcats hit an infield fly for the first out, Kaden Bailey singled to left, scoring Englestead. Tayze Barney then walked on four straight pitches, loading the bases again.
That brought up Walter, whose single ended up emptying the bases for the walk-off victory.
“That last play was simply unbelievable,” said Panguitch head coach Rawley Burningham, who noted that coming from behind by five runs in the last inning was a “nearly impossible” task.
“But this team this year is built different than any other team I’ve coached, based on the simple fact they will never give up,” he added.
The dramatic finish marked the end of a long five-hour afternoon for the players and their fans gathered at Dixie High School, as the rivals had battled in back-to-back contests.
Piute, the tournament’s No. 4 seed, had defeated top-seeded Panguitch 8-5 on Thursday, sending the Bobcats into the one-loss bracket of the true double-elimination tournament.
From there, Panguitch had to make it past No. 3 seeded Valley on Thursday afternoon, when the Bobcats edged the Buffaloes 1-0.
That set up Panguitch’s date with No. 2 Bryce Valley on Friday afternoon. The Mustangs had fallen to Piute 5-3 earlier in the day. Panguitch jumped out to an 8-1 lead after two innings and went on to win 14-5, eliminating Bryce Valley from contention.
Then, starting at noon on Saturday, Panguitch faced Piute in the first of two games, with the Bobcats winning 12-2. The winning pitcher was none other than Walter, making a rare appearance on the mound as he lasted the full six innings, allowing two runs on six hits while walking four and striking out five.
Because that setback was Piute’s first loss, the teams needed to play a second game to decide the state championship.
Panguitch ended up using five different pitchers in that deciding game, due to players reaching their pitch limits. The pitcher of record ended up being freshman Kyson Miller, who picked up the win after pitching to just two batters in the top of the seventh, recording a strikeout and a fly out.
The win marked Panguitch’s 11th overall state title in baseball and their second in a row.