Crimson Cliffs 11, Bear River 4
After dispatching Bear River 11-4 in the morning session, Crimson Cliffs got a second look at No. 2 seed Desert Hills in the semifinals and made the most of it.
The Mustangs started slowly, with starter Rica Navarro surrendering four runs in the first two innings to put Crimson Cliffs in an early hole. But the offense responded immediately, clawing back two runs before Navarro steadied himself with a crisp nine-pitch, three-up-three-down frame to hand the lineup a short turnaround.
The Mustangs seized the moment. Jack Boyer dropped a perfect bunt down the first base line, igniting a rally capped by back-to-back shots off the left field wall from Sam Chappell and Navarro himself, knotting the game at four. Rayce Bennett followed with a single to plate the go-ahead run, and Crimson Cliffs never looked back.
Navarro came back out and dispatched Desert Hills in order again, giving the offense the green light for an eight-run fourth inning that left the mercy-rule runner stranded 90 feet from home. Desert Hills made a late push to trim the deficit, but the damage was done.
Navarro, who finished as both the offensive and pitching hero for the Mustangs, reflected on the mentality that fueled the comeback.
“I mean, just trusting on my guys, you know, confident, confident in the dugout and confident the lineup, we’re gonna get it done still,” he said.
The senior credited the coaching staff for keeping the energy alive between innings.
“Our coach is talking a lot about keeping momentum going. Just get back in the dugout and keep heading and just score more.”
The Mustangs put the finishing touches on it in storybook fashion. Boyer laced a single to bring in a run, but the real chaos came moments later when a runner was caught in a rundown at third while Boyer found himself in a pickle between first and second. Desert Hills couldn’t corral the confusion, and the winning run sneaked home on the defensive miscue, ending the game in pure playground fashion.
Crimson Cliffs walked off with a 17-7 victory to force a rematch the following day.
“We are just trying to stay steady with our approach, making sure we have a next-guy-up mentality with quality at-bats,” said coach Justin Abbott.
He continued on what led to the 17-run offensive outburst: “It’s something to be said how the ball rolls your way sometimes. The doubles are great, the triples are awesome, the home runs are great. But the hard-hit balls, it makes it tough on the defense, and that’s got to be our approach on offense is to make sure we continue to put pressure.”
Snow Canyon 9, Provo 7
In the nightcap, Snow Canyon completed a three-game sweep of the top half of the bracket with a 9-7 win over Provo, who had earlier eliminated Ridgeline 12-9 to earn their spot in the semifinals.
The Warriors had to earn it. Provo jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before Bridger Larsen and Talan Hansen answered with back-to-back two-RBI hits to flip the game on its head. The Bulldogs refused to go quietly, battling back with two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth to retake a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Hansen was quick to share the credit for the early swing.
“I don’t win the game without them. If they’re not on-base, then there is just one run out of the home runs,” he said of his teammates setting the table.
For the young slugger, the moment carried a deeper meaning.
“Just when I train for it, I mean, I’ve been working all year. That’s what we dream of as a kid.”
It was Larsen and Hansen again. After Porter Randall was hit by a pitch, Larsen sent a sky-high pop fly just past third base that got swallowed up by the lights and dropped for a hit. Hansen did the rest, sending his second home run of the year well over the right-field fence, a two-run blast that mirrored his first homer of the game and gave Snow Canyon a lead it wouldn’t surrender.
With its season on the line, Provo loaded up second and third with nobody out. But Larsen, who had been shaky to open the frame, found something extra to close it. He buckled the next two hitters with sharp breaking balls before dispatching the Bulldogs’ final batter of the season on just three pitches and a dropped third strike that required a throw to first, but at that point, the result was not in doubt.
Larsen, who delivered the clutch performance on the mound to seal the win, summed up his mindset with signature confidence.
“I just say big-dog mentality. You got to go in knowing you’re better than them,” he said.
The senior described the evolution of his final strikeout sequence in real time, each at-bat building on the last as the momentum swung decisively toward the Warriors.
“After the first one, I mean, I was like, ‘I can do this.’ Second one, I was like, ‘yeah, that’s me.’ And third one was like, ‘alright, we did this.’”
Snow Canyon will have Thursday off before opening the Championship Series in Game 1 on Friday at Kearns High School. They will await the winner of Thursday’s elimination game between Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills, a rematch that will mark the fifth meeting between the two teams this season and third of the playoffs, with the season series deadlocked at 2-2.
Coach Reed Secrist acknowledged the double-edged nature of the day off with some added perspective.
“I mean, I’ve been on both sides. We lost the state championship when we got Thursday off last year, but we still feel pretty confident about our game on Friday night. So it could go work either way. We just got to make sure that we’re ready for them,” he said.
On how the Warriors plan to spend their free day, he said, “We’ll work out tomorrow. We’ll do some things, and then we’ll take it easy, maybe go watch a movie, do something that way.”