High school baseball: Snow Canyon rallies for 2 wins to claim 4A state title with huge offensive performance

Published: May 16, 2026, 7:28 p.m. MDT

Snow Canyon’s Braden Mugavero, center, lifts the 4A baseball trophy after defeating Deseret Hills to win the third game of the series and win the 4A baseball state championship at Gates Field in Kerns, on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

By Aidan Baller

After surrendering an 8-run lead and losing Game 1 of the 4A state baseball championship series Friday, the Snow Canyon Warriors rallied Saturday, winning two games over Desert Hills to claim the state title.

In the decisive Game 3, a 15-5 victory, the Warriors picked up right where they left off after scoring 18 runs in Game 2 and put up six in the first inning alone.

Trey Vaughn, Talan Hansen, and Bridger Larsen all hit home runs in the top of the first. Vaughn and Larsen would both homer again in the top of the second inning.

In total Saturday, Larsen tallied nine RBIs with three home runs.

“I don’t know what to say. It was just unreal,” he said.

Scenes from the second game of the 4A baseball state championship series between Desert Hills and Snow Canyon held at Gates Field in Kearns on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Scenes from the third game of the 4A baseball state championship series between Desert Hills and Snow Canyon held at Gates Field in Kearns on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Snow Canyon’s Jagger Mugavero (17), center, celebrates a home run by Talan Hansen (8) during the third game of the 4A baseball state championship series between Desert Hills and Snow Canyon held at Gates Field in Kearns on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Snow Canyon celebrates after winning the third game of the 4A baseball state championship series between Desert Hills and Snow Canyon held at Gates Field in Kearns on Saturday, May 16, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Blood drips from the mouth of Snow Canyon’s Braden Mugavero (13) as he holds the championship trophy after winning the third game of the 4A baseball state championship series between Desert Hills and Snow Canyon held at Gates Field in Kearns on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Mugavero was hit in the jaw by a pitch in the second game of the series but played in the rest of the second game and all of the third game as Snow Canyon took home the 4A state title. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Scoring runs isn’t anything new for the Warriors, as they averaged nearly 10 runs per game this season and 13 runs per game in the playoffs.

“Every time I write that lineup, I have guys that can mash, one through nine, and a few on the bench,” Snow Canyon head coach Reed Secrist said.

“It’s fun to write the lineup, and what you saw right here is something that they can do.”

This is Secrist’s sixth career state title, and Snow Canyon’s third in the last six seasons.

The Game 3 win came after the Warriors exploded for 14 runs in the sixth inning of Game 2 to force a decisive contest.

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Game 2 started out as a back and forth contest, as Snow Canyon struck first with a sacrifice fly in the first inning before Desert Hills answered back with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first.

The game was tied before the decisive sixth inning, when the Warriors strung together multiple hits to put the 10-run mercy rule into effect.

They found RBI hits from PJ Hancock, Larsen, Diesel Lee, Jagger Mugavero and Vaughn. Larsen was especially potent in the inning, tallying a grand slam and a two-RBI double.

Senior Zac Beck pitched well for the Warriors, managing to keep a powerful Desert Hills offense at bay enough for his offense to finish the job. He pitched 5.2 innings, and Cael Esplin came in for the final out.

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