Desert Hills salvages split with Cedar; Pine View completes sweep

Desert Hills' Trey Allred (49), Cedar vs. Desert Hills, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 23, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Desert Hills got its bats crackin’ once again, just in time to salvage a split with Cedar as the first week of region play wrapped up Friday night. Pine View also got a win, sweeping Hurricane and earning a tie for first place with Snow Canyon, which completed a sweep of Canyon View earlier in the week.

Dixie, Snow Canyon and Canyon View all participated in non-region games on Friday as well. Here’s a look at the action:

Desert Hills 7, Cedar 1  

With the recent rains and soggy conditions in Cedar City, the second half of the two-game set between the two teams was moved to St. George and played at Dixie High’s Flyer Field. Who’s to say whether that was an advantage for the Thunder or not, but D-Hills definitely responded with a good night at the plate.

After scoring just one run on Tuesday against the Redmen, DH exploded for four first-inning runs en route to the decisive victory.

Desert Hills’ Sam Rhoton (21), Cedar vs. Desert Hills, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 23, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

“After kind of struggling at the plate on Tuesday, it was great to be able to score four runs in the first inning,” D-Hills coach Chris Allred said. “I think everybody was able to sigh and take a breath and relax a little.”

The Thunder opened the game with four straight hits – three singles and a home run. Trey Allred started the game with a hard grounder through the middle, followed by a Texas-leaguer by Drew Thorpe to put men on first and second. Sam Rhoton then lined a single to center to score Allred and make it 1-0.

Bronson Andrus then hit his second career varsity homer on the first pitch he saw from Cedar’s Tanner Eyre by lining it over the center field fence to make it 4-0.

“Tanner actually pitched a really good game after that first-inning mess,” Cedar coach Eric Fieldsted said. “He had some first-inning, under-the-lights, first-varsity-start jitters. But outside of that, he threw the ball well. But you make a mistake to good hitters, they usually make you pay for it and Bronson Andrus is a good hitter.”

Desert Hills’ Drew Thorpe (2), Cedar vs. Desert Hills, Baseball, St. George, Utah, Mar. 23, 2018, | Photo by Robert Hoppie, ASPpix.com, St. George News

Drew Thorpe, who had the best earned run average in the region last season (1.09), was just about a sure bet on making a 4-0 lead stand up … and he did. Thorpe worked six innings and allowed just one run and five hits. He struck out nine Cedar batters and allowed no walks.

“Drew was not his best tonight,” Allred said. “That’s not even close to what he’s capable of, but he did a great job competing and kind of working with the pitches that were working for him and just kind of grinding.”

The Redmen did get a run off Thorpe in the bottom of the first. Bridger Bunnell, Chase Houston and Markus Johnson hit three straight singles with one out to load the bases. Bunnell came home on a groundout by Korby Myers, but that’s all Cedar would get the rest of the night.

D-Hills added a run in the fourth on an RBI double by Mason Creager and the Thunder tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on RBIs by Kayden Goodman and Dillon Gubler to get to the final margin. Dallen Turner pitched the seventh inning for Desert Hills, allowing a hit and a walk, but no runs.

Allred and Sam Rhoton had two hits each for Desert Hills, which improved to 8-2 overall and 1-1 in region play. Cedar, 5-5 and 1-1, had just three hits after the first inning and committed three errors. McClain Anderson was on base twice with a single and a walk.

DH plays Dixie next week in a two-game set, starting with Tuesday’s game at Flyer Field at 7:30 p.m. Cedar battles Canyon View with Tuesday’s matchup at Redmen Field at 4 p.m.

Pine View 11, Hurricane 2

The Panthers pounded out 10 hits and took advantage of seven Tiger errors in rolling to the big win Friday at Tiger Field.

Weston Sampson led the way with three hits, including a triple, and Roman Lafemina and Cody Riddle had two hits each as Pine View jumped out early in the road win. Sampson laced a two-run single to right center in the top of the first to give the Panthers the early 2-0 edge.

Tanner Staheli had an RBI in the third to make it 3-0 and the lead grew to 6-0 in the top of the fourth as PV took advantage of two Tiger errors and Jaiger Crosby had an RBI hit.

A Panther error in the bottom of the fourth brought home Kage Akipoleki, who had singled, and made it 6-1. But Pine View scored five times in the top of the fifth to put the game away, including a big RBI triple by Sampson.

Cooper Madison got the win on the mound for PV, going 4.2 innings and allowing six hits and two unearned runs. Bridger Barney allowed just one hit in 2.1 innings of relief. The Panthers are 8-1 overall and 2-0 in region.

Brian Long led Hurricane with two hits and Rylee Kent had a double and a walk. The Tigers drop to 4-6 overall and 0-2 in region play.

Pine View battles Snow Canyon in two games next week, with Tuesday’s contest at Warrior Field at 7:30 p.m. Hurricane has a region bye next week and will play North Sevier and Richfield Thursday and Friday.

Cottonwood 3, Dixie 2

The 5A Colts improved to 4-0 and handed the Flyers their first loss with a walk-off victory Friday afternoon.

Dixie threatened in the first and second, but couldn’t push a run across. Cottonwood grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. The Flyers tied it in the top of the third when Tyson Fisher grounded into a double play with no outs and the bases loaded.

Cottonwood responded immediately with a run in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by Porter Hodge to take a 2-1 lead.

Fisher got a measure of revenge by rocking a deep ball over the left field fence to tie the game in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Colts got two on with one out off Dixie pitcher Cooper Vest. Daniel Gonzalez then squirted one through the right side for a hit to bring home Dylan Reiser and end the game.

Hobbs Nyberg led Dixie with three hits. Cottonwood out-hit Dixie 11-8.

Dixie, 10-1, has two games scheduled at Timpanogas High School on Saturday. At 10 a.m., the Flyers will play the home-standing Wolves. Then at 3:30 p.m., Dixie will face Copper Hills.

Las Vegas 5, Snow Canyon 2
Snow Canyon 7, Springville 4

In the early game, the Wildcats broke open a 2-2 tie with three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the win. The Warriors had an early 1-0 lead after Austin Deming singled home Brooks Sampson in the first inning. Las Vegas got two in the top of the second, but Snow Canyon tied it in the bottom of that inning with Austin Staheli doubling home Braden Baker.

The score stayed tied until the fifth, when Nathan Freimuth socked a three-run homer to give the Wildcats the lead. SC got two men on in the fifth and loaded the bases in the seventh, but couldn’t make the comeback.

In the late game, Snow Canyon jumped out to a 5-0 lead and then had to hold off a furious Red Devils rally.

Jed Jensen doubled home a run and Brock Secrist singled home two more in the second to make it 3-0. Deming homered in the third to make it 4-0 and Secrist brought home another run with a double in the fourth to push it to 5-0. The Red Devils scored four in the top of the fifth to make a game of it, but Stephen Gubler and Zack Nowatzke had RBIs in the bottom of that inning to push the lead back out.

Deming, Secrist and Tim Shakespeare had two hits each in the game to lead SC, which went to 11-1 on the season with the split. James Beck got the win on the mound and Travis Davenport collected the save.

Snow Canyon plays Shadow Ridge (Nevada) at 1 p.m. at Warrior Field on Saturday.

Salem Hills 7, Canyon View 1
Shadow Ridge (Nev.) 9, Canyon View 8

The Falcons fell to 4-5 on the season with the two losses in games played at Snow Canyon High School.

Trace Harden knocked in Canyon View’s only run of the early game in the top of the first inning with a single that brought home Joey Lambeth. The Skyhawks answered with two runs in the third, one in the fifth and four in the sixth to take the win. Quinn Spevak led CV with two hits in that game.

In the second game, Shadow Ridge scored a run in the top of the seventh to break the tie and take the win. The Falcons had led 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4, but SRHS answered every time.

Colten Shumway led CV with two hits, including a double. But the Falcons committed four errors in the game, leading to four unearned runs. Canyon View also left 11 runners on base during the game.

The Falcons will play Springville at 11 a.m. Saturday at Warrior Field.

Tuesday’s Region 9 results
Snow Canyon 6, Canyon View 0
Cedar 2. Desert Hills 1
Pine View 4, Hurricane 1

Wednesday’s Region 9 result
Snow Canyon 15, Canyon View 2

Friday’s Region 9 results
Desert Hills 7, Cedar 1
Pine View 11, Hurricane 2
Cottonwood 3, Dixie 2
Shadow Ridge (Nev.) 9, Canyon View 8
Salem Hills 7, Canyon View 2
Las Vegas 5, Snow Canyon 2
Snow Canyon 7, Springville 4

Region 9 standings (region, overall)
Snow Canyon  2-0, 11-1
Pine View  2-0, 8-1
Cedar  1-1, 5-5
Desert Hills  1-1, 8-2
Dixie  0-0, 10-1
Canyon View  0-2, 4-5
Hurricane  0-2, 4-6

Upcoming games
Saturday
Dixie at Timpanogas, 10 a.m.
Dixie vs. Copper Hills (@ Timpanogas High), 3:30 p.m.
     US Bank Spring Dust Off (all games at Snow Canyon)
Canyon View vs. Springville, 11 a.m.
Snow Canyon vs. Shadow Ridge (Nev.), 1 p.m.
Championship and third-place times/teams tbd

Tuesday
Canyon View at Cedar, 4 p.m.
Desert Hills at Dixie, 7:30 p.m.
Pine View at Snow Canyon, 7:30 p.m.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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