2A, 3A baseball: Kanab completes comeback for the ages to repeat as state champions

OREM — The saying “it is at all times higher the second time round” rang true Saturday afternoon.

For the Kanab Cowboys, the second time round ended up being higher than the primary — even when it got here just a little later than anticipated.

With one mighty swing by junior Kale Glover, and the ball touchdown honest simply contained in the left-field foul line, the Cowboys etched their names into UHSAA historical past with a 13-12 walk-off comeback win over South Sevier within the 2A baseball championship at UCCU Ballpark Saturday afternoon.

It was a recreation the place Kanab was sucker punched early by the red-hot Rams, who exploded out to a seemingly insurmountable 9-1 lead after 4 full innings. The No. 1 seeded Cowboys had no reply for Rams starter Stockton Roberts and bullpen backup Peyton Ingram, who mixed to carry Kanab in test.

“We knew we had it in us,” Cowboys coach Craig Brinkerhoff mentioned. “We simply saved encouraging the children that we had been proper there, they usually simply believed in themselves.”

Glover definitely had a hand in it; his lone RBI was the one one which mattered. He laced it on an 0-2 pitch down the road for his solely base hit of the sport, but it surely was a base hit that made him a legend for remainder of his life in Kane County.

“It is surreal; you dream about it and also you run by way of that state of affairs in your head as a child,” Glover mentioned. “It is an unbelievable feeling.”

What made it extra unbelievable was Glover mentioned the group mentioned whether or not they would relatively win in a run-rule recreation or win on a walk-off — the latter of which was near occurring a number of instances in South Sevier’s favor.

As an alternative, the Cowboys confirmed the guts of a champion and did it the exhausting manner, which Brinkerhoff mentioned was a standard theme of Kanab’s run to the championship.

“Resilience is an enormous theme of our group,” Glover mentioned. “We simply know our bats are going to get sizzling sooner or later. Craig does an incredible job at making us mentally powerful, and all of that tough work has paid off.”

Paradoxically, it appeared like it could by no means come Saturday; the Cowboys had been held to only 4 hits by way of the primary 5 innings, however all the things modified when Kanab put up 4 runs on 5 hits within the backside of the fifth.

Regardless of ending the fifth leaving the bases loaded, and South Sevier’s try and inch away, Kanab merely refused to stop. Not even a solo dwelling run by the Rams’ Rayce Freeman to place South Sevier up 12-8 appeared like a back-breaker.

“After we had the tying run at second base (within the backside of the seventh), that is when it turned actual to me,” Brinkerhoff mentioned. “I knew we had an extended solution to go, however all we wanted to do was chip away.”

Chipping away is strictly what the Cowboys did. Regardless of being right down to their ultimate strike twice within the final three batters, a bloop single introduced dwelling the tying run, setting the stage for Glover’s heroics, which the junior known as a turning of his luck, one thing his assistant coaches had been preaching to him all season.

And it was solely becoming, then, Glover was the primary to raise the trophy over his head, the second state championship in Craig Brinkerhoff’s two seasons.

“Mason Fox laid the groundwork for this,” Brinkerhoff mentioned, referencing his predecessor, whom he served as an assistant underneath earlier than taking up final yr. “He began believing in these youngsters, and I could not thank him sufficient for what he did for us.”

3A baseball: Union tops Canyon View for first title since 1989

Camden Frandsen belted a two-run homer, and Hayden Wealthy and Chase Nielson every added a double as seventh-seeded Union used a six-run fourth to drag away from fourth-seeded Canyon View, 9-3 within the second recreation of the 3A state championship at Salt Lake Group Faculty’s Cate Subject in West Jordan.

Frandsen, Gannon Labrum and PJ Hancock every completed with two RBI for Union (23-11), which jumped out to a 6-0 run after 4 innings.

Freshman pitcher Dylan Watahomigie allowed only one run with one strikeout to earn the win for the Cougars, who received their first state title since 1989 when the varsity performed in 2A. Tyson Marx and Gavin Roberts completed the ultimate three innings, permitting one run every body to seal the win.

Brady Anderson had a double to steer Canyon View (20-11).