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High school baseball: Snow Canyon’s bats reheat to defeat Mountain Crest for 4A state title

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Snow Canyon players celebrate after defeating Mountain Crest in the 4A baseball championship on May 22, 2021.
Snow Canyon celebrates after defeating Mountain Crest in the 4A baseball championship at Salt Lake Community College in West Jordan on Saturday, May 22, 2021. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Box score

After the conclusion of Friday afternoon’s 4A championship series Game 1 victory for Snow Canyon — where the Warriors won with just two hits the entire game — head coach Reed Secrist said that he hoped his team could finally have a game where they could rack up hits and runs since they had struggled to do so at times in the tournament, forcing their stellar defense to save them at times.

Secrist’s wish was successfully granted as the Warriors won Saturday morning’s 4A championship series Game 2 by a score of 6-4 to clinch the state title. Snow Canyon recorded 11 hits in the game and never trailed at any point.

“Our hits were just kind of here and there, but enough to keep getting runs every inning and that was important, especially when they started scoring and we responded and got some,” Secrist said. “That’s the way this team has been all year, though. Even in our four losses, there’s really no quit in them.”

Five different players recorded two hits for the Warriors, including senior shortstop Landon Frei, who recorded a team-high three RBIs.

“Coach Secrist talked to us about our hitting last night at the hotel and he told us nothing was wrong with the swings, he just thought we needed to have better focus at the plate,” Frei said when asked what allowed the Warriors’ hitting to improve so significantly in less than a 24-hour turnaround.

“So today when we woke up and went to hit in the cages, we just tried focusing and coach kept telling us, ‘focus, focus, focus,’ and I think it paid off,” Frei said.

Mountain Crest also improved its hitting in Game 2, as the teams combined for twice as many hits through the first three innings (12) as they combined for through the entirety of Game 1 (6).

The Warriors scored three runs in the third inning to get an early three-run lead. Frei had a two-run RBI single in the inning and junior Isaac Lyon had an RBI double to score the opening run.

The Mustangs responded by scoring two runs in the top of the fourth inning, but Snow Canyon prevented Mountain Crest from being able to tie or take a lead by scoring one run in every remaining inning.

Frei delivered the final offensive blow to the Mustangs with an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 6-4, then relief pitcher Luke Anderson closed out the game in the top of the seventh with three outs in three at-bats.

“It was awesome,” Anderson said when asked what it was like to be the pitcher on the mound to close out the championship series. “Today we brought out the bats, so it was really good. Yesterday it wasn’t so much bats, but we focused on hitting and that’s what won us the game today.”

The final out was a fly out caught by right fielder Sam Lindsey, which prompted nearly every player for Snow Canyon to go and dogpile on top of Anderson on the mound. The championship is Snow Canyon’s first as a 4A school.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Frei said. “After not getting a season last year when we felt we could prove ourselves kind of sucked, but to finally do it this year is just awesome.”

With the win, Secrist secured his fourth title as the head coach of Snow Canyon. Secrist said this title means a little more given the circumstances of the past year.

“Last year was rough on everyone and my two seniors last year, Kyler Stuart and Vaughn Deming, it was kind of sad for them because I felt like we had a great chance to compete last year and who knows what would’ve happened,” Secrist said.

“So to get this done here is beautiful, man. It’s just a good feeling and to take another state championship back to Snow Canyon, and I’m just glad I get to coach these players.”


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