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KEARNS — If he made a list of his favorite things to do, Juan Diego's A.J. Begay wouldn't put pitching on it.
He would, however, place winning state championships at the top of his list. So in order to get another one, Begay took the mound one last time for the Soaring Eagle.
And Begay showed why Juan Diego wanted the senior to start one last outing, as he threw a complete game to lead the Soaring Eagle to a 5-1 win over upstart Canyon View in the 3A championship game on Saturday. The win gave Juan Diego its second straight 3A title, and fifth overall state baseball title.
"I just knew I had to go out there and do whatever I could," Begay said. "Coaches called my name, and I was ready to go."
Begay was Juan Diego's ace as a junior in 2009. He suffered a torn meniscus during the winter and had to rehab for five weeks. As a result, he would have to pitch fewer innings this season, and it didn't exactly break Begay's heart — he'd rather play at third base.
Begay made just his fourth pitching start of the season on Saturday.
"A.J. is one of those kids that will do anything we ask him to do — pitching is not one of his favorite things to do," said Juan Diego coach Troy Davis. "He just brought that heart and desire."
Begay fell behind in the first inning when Canyon View — which won six games in the one-loss bracket to reach Saturday's title game — scored on a sacrifice fly RBI by junior Zane Affleck. From there, Begay buckled down, throwing strikes and allowing his defense to make plays behind him.
"I go out there and throw strikes and I expect people to hit it," Begay said. "Our defense was amazing, probably one of the best in the state from what I've seen."
It certainly ranks up there. The Soaring Eagle turned double plays in the first and third innings and committed no errors against the Falcons.
Juan Diego tied the game at 1-1 in the third when it scored off a Canyon View error. Luke West drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth. Austin Geurtsen, Kody Davis and Ajay Pizza then added RBIs to give Begay all the breathing room he would need.
The Falcons, playing in the state championship baseball game for the first time, got a couple of baserunners on in the seventh. But Begay got the last batter of the game to pop up to Pizza at first to end the threat.
"It was awesome," Pizza said. "I couldn't have been happier once I caught that ball."
The Falcons had plenty of reasons to keep their heads up despite the loss. They were Region 9's third seed, and just kept finding ways to win in the state tournament. They beat Desert Hills 9-5 earlier on Saturday to advance to the title game. That game was delayed about 20 minutes when Desert Hills assistant coach Chuck Stuart collapsed, suffering a ruptured appendix in the sixth inning.
"We've been pretty solid the last few years and we can keep building on this," said Canyon View coach Jason Jacobsen. "Hopefully, one day we'll hold the other trophy."
Juan Diego finished the season 21-4 and went unbeaten against 3A competition. The Soaring Eagle made it look easy at times, but it wasn't. They dealt with arguably the best high school baseball coach in state history, Steve Cramblitt, retiring before the season started so that he could deal with health issues. They also dealt with the death of a player's sibling.
"They battled through a lot of tough situations off the field," Davis said. "This is something I wanted these kids to experience and it's all about them. They're an easy team to coach with that much talent, I'll tell you that."
Davis also played a key role, as he followed in Cramblitt's enormous footsteps. He became the fourth coach to lead Juan Diego to a state title, joining Cramblitt, Mike McNary and his brother, Kelly.
e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com
