2A baseball: Kanab awaits South Sevier or San Juan in championship

PROVO — The Kanab Cowboys just keep winning.

After two straight upset wins over No. 3 Duchesne and No. 2 Enterprise, the sixth-ranked Cowboys met the top-ranked South Sevier Rams on Friday afternoon.

And the Cowboys proceeded to win their third straight game over a higher-ranked team. The Cowboys staved off the Rams' last-inning comeback and kept their tournament record perfect with a 10-8 win.

"We're just excited," said Kanab head coach Craig Brinkerhoff. "These kids are just having the time of their life right now. We're just having fun baseball; we just see it as another opportunity for us."

Playing the underdog role yet again, the Cowboys jumped out to the game's first lead with a big top of the second inning. Starting the small ball early, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a healthy dose of singles, and ultimately a ground-rule double helped Kanab grab a 4-0 lead.

But the Rams showed why they came into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed having only lost one game all year. South Sevier tied the game up at 4-4, and in the bottom of the third inning they took their first lead of the game, 5-4, thanks to a sacrifice fly from catcher Peyton Ingram.

"I got nervous, but when we got 4-4 it's just a brand-new ballgame," Brinkerhoff said. "Our leadership and our dugout, they really took over and they weren't gonna just fall down."

In the top of the fourth inning, Kanab responded and regained a lead that they didn't relinquish for the rest of the night. A leadoff single, a walk, and a bunt single set the table for the Cowboys' big first baseman Griffen Bone, who hit a deep triple to clear the bases and put his team ahead 7-5. A single by right fielder Kash Kabonic, his third of four runs batted in on the night, put the Cowboys up 8-5.

Bone and Kabonic drove in seven of Kanab's 10 runs on the night; the two were also emotional and physical leaders throughout the game.

"This is great to see because there's a junior, Bone, and Kash is a sophomore," Brinkerhoff said. "This experience will go into many years to come, especially for Kash and Griffen. So, I mean, these guys they've been, we've been waiting for this, you know, these last three days, all year, and they've really come through for us."

Kanab extended its lead to 10-5 in the final two innings, but South Sevier didn't go away quietly. In the sixth inning, a walk, a double, and a sacrifice fly cut the lead to 10-6. And in the final inning, the Rams managed two more runs to make it 10-8 before Kanab's Brody Perkins closed the door on South Sevier.

San Juan upsets Duchesne to fight for spot in title game

Just a few hours following Kanab's upset over South Sevier, the fifth-seeded San Juan Broncos eliminated the third-seeded Duchesne Eagles 12-7 on Friday night.

The Broncos rode the backs of a quality pitching performance and a balanced offensive attack to earn an opportunity to play South Sevier on Saturday morning to see who will face Kanab in the 2A final later that same day.

After scoring in the top of the first, things started to look rocky quickly for San Juan when Duchesne came to bat for the first time. The Broncos' starter, Ian Johnson, only recorded a single out in the frame while giving up two runs to the Eagles. In a do-or-die game, head coach Jens Nielson went to the bullpen and brought in Jaiten Knight, who induced a pop out and ground out to escape without any further damage.

The two teams traded runs for a few innings and after four innings San Juan led 4-3. In the top of the fifth, a walk, a bunt single and a double from Talon Mendoza increased the Broncos' lead to 6-3.

"Our team is on fire right now," Nielson said. "We're smoking the ball, we're playing excellent defense. And it's gonna be hard to beat us if we play this way."

San Juan's Knight continued to do just enough on the mound to keep the Eagles at a safe distance while the Broncos' offense continued to work. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Duchesne loaded the bases with nobody out thanks to back-to-back walks and a single to centerfield. But the next batter grounded one straight back to Knight, who hesitated for a moment before firing home to his catcher, who threw to first to complete the huge double play.

Knight couldn't get out of the inning completely clean as the next hitter grounded softly to third and beat the throw which scored a runner from third base. But Knight managed to get a flyout to end the Eagles' threat.

In the last inning, San Juan made sure to extinguish any momentum Duchesne had gained as the Broncos went on to score 4 runs in the inning to give themselves a cushy 12-5 lead heading into the the Eagles' last chance.

Although Duchesne scratched across two runs to cut it to 12-7, San Juan brought in Parker Snyder to shut things down and secure the victory for the Broncos.

"A huge win for us," Nielson said. "Duchesne beat us twice in the regular season. So it feels good to come back and get a win against them. They're a great, great team. I really enjoyed watching them play and so to get a win is huge."

While Kanab has already punched its ticket to the final game, San Juan and South Sevier will duke it out to see who gets to take on the Cowboys for the championship.

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