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KEARNS — The pressure was on Juab as the No. 1 seed coming into the 3A state title game against Juan Diego Saturday at Gates Field, but head coach Josh Park told his team to "just go out there and have a blast," resulting in the community's first baseball championship since 1998.
Senior catcher Wyatt Payton took the "have a blast" mandate literally, firing off the game's only home run in the fifth inning to give the Wasps a commanding 6-2 lead they wouldn't give up.
In fact, Juab led the entire game after going up 2-0 in the third inning on an RBI double from Cooper Ford. Center fielder Bryce Bowles had himself a day on defense, putting together a single-game highlight reel of acrobatic diving catches, including two in the top of the third to leave two Juan Diego runners stranded.
"He played fearlessly, went out for balls, and came up with them," Park said of Bowles. "And that really was a turning point in this game."
Juab head coach Josh Park pic.twitter.com/rhWfaGB1IY
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) May 13, 2023
Matt Odell got two runs back for the Soaring Eagle in the top of the fourth to make the score 3-2, but Hayden Adams got a lead-off double for Juab in the bottom of the fourth to go up 4-2 and Juan Diego never came back within two runs of the Wasps.
The backbreaker came in the sixth inning when Bowles' outfield mate Taylor Newton made an impressive diving catch of his own to leave two Juan Diego runners on base and then tripled in the first at-bat in the bottom of the sixth to help Juab break the game wide open with a 7-2 lead.
Austin Park won the game on a strikeout in the top of the seventh and that was all she wrote.
"We came in with a mindset we were going to battle and just have a blast this weekend," Coach Park said. "You could see they love playing baseball and you could see that their hearts were in it, and I don't think anybody was going to out-effort us today. Our kids just did great today and I'm super proud of them."
