Heady baserunning, Evans' blast leads Crimson Cliffs to game 1 win over Snow Canyon

Leading 7-4 in the bottom the sixth inning, Crimson Cliffs head coach Justin Abbott figured his team needed another run to feel safe entering the top half of the seventh against the powerful Snow Canyon offense.

“We talked about getting an extra. We knew we were going to have to, because that’s a tough team offensively, but coach Boyer did a fantastic job of preparing those guys for the baserunning situations.”

With runners on the corners, the Crimson Cliffs coaching staff dialed up a play to extend the lead.

Leading off first base, Trey Evans pulled up halfway between first and second, forcing a rundown. At third Logan West waited for his opportunity to break towards the plate.

As Evans retreated to first, West made his move.

A throw by Luke Anderson sailed over the glove of catcher Hayden Smith, and West dove in safely for what would turn out to be the game-winning run in an 8-7 victory for the Mustangs in game 1 of the 4A State Championship.

Snow Canyon would rally for three runs in the ninth inning off Steele Barben on a Sam Lindsey bases-clearing double.

Aaron Morris entered with one out in the inning and Lindsey representing the tying run on second. Morris got Ryder Harrison to flyout to left, and Hayden Smith to groundout to Petey Soto at short to close out the win.

Barben entered the game in relief of Jaiven Ross, who pitched just 2+ innings. The sophomore escaped a second-and-third, no out situation in the third inning with minimal damage, allowing just a sacrifice fly and single.

Both runs were charged to Ross.

Barben went on to set down the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings and struck out three in the sixth.

“The guy’s a competitor,” Abbott said. “The guy, he wants the ball. He came in the dugout and I said, ‘hey, are you okay?’ and he just kind of gave me that look of ‘don’t ever ask me that again.’ He’s just a competitor. He just gets it done.”

The sophomore finished with eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings.

As Barben dealt, Evans continued his hot streak at the plate.

With two outs and the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth, Evans stepped in against Ethan Anderson.

The senior Anderson tried to get a fastball by the sophomore Evans, who went the other way to right for a three-run home run.

“No panic at all in that kid,” Abbott said. “I think he’s maybe 16 years old, but he goes up there like he’s already been playing this game for 30 years.”

In four playoff games, Evans has hit three home runs and driven in 15 runs.

Crimson Cliffs will aim to close out the Warriors on Saturday at noon. If Snow Canyon earns the win, game three will be played at 2:30.

Sean Ellertson is a sports reporter for the St. George Spectrum & Daily News. To continue to support his work, please subscribe to The Spectrum. Follow Sean on Twitter @SeanEllertson.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: 4A baseball finals: Crimson Cliffs takes game 1 over Snow Canyon