| JJ Blue was hot early in the game but like the rest of team he could not get a hit when it mattered most. |
The Carbon Dinos found out the hard way that it really ain’t over til the fat lady sings. Cruising to what seemed like an easy first round win, they ended up stunned with an 18-11 loss to Tooele. Then unable to get their bearings they got stung again with a 13-0 loss to Park City to end their season.
After giving up three to the Buffaloes in the first, the Dinos struck hard and fast with eight of their own. They put three more on the board in the second while shutting down Tooele. The Dinos continued to roll until the fifth. Suddenly it became tough to find the plate and the pitching began to fall apart. The 11-3 lead suddenly dwindled to 11-8. But it was in the sixth inning when the wheels really flew off. Four pitchers, eight walks and seven runs were the demise of the Dinos.
Tooele was able to cushion the victory with three more while the Dinos wood was dead. The stunned Carbon team left the field heading to the loser’s bracket against Park City. In the loss the Dinos pounded out 11 hits. JJ Blue had a double and Jordan Moynier was smoking with two doubles and a triple. All the hitting was too early in the game to change the course of the contest in the final innings.
Despite the coaching staff trying to help the team shake off the defeat, the ship could not right itself. Mental errors and lack of hitting kept the Dinos from being even a hint the team they could have been. The team that had been winning all year with their bats could only squeak out two hits in their final game of the season. In a class act, all the underclassmen sat out and let the seniors finish the final game. Coach Moynier was impressed by the showing of sportsmanship over self in the younger teammates. “I look forward to coaching these kids who will put others ahead of themselves next season.”
Moynier summed up the early exit of his team, “It was emotionally a really tough way to end the season. It has been an interesting year. We’ve come a long way and had a good season. It would have been nice to go further into the play-offs before it ended.” He is contemplating returning to coach again next season. This year he was named interim coach and it will come down to what the new Carbon High principal decides to do with the team next year.