The Carbon High School baseball team has advanced into the next round of the 3A State Tournament, after losing its first game and winning its second on Saturday.
The Dinos faced a tough opponent in the Thunder of Desert Hills High School, the number two seed from Region 9, in the first round of the tournament, ultimately falling 7-1. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Dinos were without one of their senior players for the day, which head coach Jeff Cisneros said contributed to Carbon’s loss against the Thunder.
“It’s like being kicked in the stomach,” said Cisneros. “I was kicked in the stomach the whole first game, these guys were feeling that way. I did a poor job of getting them ready to play because I wasn’t ready and it sucks.”
Junior Zac Bradley started on the mound for the Dinos and was beaten up early. After scoring one run in the first inning and one in the second, the Thunder put up a five-run third inning, ultimately kicking Bradley out of the game.
“Zac struggled,” said Cisneros. “We asked Zac to just throw strikes, strikes, strikes until they started hitting him and he just struggled today.”
However, sophomore Adrian Sanchez entered the game for the Dinos in the fourth inning and shut down the Thunder’s offense. In three innings of work, Sanchez allowed no runs and struck out six.
“Holy heck, he did a great job,” said Cisneros of Sanchez’s performance.
Despite multiple bases-loaded opportunities, the Dinos’ only run of the game came in the sixth inning, on an RBI walk dealt to Sanchez. The Dinos managed just three hits in the game, with senior Gavin Robinett collecting two of them, a single and a double.
“We just weren’t ready to go,” explained Cisneros. “We weren’t focused in at the plate, we let a lot of pitches get by us that we should have swung the bats on, and I just don’t think we were ready to go.”
The Dinos finally began to pick up their play in the second game, and made quick work of the Trojans of Morgan High School, winning 13-2, with the help of a big fourth inning.
Morgan took an early lead on a solo home run in the first inning, but the Dinos got it back right away, on an RBI sacrifice fly by Robinett. Another single run by the Dinos in the second gave Carbon the lead, with sophomore Ty Anderson hitting an RBI single.
The Dinos continued to extend their lead in the third, with junior Cody Lowe scoring after getting on base with a single, and junior Nate Olson and senior Wyatt Wilson hitting back-to-back RBI doubles.
Despite the Trojans scoring one run in the fourth inning, Carbon went on to score eight runs in the bottom of the inning, sealing Morgan’s fate. Robinett hit an RBI double, and with two runners on, Lowe hit a three-run home run to extend the lead. Carbon continued to tack on runs, as Morgan’s defense began to fall apart, committing error after error.
A shut-down fifth inning sent the Dinos home with a victory and safe into the next round of play.
Senior Chase Morgan pitched the complete game for the Dinos, allowing just two runs while striking out three in five innings.
At the plate, Lowe went 3-for-4 with two singles, a home run and three RBI in the game. Olson went 3-for-3 in the game, with two doubles and an RBI.
“I tried to take a little thinking out of Nate,” explained Cisneros. “I gave him two hit and runs so he knows he’s swinging the bat before he ever has to and sometimes that’s what guys need, take a little thinking out and I think it showed for him. He hit a couple balls hard.”
While the Dinos must take the tournament one game at a time, Cisneros explained that if Carbon can make it a few games further in the tournament, they may have an edge on teams they face.
“We have a lot of good pitching, we have a lot of guys that can throw,” said Cisneros. “I don’t know many bullpens that have as many arms as we do, but we’ve got to make it past that first and second game and get into others teams’ third and fourth pitchers and so if we can do that, we’ll be okay.”
The Dinos will play on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at Nelson Field in Spanish Fork against Stansbury High School, the number two seed from Region 10.
CHS Baseball moving on to next round of State Tournament
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