Wasatch Wasps buzz past the Carbon Dinos

By Sun Advocate

Sunday afternoon a tornado tore through Manti causing $2 million damage to the community. On Tuesday, the East Carbon Viking baseball team brought their own whirlwind into the small Sanpete County town as they tore up the Wasatch Academy Tigers 8-2 in the first game of a double header and 8-0 in the second game.
“We played well,” said coach Todd McFarland. “But Wasatch Academy was a better team than we expected them to be just the same.”
Last week the Tigers had lost by some big margins to another team in Region 18 and it was suspected they might be a pushover this year. But McFarland said they have some good weapons.
“They have one pitcher who can throw five kinds of balls, from a screw ball to a curve ball,” he stated. “He kept us on our toes. It was good for us to face someone like him.”
Wasatch Academy, which is in Mount Pleasant, does not have a baseball field and plays their home games on a field at Manti High School.
“It isn’t Manti’s home field it is a practice field,” said McFarland. “It’s like playing on gravel.”
In the first game the Vikes put Tony McFarland on the mound and he had 17 strike outs. He pitched the entire game while East Carbon’s batting was cleaning up the opposition. Kevin Cline went 3-4, Shane Wood 2-4, with a triple and Austin Preston went 3-5 and scored three runs.
East Carbon had eight runs on nine hits and no errors in the game. The Tigers had two runs on four hits and one error.
The second game was a five inning affair with Andy Farliano pitching. He scored nine strike outs and went the distance.
Kline once again had one of the big bats as he went 2-3 with a triple, McFarland went 3-3 and scored three runs and Samson Leonard went 2-3 with a double.
Also, new to the team as of last week was Tyson Davis who went 2-3 in his first game with the team and had two RBI’s.
“We had a lot of players step up and play well,” said the coach. “Samson Leonard played great defensive games behind the plate. We also had great defensive games out of Jesse Stewart and freshman Kyle Leonard as well.”
The team is now 3-1 in Region 18 play, with their only loss coming to Dugway a couple of weeks ago. Dugway has since won all their league games as well, but a chink in their armor showed last week when they lost to a not-so-strong Waterford team in a non-region contest.
That means someone from Region 18 could rise up and strike the Mustangs, making it so the Vikes might not have to face the seemingly annual coin flip for state tournament seeding.
Friday East Carbon faces Manila in a non-league contest, but an important game just the same because it is homecoming. Game times are at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.