High school baseball: Manti, Canyon View advance to 3A semifinals
After a crazy weekend of weather, Manti and Canyon View finally played their 3A quarterfinal games Tuesday at SLCC and BYU, respectively.
They both entered the night with a chance to remain in their respective winners brackets, and each took advantage of the opportunity and will play again Wednesday.
No. 6-seed Manti exploded for 15 runs in the first inning en route to a dominant 20-7 victory over No. 7-seed Union.
Manti batted around its lineup in the first inning alone, and nearly twice over. The Templars accumulated seven hits in the inning, and were aided by several walks and errors from Union.
Six different Manti players — Bo Stevens, Reggie Frischknecht, Braxton Henningson, Chase Keisel, Britton Keisel and Tazj Hill — had multiple hits. Britton Keisel had two doubles, while Hill and Frischknecht each hit a triple.
Kayson Bailey, Cody Aagard and Kelan Lund each pitched for Manti, combining for four strikeouts. Bailey earned the win.
No. 4-seed Canyon View defeated No. 8-seed Emery for the third time this season.
After Emery took control with three runs in the top of the third, Canyon View needed a spark on offense and utilized an RBI double from Asher Slack to get going in its half of the inning.
“We knew they were going to get some runs, and there’s no panic,” Canyon View head coach Jason Jacobsen said. “We just do what we do and get some good at-bats.”
Canyon View may have taken a while to get going, but it got hot in the third inning and never looked back. It scored three runs in the third inning to even the score and added what ultimately became the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
“It was a huge momentum… I think it really settled our kids down and got them in a good frame of mind,” Jacobsen said.
Two of the runs for Canyon View, including the game-winner, were scored by outfielder Trenton Ludlow, who went 3 for 4 at the plate. Starting pitcher Jaxon Jensen, meanwhile, was spectacular for the Falcons, as he threw a complete game on 108 pitches with 11 strikeouts.
“He had good [velocity], finally got a feel of his breaking ball, and man, I’d like to feel that at some point,” Jacobsen said. “It was fun to watch.”
Jensen allowed three runs in the third inning but settled down after that and mowed down the Emery batters to carry the Falcons to victory.
“I was mad. Frustration was running through my mind, then all of a sudden we went back up and put up three runs, and then I knew I just had to go do my job,” Jensen said.
Canyon View will face off against No. 5-seed Morgan Wednesday night, their second matchup in three days, for a chance to advance to the 3A Finals.
Coach Jacobsen’s message to his team is the same as it was Tuesday: “Do what we do.”
