The Emery High baseball team finished the 2016 regular season with a 6-14 record with just once having won two games in a row, those coming the final week of the season when they defeated Monticello back-to-back. This season’s team has come alive as last week, Emery had to travel to Moab to play San Juan on the Grand High field just for the privilege of actually going to state or of just staying home. Emery traveled to Moab and won the game 6-5 to advance to the play-offs. Emery then traveled to South Sevier High as the fourth-placed team from the region and faced the region champion South Sevier Saturday morning.
Emery shocked the host Rams and won that opening game 5-4 and then went on to face the other winner, Kanab. Emery defeated Kanab in Richfield 9-6. Emery is now on a three-game winning streak and will face region champion North Sevier this week at Dixie State in St. George on Thursday May 12 at 1:30 pm. Emery is one of four unbeaten teams remaining in the 2-A state tournament.
Against San Juan Emery scored twice in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead. After scoring once in the third inning, San Juan took the lead in the fourth inning after scoring four runs to lead 5-2. Emery scored four times in the bottom of the fifth inning and won the game. San Juan went down in order in each of the final three innings.
In the first inning, Emery scored their two runs off of three singles by Bryce Dugmore, Tristan Deabenderfer and Race Nielson and a hit batsman, Jordan Baletka. In the fifth inning Kyler Stilson, Nielson, Tel Gardner and Wyatt Cox all scored after getting on base and the inning ended with the bases still loaded. Dugmore and Gardner combined to pitch the Spartans to the win.
Against South Sevier, Gardner pitched a complete game and allowed two runs in the third inning and one in each of the fourth and sixth innings. Emery scored once in the fourth inning and then four times in the fifth inning to grab the lead. The Rams left two runners on the bases in the sixth inning to miss an opportunity to retake the lead and then the Rams went down one-two-three in the bottom of the seventh and Emery had secured the victory.
In the fourth inning, Nielson got on base due to an error by the Rams left fielder and then scored on a base hit by Gardner. In the fifth inning, Cox, Koda Alton, Dugmore and Baletka all scored. Cox got on by way of an error, Alton and Baletka walked and Dugmore had a single. The big hit of the inning was a double by Easton Gordon off of the left field fence that drove in three runs.
Dugmore pitched the Kanab game and gave up seven hits but finished the seventh inning by getting three straight batters to ground out to end the game. Kanab scored three times in the fifth inning and twice in the sixth inning for their runs in the game.
Emery scored five times in the first inning off of three walks, three base hits and an error. Dugmore, Baletka, Gardner, Nielson and Deabenderfer all scored with the big blow being a double by Deabenderfer.
Emery added two more runs in the sixth inning as Stilson and Cox scored off of a double by Dugmore. Emery added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning as Nielson got hit by a pitch and Deabenderfer singled to left field and then Stilson doubled to right centerfield.
All season long Coach Steven Gordon has waited for somebody to deliver a key base hit with runners in scoring position and in these three very important games the Spartan players delivered time and again to secure the three wins.
Emery advances in state tourney
"Emery Spartans celebrate their victory over South Sevier in the opening round of the state tourney. They had to get past San Juan to earn the Saturday games."