The 1A State Baseball tournament is something that all fans, players and family love to witness, and it’s back in 2023. The week in October is full of anticipation as it is the time to see who will rise to the top and claim the overall title.
Every team gives it their all and uses the talent and skill that has been growing all year long. Below is a quick summary of the bracket, who played who and how the games turned out. Find out which team moved on and is one step closer to become the 2023 1A State Baseball Champions. This is the home stretch of the baseball season.
First Round
On Saturday, September 30, the first round of the tournament began. The games were held in Spanish Fork. Panguitch, Bryce Valley, Tintic, Altamont, American Heritage, Intermountain Christian, Piute, and Wayne high schools were all the teams who won in the first round and moved ahead.
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, October 3, were the Quarterfinals. Originally the games were to be held at the Nelson Field in Spanish Fork, but they were moved to Snow Canyon High School in St. George because of rain.
Like every year, the Quarterfinals were filled with energy from all the players and fans. With good competition, the games started with a bang. First up, the Intermountain Christian Lions took on the American Heritage Patriots. In the end, American Heritage won the game with a score of 13-3.
Next was the Wayne Badgers and Piute Thunderbirds. Wayne came headstrong at the T-Birds, doing everything possible to dethrone last year’s state champions. The game was close and was up for grabs, but in the end Wayne beat Piute with an end score of 5-3.
Following the Wayne and Piute game was Altamont and Tintic. In the end the Altamont Longhorns won with a score of 9-3. The final game in the Quarterfinals was the Bryce Valley Mustangs against the Panguitch Bobcats. Both of these teams made it to the Semifinals last year. The game was quick paced, but ultimately the Panguitch Bobcats won with a score of 9-2.
Semifinals
Friday, October 6, was the start of the second half of the state tournament. Panguitch, Altamont, Wayne and American Heritage high schools were all in it to take home gold. Two of these four high school baseball teams would be one game closer in claiming the 2023 1A Utah High School State Baseball Champions trophy.
All four teams came with determination and passion. The first game in the Semifinals was Panguitch High School against Altamont High School. Both teams are very competitive and hard-driven. The teams were tied in the 2nd inning, but by the end of the 3rd inning, Altamont had a leading score of 7-4. The Bobcats fought to catch up, but the Longhorns took the lead and ran. Finishing the game, Altamont won, scoring 14-6 and moved into one of the spots to play for the state title.
The second game in the Semifinals was Wayne High School against American Heritage High School. The Wayne Badgers came hungry to the game and started off with a bang. They collected six runs by the end of the 3rd inning, and played some good defense by keeping the Patriots with no runs. However, the Patriots managed to get five runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. In the 7th inning, no further runs were made, the score being 9-5. With two outs and a one-ball and two-strike count, Jake Battys threw a pitch inside close to American Heritage’s batter Jaden Adams. Adams turned to take the hit, keeping his hands close to his body, but rotated. Wayne’s catcher, Jake Peterson, caught the ball, getting the third and final strike but still tagged Adams, ending the game overall.
Who Are the 2023 1A State Baseball Champions?
On Saturday, October 7, Wayne and Altamont met in the championship game and fought to claim the 2023 1A Utah State Baseball Champion title and trophy.
Find out the results and key plays here.
– by Ari Hurdsman
Feature image caption: Piute High’s pitcher, Kel Blood, throws a fastball. Courtesy of Mandy Morrill.
Ari Hurdsman – Junction
Ari Hurdsman is a junior journalist at the Byway. She just recently moved to Ephraim, Utah, where she is a freshman at Snow College. She enjoys writing about Piute sports, and she’s really good at it! In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, reading and hanging out with friends and family.