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American Legion baseball: Southern Utah teams go 9-11 overall at St. George Classic tourney

Utah Channel 3

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ST. GEORGE — Southern Utah teams went a collective 9-11 overall during Amercan Legion baseball’s seventh annual St. George Summer Classic tournament.

Desert Hills vs. Washington Sentinels, American Legion Summer Classic baseball tournament, St. George, Utah, June 21, 2019 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

The invitational event wrapped up late Saturday night with Timpanogos defeating Lone Peak 9-8 at Dixie State University’s Bruce Hurst Field to claim the tournament title.

The tournament, staged and sponsored by local American Legion posts, featured one dozen teams playing 25 games at four area sites over four days. American Legion baseball rosters are typically made up of high school players, but may also include recent high school graduates, as long as they are under 19 years old.

The Washington Sentinels, primarily comprising players from Hurricane and Pine View High schools, kicked things off with a 9-2 win over Colorado on Wednesday night.

Things got into full swing Thursday morning as pool play continued. Thursday’s and Friday’s games were staged in round-robin format, with each team’s overall record in pool play determining their seedings for Saturday’s finals and consolation matchups. Ties were broken by a runs scored vs. runs allowed formula.

The Sentinels and the Cedar City Reds both went 2-1 in pool play, winning their respective pools and advancing to the semifinals on Saturday.

Cedar vs. South Corner, American Legion Summer Classic baseball tournament, St. George, Utah, June 21, 2019 | Photo by Dave Larson, St. George News / Cedar City News

Also going 2-1 in pool play were the Dixie Pilots, but they ended up taking second in their group to Lone Peak, which went 3-0 over their first two days.

The other two Southern Utah teams in the tournament were Desert Hills and South Corner, which is the name the Snow Canyon team goes by in American Legion play. Both Desert Hills and South Corner went 1-2 in pool play and played in consolation games on Saturday.

Desert Hills picked up its lone pool win when the Thunder edged past Washington 8-7 Friday night, with the winning run scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the final inning.

Four of the five Southern Utah teams ended up with 2-2 records during the tournament, with South Corner being the only exception, as they lost their consolation game on Saturday and finished with a 1-3 record. See listing of results and scores below.

Timpanogos didn’t win its pool but ended up with the fourth and final semifinal slot by finishing 2-1 in the same pool as Washington. The Timberwolves’ only loss was a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Washington on Thursday night at Pine View High.

In their semifinal game against Lone Peak Saturday night at Pine View, the Sentinels jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after one inning, but soon after found themselves trailing 8-3. The Lone Peak Misfits, as they are called, kept the offense going and eventually won 17-7.

“They got rolling and we just couldn’t get them out,” Sentinels head coach Shane Johanson said of Lone Peak.

Meanwhile, in the other semifinal at Dixie High School, Timpanogos shut out Cedar 14-0 in a contest that ended after five innings.

In the ensuing championship game that followed at Dixie State, Lone Peak and Timpanogos battled until the end, with the game lasting until just after 11:30 p.m. Trailing 9-8 with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the last inning, Lone Peak grounded into a force out at home, followed by a fly out to left field, allowing Timpanogos to escape with the win.

The American Legion season continues until mid-July, with the playoffs to follow. Each of the 21 teams in the Utah Southern Division is scheduled to play a total of 15 league games. The state tournament is scheduled for July 26-Aug. 1 at Salt Lake Community College.

American Legion baseball St. George Summer Classic results, June 19-22, 2019

Wednesday’s game
Washington Sentinels 9, Colorado 2

Thursday’s games
Rocky Mountain 8, Springville 7
Rocky Mountain 12, South Corner 10
Cedar 13, Springville 7
Lone Peak 9, East Idaho 3
Dixie 4, Alta 1
Colorado 6, Desert Hills 2
Washington Sentinels 7, Timpanogos 0

Friday’s games
Springville 6, South Corner 5
Lone Peak 10, Alta 4
South Corner 19, Cedar 7
Timpanogos 4, Desert Hills 3
Lone Peak 13, Dixie 6
Alta 5, East Idaho 4
Timpanogos 8, Colorado 4
Cedar 15, Rocky Mountain 7
Dixie 4, East Idaho 1
Desert Hills 8, Washington Sentinels 7

Saturday’s consolation games
Colorado def. South Corner
Rocky Mountain 11, Dixie 9
Desert Hills def. Alta
East Idaho 7, Springville 5

Saturday’s semifinal games
Lone Peak 17, Washington Sentinels 7
Timpanogos 14, Cedar 0

Saturday’s final
Timpanogos 9, Lone Peak 8

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Email: jrichards@stgnews.com

Twitter: @STGnews

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