Dinos show fight, but tourney run ends with two tough losses
By KEVIN SCANNELL
Sun Advocate sports reporter
Region 12 foes Spanish Fork, Delta send Carbon High home after long season
Despite advancing to the quarterfinals of the 3A State Tournament, the Carbon High Dinos Baseball were left to return home wondering to themselves, "What if?"
What if they were able to hold a 4-3 lead to win against Spanish Fork? What if the weather didn't create havoc by moving their game against Delta to Spanish Fork High School on short notice? What if a few more breaks went in favor of the Dinos?
All of those questions will likely linger in the minds of the players after suffering two tough losses, including an 8-4 loss to Spanish Fork on Thursday afternoon and a 7-2 loss to Delta on Friday.
After enduring two close losses in the regular season, the Carbon High Dinos baseball team was hoping the third meeting with Spanish Fork would be the charm with a win and a ticket to the 3A semifinals.
However Spanish Fork had other ideas. The Dons used a five-run fifth inning to retake the lead from the Dinos on their way to an 8-4 victory in the 3A quarterfinal matchup.
In their two previous games, Carbon hung tough with Spanish Fork before falling victim to late game heroics from a seasoned and veteran Dons roster.
Spanish Fork put pressure on the Dinos in the bottom of the first inning as Carbon High pitcher Dakota Cisneros allowed the first two batters to reach base. Kayden Porter, the leader in home runs across all levels, hit the first pitch he saw from Cisneros sending it high over the left field fence for a quick 3-0 lead.
Despite the shaky start and some nail biting moments that followed, Cisneros held the Dons scoreless over the next three innings.
The Carbon High offense finally broke through in the third inning against Spanish Fork starter Hayden Nielsen. Dylan Vogrinec and Kris Murdoch led off the inning with back-to-back singles and two batters later Julian Tamllos reached base on a single. Jaren McCourt followed with a blast over the right centerfield wall to give the Dinos a 4-3 lead.
However the lead wouldn't last. Porter led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double for Spanish Fork that started the five-run rally which was aided by a hit batter and a dropped fly ball by Seth Tryon that allowed more runs to cross the plate.
Nielsen finished off the complete game victory for the Dons.
Because of the inclement, the Carbon/Delta game was moved to Spanish Fork High School. Despite playing a close game, Delta broke through for two runs in the third and fifth innings for a 4-0 lead. The Dinos would get on the scoreboard with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning. But Delta put a dent in a possible comeback with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning which was too much for the Dinos to overcome resulting in a 7-2 loss.
Carbon ended the season with an overall record of 15-10.
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