ST. GEORGE – The bats were crackin’ (or pinging) Saturday around St. George, with Dixie and Desert Hills coming away as the big winners. Those two teams are 7-1 after Saturday sweeps. Snow Canyon and Hurricane split two games Saturday, while Pine View dropped a tough one at home.

Here’s a wrap-up of the games:

Dixie 15, Wasatch 3
Dixie 8, Woods Cross 7

The bats continued to be red-hot for the Flyers, who mercy-ruled the Wasps and then rallied late to beat the Wildcats.

In the first game, the Dixie offense was nearly unstoppable, pounding out 12 hits and 14 RBIs. Seven of the 12 hits went for extra bases.

But it was Tyson Fisher who was the clear star in this contest. The junior slugger is likely to get a lot of intentional walks this season, especially once region play begins. But he’s making the most of the pitches he’s seeing in the preseason. Against Wasatch, Fisher hit a pair of two-run homers, knocked two more in on a double to the gap and even had an RBI groundout.

Fisher’s final line: four plate appearances, three hits, three runs scored and seven RBIs, with 10 total bases for a 2.500 slugging percentage.

“We have a very deep lineup with a lot of guys up and down the lineup that can get on base and create opportunities for us,” Dixie coach Danny Ipson said. “Tyson is definitely swinging the bat well. A lot of our guys are.”

When asked if he’d ever had a day like that as a hitter at any level, Fisher just shrugged and said, “Nah, probably not. It was fun.”

Wasatch actually led the game 1-0 after scoring in the top of the first. But Fisher changed that with his first homer, a two-run shot over the left field fence that also brought home Hobbs Nyberg in the bottom of the inning.

It was 3-1 in the bottom of the second when Fisher ripped a two-run double to the gap in right-center, chasing home Nyberg and Dayton Dempsey. Wyatt Woodland followed with a two-run homer to left that made it 7-1.

Nyberg’s RBI single in the third made it 8-1 and, one out later, Fisher violently greeted a 3-0 pitch and sent it over the left field fence and toward Dixie Middle School. That made it 10-1 and the Flyers ended it early by pushing the lead to 15-3 in the fourth and retiring the Wasps easily in the top of the fifth.

In the later game, Dixie was on the ropes, down 7-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh. But never count out these cardiac kids for DHS. The Flyers rallied for four runs in the final half-inning to get the come-from-behind victory. It was strikingly similar to Friday’s 14-13 comeback win vs. Skyridge.

“I’m pretty pleased with the resilience of our boys to be able to come back and get it done in the end,” Ipson said. “We’d just like to improve upon our focus so we don’t have to do that at the end of the game. I’d like it if we’d take care of business and get it done in the first few innings.”

Dixie led 4-1 after scoring two runs each in the first two innings. Woodland and Fisher each had an RBI double. But then the well went dry for awhile. The Wildcats cut it to 4-2 in the third, then took control of the game with a five-run fifth. The Flyers committed two errors to help open the door for Woods Cross.

But then came the seventh. Dixie opened with three straight singles by Payden Harrah, Kayler Yates and Cooper Vest to load the bases. The Wildcat pitcher then plunked Chase Lundin to make it a 7-5 game.

After a strikeout for the first out of the inning, Nyberg stepped up and hit a hard grounder to short.

“I was thinking I needed to get up the line as fast as I could to avoid the double play,” Nyberg said.

After the force at second, the rushed relay throw that could have ended the game sailed high over the first baseman’s head. Yates scored on the fielder’s choice and Vest came home on the throwing error that tied the game at 7-7.

The next batter, Dempsey, stepped up and lined the first pitch, a curveball, over the third baseman’s head, easily scoring Nyberg with the winning run.

“Every time we’re down, we know we can come back,” Dempsey said. “I was just hoping Hobbs would beat out that double play so I could get to bat. I’d seen that pitcher a couple of times before and I knew that he usually starts out with a curveball. I went up there just sitting first-pitch curve and he threw it and I smashed it.”

It was Dempsey’s third hit of the game, with Woodland, Harrah, Vest and Nyberg all collecting two hits each. Nyberg continues to tear it up, going 5 for 9 in the two games. The junior lead-off hitter is 16 for 28 on the year, a batting average of .571 through eight games.

Dixie, 7-1, hits the road for the first time this season next weekend. The Flyers play at Provo Friday at 4 p.m., then play two on Saturday at Orem High. They’ll take on the host Tigers at 10 a.m. and then face Viewmont at 12:30 p.m. before heading back home to St. George.

Desert Hills 12, Murray 1
Desert Hills 10, Northridge 5

For the second straight week, the Thunder won their own tournament. But last week, it was more about pitching and defense. This week, it was all about those bats.

DH posted up 22 runs in two games and scored in all but two innings of the two Saturday contests.

Against the Spartans, Sam Rhoton was the man, socking a double, a home run and pushing home four RBIs. Chad Nelson also homered as the Thunder scored one in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third and seven in the fourth. D-Hills tacked on an insurance run in the top of the fifth, then held Murray in the bottom of the inning to secure the mercy-rule victory.

Drew Thorpe pitched the first four innings and allowed just two hits and one unearned run. Ian Miller worked the fifth and allowed just a single hit.

In that big fourth inning, Murray issued three walks to start the inning and then committed an error that scored a run and made it 5-0. Rhoton then doubled to left, bringing home three more runs.

Quinn Kiser had a two-run single later in the inning that made it 11-0 and the Thunder cruised from there.

In the later game, Desert Hills trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the third. Rhoton hit a one-out double to plate Seth Betts and tie the score. After a balk moved Rhoton to third, he scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3.

Later in the inning, Mason Creager ripped a liner to right field that scored two more runs and made it 6-3 after three innings.

The Knights got one run back in the top of the fourth to make it 6-4, but Desert Hills struck for three more in the bottom of that inning. Chad Nelson doubled home the first run to make it 7-4 and Thorpe followed with a two-run single to make it 9-4 and put the game out of reach.

Blake Milne pitched five innings and allowed two runs to get the win for DH. Dallen Turner pitched two innings of relief.

Rhoton finished with an impressive total for the day. He had four hits (a single, two doubles and a homer), six RBIs and five runs scored. Seven of DH’s 15 hits on the day went for extra bases.

The Thunder, 7-1, avenged their only loss in beating Northridge Saturday night. The Knights defeated Desert Hills 4-2 on Thursday. D-Hills next plays in the Landmark Insurance Invitational next Thursday through Saturday. Thursday’s first game will be against Spanish Fork at 7 p.m. at DHHS’s Thunder Field.

Ridgeline 6, Snow Canyon 3
Snow Canyon 5, West 2

The Warriors are 4-4 after splitting a pair of games Saturday at Warrior Field.

The first game was a heartbreaker as Snow Canyon had a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh. Austin Deming had a pair of RBIs in the first inning and Davis Rigby knocked home a run in the fifth to give the Warriors a two-run advantage through six.

But the RiverHawks rallied in the seventh. After a couple of singles and an error loaded the bases, Ridgeline got a sac fly to make it 3-2. A walk loaded the bases again, and RHS’s Dallan Larsen, fresh off a state championship run in basketball, singled home two runs to give the RiverHawks the 4-3 lead. Two batters later, Shawn Triplett singled home two more runs to make it 6-3 and the Warriors could not recover from the big inning.

“There’s no question we were disappointed with the way that game ended,” SC coach Reed Secrist said. “We made a lot of mistakes in that game. Hopefully we’ll learn from them and move forward. I know we really needed to play well in that second game to bounce back.”

And the Warriors did play well in the later game, never trailing against the Panthers.

Matt Kitchen was on the mound and gave up two runs in four innings of work. Makai Lee pitched the final two innings, allowing three hits and no runs, to get the save.

SC led 2-0 early after an RBI by Braden Baker and a wild pitch that scored Cannon Secrist. West tied it in the top of the third on a pair of two out singles off of Kitchen. Both runs were unearned following a Snow Canyon error.

But the Warriors responded immediately, pushing two across in the bottom of the third. Deming provided the go-ahead RBI with a double that scored Rigby. Baker followed with an RBI single to make it 4-2. Rigby provided an insurance run in the fifth with a steal of home on a well-executed double steal.

“Deming is really swinging it well and so is Davis Rigby,” Coach Secrist said. “Hopefully they can continue and we can get some of the guys around them to get going. We’re learning a lot and getting focused up so we’ll be ready for region play.”

Deming had three hits, two walks and three RBIs on the day. Rigby scored three runs and knocked home three on the day.

The Warriors host the Texas Roadhouse Classic next weekend. SC plays Las Vegas High Friday at 7 p.m., immediately followed by a late game against Salem Hills. The Warriors face Herriman Saturday at 1 p.m.

Hurricane 18, Springville 11
Wasatch 7, Hurricane 3

The Tigers moved to 3-5 on the year with a split on Saturday.

In the first game, the Tigers were an offensive juggernaut. Tobie Swenson led the charge with five hits and five RBIs. He doubled and tripled and scored three times himself.

But Swenson wasn’t the only hitting star as Hurricane had 21 hits, drew six walks and had 13 RBIs. Alec Flemetakis was 4 for 5 with three RBIs and Mike Lacy had three hits and scored three runs. Every Hurricane starter had at least one hit and Noah Humphrey, Nick Horsley and Logan Campbell had two each. Horsley also homered.

It was a tight 12-10 game after five innings. But the Tigers scored three runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh to put the game away. Even with the 18 runs, the Tigers actually left 11 men on base. Kolby Heaton drew three walks in the game.

The excitement of the early win over the Red Devils dissipated with an evening loss to Wasatch.

Hurricane returns to action Tuesday with a home game against Kanab. Start time is 4 p.m. The Tigers visit Canyon View on Wednesday and then go to Kanab on Friday.

Timpanogas 11, Pine View 0

It was a rough weekend for the Panthers. The defending 3A champs went 0-4 in the Red Rock Classic, ending with a mercy-rule loss to the defending 4A champ Timpanogas.

Amazingly, the Panthers outhit the Timberwolves, who went 3-1 on the weekend. Pine View had eight hits to just six for Timp, but the Panthers committed three huge errors that led to six unearned runs.

The first two runs were earned as the Wolves scored on a sac fly in the first and an RBI single in the third.

But it was still a tight game until the fifth inning. That’s when the wheels came off for Pine View.

A walk and back-to-back errors made it 4-0 to start the inning. A couple of batters later, Conner Halford homered and just like that it was 7-0.

After a third error in the inning, Timpanogas put the game away with four more runs, including another RBI by Halford on a single.

Dakota Elder and Kory Taigan got hits in the bottom of the fifth, but the Panthers couldn’t extend the game and it ended via the 10-run rule.

Pine View, 4-4, returns to action Thursday with a 6 p.m. game at home against Enterprise. The Panthers then host the Kickoff Classic Friday and Saturday with games scheduled against Grantsville (3:30 p.m.) and South Summit (8:30 p.m.) Friday. Times and opponents Saturday will be determined by Friday’s results.

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