The Emery Spartans will return to the baseball field for the start of a highly important two-game set with the South Sevier Rams Tuesday afternoon.
Emery will enter Tuesday’s contest 1-1 in Region 15 play after splitting the season series with Grand. Despite earning a 4-0 win at home on March 13, the team suffered a 4-0 loss to Grand on Friday, snapping a six game winning streak in the process.
“Grand was ranked number one in 3A and we beat them. Union was ranked number two in 3A and we beat them too,” said manager Rob Smith. “I don’t know if our kids were mentally prepared for Friday’s second game against Grand.”
The Spartans struggled heavily at the plate in Friday’s loss accumulating just two hits throughout the contest. Adding to the offensive woes, Emery left seven runners on board, ultimately leading to the defeat.
Despite Friday’s setback Emery has shown true promise under first year manager Rob Smith. After dropping a controversial contest in the season opener, the team won six consecutive games, including a 4-0 mark at a pre-season tournament in Mesquite, Nev.
“We’ve been playing great baseball,” Smith said. “Our pitching has been good. We’ve had a few errors here or there, but that’s really about it.”
South Sevier will enter Tuesday’s contest at the top of the Region 15 standings with a perfect 2-0 record. Both wins came down to the wire, earning a 6-5 win over North Sanpete and a 5-4 victory over Manti.
“I think it’s going to be a great series and come down to who can play the cleaner game,” said Smith. “They are a good fundamental team and that’s what we are striving to be.”
Tuesday’s home tilt is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.. The two teams will wrap up the season set Friday in Monroe.
**Photo courtesy of ETV 10 News**