The Emery Spartan baseball team ended the season on May 13 at the hands of the Carbon Dinos at Salt Lake Community College. The Spartans ended the season 14-9 and finished in the No. 9 spot in the RPI.
Below is a recap of the 2021 season:
March 10- Providence Hall- Win 4-1
Oakley Alton delivered a six-inning gem from the mound to lead the Emery Spartans past the Providence Hall Patriots 4-1 Wednesday afternoon in the season opener in Castle Dale.
It took Alton just 66 pitches to get through the six frames. Allowing only three hits, Alton showed great command as he fanned three batters and walked just two.
“Oakley threw really well and I thought he was very efficient,” said manager Rob Smith. “Our goal this year is less than six errors and six walks combined and we did that. We played good defensive baseball behind him and got the win.”
Trailing 1-0 at the end of the first inning the Emery offense came alive in the third as they plated three runs. The Spartans added one more the next inning to put the Patriots away.
Luke Stilson recorded a multi-hit game as he finished 2-4 at the plate with two singles and one run. Jax Madsen registered the lone RBI for Emery as he ended 1-4.
March 12- American Leadership- Win 14-5
The Spartans would use a six run fifth inning to put away the American Leadership Eagles late in the game taking the 14-5 win on the road.
Jace Mangum would collect three RBIs on four hits and Oakley Alton had two RBIs on three hits in the win for the Spartans.
On the mound Luke Stilson and Trevin Wakefield would rely on the defense behind them. Stilson would get the start and the win going three innings and giving up three earned on nine hits. Wakefield came in to close out the game going four a while surrendering two earned on five hits.
March 15- North Sanpete- Loss 10-9
The contest against the Hawks started out quietly with North Sanpete holding a 4-2 advantage going in to the top of the fourth inning when Jax Madsen singled to right field scoring Kove Johansen. Later in the inning with the score tied at 4, Jace Mangum singled to center on a line drive scoring Madsen and Luke Stilson and Emery would carry a 7-4 lead in to the fifth. They would go on to add two more runs while holding North Sanpete scoreless for three innings headed to the bottom of the seventh.
The bottom of the seventh inning is when the wheels fell off for Emery. The Spartans would use three pitchers walking seven batters and allowing one hit in a crazy finish to give the Hawks the win.
Jace Mangum went 1-of-2 with two RBI’s in the contest. Luke Stilson went 2-of-3 with an RBI and a run scored and four other Spartan batters had at least one RBI in the game and as a team Emery collected 10 hits.
Tyler Stilson got the start for Emery going 2 1/3 innings giving up four earned runs on three hits while striking out two. Ryker Jensen would come in going 3 2/3, giving up three earned runs on two hits while striking out two. Johansen came to the mound next giving up two earned runs on one hit while walking one and Oakley Alton would give up one earned run while walking three.
March 19- Milford- Win 8-3
The Spartans started the weekend on the right foot with an 8-3 win over the Milford Tigers. Emery scored it’s eight runs on 11 hits holding Milford to just three hits the entire contest.
The Spartans registered two runs in the first inning when Jace Mangum grounded into a fielder’s choice allowing Jax Madsen to score. Mangum would then score on a passed ball to put the score at 2-0.
In the second Luke Stilson would double to right scoring Wade Stilson, Madsen and Luke Stilson would both score on wild pitches to push the score to 6-0. The Spartans would score single runs in the third and fourth innings and then go silent for the remainder of the contest.
Milford would add three runs in the bottom of the seventh but that was as close as they would get and Emery would claim the win.
Luke Stilson collected two RBIs on three hits while scoring one. Two other Spartans had one RBI each.
On the mound it was Trevin Wakefield getting the complete game win giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits and striking out eight.
March 19- Manti- Win 7-0
The game with Manti was scoreless through three innings with the Spartans finding their offense in the bottom of the fourth and carrying it through till the end with a 7-0 win.
Gannon Ward would get it rolling when he hit into a fielder’s choice scoring Ryker Jensen and Jace Mangum. In the next at bat Oakley Alton would single to center field scoring Wade Stilson and Ward pushing the score to 5-0 at the end of four.
Then in the bottom of the fifth inning the Spartans were at it again scoring a run on a fielder’s choice by Tyler Stilson and a sacrifice fly by Ward.
Gannon Ward led the Spartans with three RBIs on one hit while scoring one run. Alton and Tyler Stilson also collected two RBIs each.
Luke Stilson gets the complete game shutout allowing five hits and striking out five.
March 20- Duchsene- Win 15-4
In the first game on Saturday the Spartans took on the Duchesne Eagles. Scoring early and often Emery would claim the victory 15-4 in six innings.
The Spartans wasted little time putting up runs, scoring five in the first inning. Gannon Ward would drive in two on a single to center then Ward and Oakley Alton scored on a Wade Stilson single to center.
Adding one run in the second they would ramp up their offense again in the fourth pushing the score to 10-3 on a Luke Stilson double to left scoring Wade Stilson. Then adding another run in the fifth and running the score to 15-3 in the top of the sixth. They held the Eagles to just one run in the bottom of the sixth and took the win 15-4.
Gannon Ward and Ryker Jensen each collected four RBIs on three hits and each scored two runs. Alton and Wade Stilson both added two RBIs as well.
On the mound Alton got the start allowing three earned runs striking out two and giving up four hits. Jensen came into go three, giving up one run and striking out two.
March 23- Grand- Win 19-5
Starting out with a Jace Mangum single to third that scored Luke Stilson the Spartans were methodical hitting single after single to get runners in scoring position. With the score 4-0, Oakley Alton would score on an error by the third baseman, and Riggs Griffin would advance to third. In the same at bat, Trevin Wakefield would single to right scoring Griffin. After walking Jax Madsen, Luke Stilson would double to left field bringing home Easton Nielson and Madsen. Ryker Jensen would come to the plate and hit a single to third scoring Stilson.
The Spartans would score four more runs in the next three innings, they would find more offense in the fifth with singles off of the bats of Tyler Stilson and Griffin and Madsen and triples from Alton and Wakefield which pushed the score to 19-5 and ended the contest after five innings.
Luke Stilson collected three RBIs with two hits and scored two run in the win. Jax Madsen had two RBIs on two hits while scoring three and five other Spartans had two RBIs and registered at least two hits helping the Spartans to their first conference win of the season.
On the mound Trevin Wakefield got the start and the win for Emery, giving up five runs (four earned) and striking out three while allowing five hits.
March 24- Juab- Loss 12-0
The Spartans made the trip over the mountain to Nephi on Wednesday to take on the Juab Wasps. Both teams were coming off impressive wins, Emery beat region foe Grand on Tuesday afternoon 19-5 and Juab put a beat down on North Sanpete 18-0. The game would only take five innings and Juab using one pitcher, would no-hit the Spartans and take the 12-0 victory.
Juab has been a scoring machine lately scoring 59 runs in their last three games including a four hour marathon against Provo on Saturday in St. George.
The Spartans have been on a bit of a streak themselves winning four of their last five headed into Wednesday’s contest.
The Spartans were unable to generate any offense due to the pitching of Juab’s Dalin Ludlow who allowed no runs, no hits and struck out seven. On the other side The Spartans went through two pitchers with Luke Stilson getting the start and taking the loss going three innings and giving up nine runs (eight earned), Casen Miller would enter the game going one inning and giving up three runs.
March 25- Grand- Win 14-4
The Spartans put up five runs in the third on their way to the season sweep of Grand on Thursday in Castle Dale.
Casen Miller and Jax Madsen both collected three RBIs a piece on two hits. Luke Stilson added two RBIs in the Emery victory.
Oakley Alton Pitched another gem for the Spartans getting the complete game win giving up four runs two earned on six hits.
March 30- San Juan- Win 5-1
The Spartans are enjoying an 8-2 overall record and are currently winners of six of their last seven contests. Emery will now head into the bulk of their region schedule for the remainder of the season, although they do have non-region contests remaining as well.
The Spartans started the game scoring one run in the first and two in the second and added another two in the fourth, while holding the Broncos to one in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Trevin Wakefield earned the complete game for Emery giving up six hits and no earned runs. Wakefield would also strike out nine.
Offensively for the Spartans Jace Mangum would collect two hits and two RBIs in the win.
April 2- San Juan- Win 14-4
Earning wins in six of their last seven games the Spartan baseball team took the field for the final game before the break to face the San Juan Broncos on Friday in the second game of an away then home double header. Emery scored eight runs in the first inning and would scatter six more runs through the next four to take a 14-4 win over the Broncos in five innings.
Emery gave up one run in the top of the first to San Juan, and then the Spartans would go to work.
Jace Mangum would start the scoring for the Spartans with a single to left field scoring Jax Madsen and Luke Stilson. Ryker Jensen would score in the next at bat off of a Gannon Ward double to center. Oakley Alton would triple to right bringing home Mangum, Ward and Tyler Stilson with a swing of the bat. Trevin Wakefield would single later in the inning and Alton would come home. Wakefield would score a run stealing home making the score 8-1 at the end of the first inning.
In the second inning Ward would score on an Alton sacrifice fly to left field. Madsen, Jensen and Mangum would all score in the third inning pushing the score to 12-3. Emery would add another run in the fourth off the bat of Madsen and then one in the fifth from Tyler Stilson scoring Mangum.
Leading the way offensively for the Spartans was Oakley Alton who collected four RBIs on one hit and scored two runs. Gannon Ward registered three RBIs on two hits and scored two. Jace Mangum had two hits and two RBIs and scored three.
Defensively for Emery, Luke Stilson gets the start and the win on the mound going five innings giving up four runs (three earned) and striking out five.
April 13- South Sevier- Loss 14-5
The Spartans sit at 9-3 overall and in the No. 7 spot in the RPI. The Spartans have season sweeps of Grand and San Juan so far this season and have just a handful of games left until the first round of the playoffs which are fast approaching in May.
The Rams would jump out to an early first inning lead and the Spartans wouldn’t get on the board until the top of the second adding one. The Rams would do the majority of their damage in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring six runs and pushing the score to 9-2. The only multiple run inning the Spartans would have was the fourth as they were able to cut South Sevier’s lead to four runs, however the Rams added a total of five more runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings taking the 14-5 win.
Tyler Stilson collected three RBIs on two hits, Oakley Alton and Luke Stilson would each register one RBI.
On the mound, Emery would use four pitchers with Trevin Wakefield getting the start and the loss going 2 1/3 innings giving up eight earned runs on five hits. Luke Stilson went 2 2/3 surrendering six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and Jax Madsen finished the game for the Spartans giving up no runs or hits.
April 15- Loss- Union 11-3
Entering the non-region tilt ranked No. 7 in the UHSAA RPI, the Spartans scored two in the top of the first, but surrendered five in the bottom half to the No. 4 ranked Cougars. Union expanded their advantage by scoring four more in the third to take control for good.
“We struggled to perform in the field and that ultimately cost us early in the game,” said manager Rob Smith. “We’ve got to learn how to stop the bleeding before it gets out of hand. That has happened a few times to us this year.”
Cold weather mixed with rain and wind added an extra variable to Thursday’s game. Offensively the Cougars still managed to compile eight hits, while the Spartans were held to just three.
Ryker Jensen accounted for two of Emery’s three hits as he finished 2-3 in the box. Jax Madsen finished 1-2 and also drew a walk.
Trevin Wakefield was tagged with the loss on the hill as he allowed five hits and seven runs in 2.2 innings of work. Luke Stilson struck out three, while giving up three hits and two earned runs in just over one inning in a relief appearance.
Union senior Jeff Lyon pitched a complete game as he fanned six batters and allowed three earned runs in five innings. The win moves Union to No. 3 in the RPI as the team is now 11-4 overall.
April 16- South Sevier- Win 5-4
The Emery Spartans capped off a dramatic comeback with a Jax Madsen walk-off single to earn a 5-4 win over the South Sevier Rams Friday afternoon in Castle Dale.
Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Spartans scored five runs in the final three frames to avoid a season-series sweep and improve to 5-1 in division play.
Emery tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, then kept the Rams scoreless in the top half of the seventh. With two outs and Wade Stilson on third, Madsen hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop, giving the Spartans a hard fought victory.
Despite the consistent offensive output, the Spartans struggled to plate runs until Madsen erased the zero in the fifth.
Jace Mangum ended 3-4 in the box to go along with two RBIs. Stilson finished 3-3 with one walk and one run.
Oakley Alton delivered a solid performance on the mound as he pitched six innings in a no decision. During his time on the mound, Alton struck out four batters and allowed three earned runs. Ryker Jensen pitched a perfect top half of the seventh as he struck out one batter.
April 20- Carbon- Loss 12-2
The Carbon Dinos took advantage of multiple Emery errors as they dominated the late innings to earn a 12-2 win a Region 12 showdown Tuesday afternoon in Castle Dale.
Locked in a scoreless tie heading into the fourth inning, the Dinos pulled ahead for good with three runs. After a slow start early, the Carbon bats awoke over the final three frames as they added nine more runs to grab the comfortable win.
Luke Stilson was charged with the loss on the mound for the Spartans as he pitched a solid six innings, allowing 11 hits and striking out four.
Stilson showed control early keeping Carbon off balance. The Spartans defensively committed five errors, each proving to be costly.
Tyler Stilson logged the lone RBI for the Spartans as he singled to center field in the sixth inning to bring in Jace Mangum. Jax Madsen, Gannon Ward Luke Stilson and Oakley Alton also finished with one hit each.
April 23- Carbon- Win 7-4
Coming off of Tuesday’s meeting, the Carbon and Emery baseball squads met up again on Friday in Price. Carbon claimed the earlier contest 12-2 in Castle Dale and led for much of Friday’s game, but a big seventh inning from the Emery bats would push the Spartans toward the 7-4 win.
Carbon grabbed the early 4-0 lead, but Emery added two runs in the fourth and found their offense in the top of the seventh scoring two runs on Carbon errors. Gannon Ward would drive in two of his four RBIs in the game on a single to center field. Ward would score on a wild pitch two batters later and pushed the score to 7-4 and secured the Emery victory.
Ward connected on 2-4 at bats and scored one run. Jax Madsen went 2-3 at the plate for the Spartans. Ryker Jensen collected two and Luke Stilson added one hit.
On the mound the Emery duo of Oakley Alton and Trevin Wakefield held the Dinos to six hits with Alton getting the start going five innings, giving up four runs and struck out three. Wakefield collected the win with two innings of work striking out two.
April 28- Richfield- Loss 10-6
Luke Stilson, who started the game for the Spartans on the mound surrendered a three-run homer and Richfield jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Spartans came back to tie the game in the top of the fourth but Richfield added three more runs in the bottom part of the inning taking the lead right back. Emery tried to get their offense going again in the sixth when Wade Stilson would smack a double that allowed Tyler Stilson and Gannon Ward to score, cutting the Richfield lead to one, but that was as close as the Spartans would get, giving up three runs in the bottom half of the inning and going scoreless in the seventh.
Trevin Wakefield and Oakley Alton went 2-of-3 for the Spartans from the plate with Wakefield collecting two and Alton collecting one RBI. Jax Madsen, Luke Stilson, Tyler Stilson and Ryker Jensen would all register one hit in the loss.
Luke Stilson would take the loss for the Spartans going three innings giving up six earned runs on five hits and struck out three. Wakefield came in going three innings giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits.
April 29- Bear Lake (ID)- Win 7-2
Emery had an exciting change of scenery as they traveled to Smith’s Ballpark, the home of the Salt Lake Bees to take on the Bear Lake Bears from Montpelier Idaho on Thursday. The Spartans collected nine hits and committed no errors in the 7-2 win.
Emery was methodical in the victory scoring in every inning but one. In the second, Oakley Alton would score on a balk by the pitcher and a Casen Miller fly out allowed Riggs Griffin to score. In the third, a Jace Mangum single and an Alton sacrifice would add two runs to the board. Emery added two more runs in the fifth and sixth inning including an inside the park home run off the bat of Luke Stilson.
The Spartans had a well-balanced offensive attack with six players putting at least one hit in the stat line. Stilson went 3-of-4 with three runs and one RBI. Alton was 2-of-3 adding one a run and an RBI. Griffin, Mangum , Jax Madsen and Kove Johansen all registered hits for the Spartans.
Defensively Emery put two pitchers on the mound, both relied on the crew behind them allowing just one of Bear Lake’s four hits to go for extra bases. Johansen got the start and the win for Emery going five innings giving up one earned run and one hit while striking out two. Gannon Ward came into close out the game going two, giving up one earned and striking out two allowing three hits.
April 30- Richfield- Loss 12-10
The Spartan baseball team welcomed the Richfield Wildcats to Castle Dale to close out the regular season on Friday. The contest would go back and forth going into extra innings with Emery having their chance in the bottom of the ninth, but the Wildcats put the clamps on defensively to claim the 12-10 win.
Richfield jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the second inning before Emery would put runs on the board on a Wade Stilson single to center, scoring Tyler Stilson. An Oakley Alton single later in the inning brought Wade Stilson in cutting the Wildcat lead to 5-2.
It was the fourth and fifth innings when Emery would come to life outscoring Richfield 6-1 and capturing the lead 10-6. The Wildcats came roaring back with four runs in the seventh, tying it up and forcing extra innings where they would add two runs in the top of the ninth and then held the Spartans scoreless in the bottom of the inning to claim the win.
Ryker Jensen went 3-of-4 for Emery adding two runs. Jace Mangum went 2-of -4 with three RBIs, six other Spartans collected at least one hit for a total of 13 in the loss.
The game with Richfield brings to a close the regular season for Emery, who ended with a 12-7 overall record and a 6-4 Region 12 record.
May 8- Morgan – Win 12-1
It took just five innings for the Spartans to top the higher seeded Trojans as they earned a dominating 12-1 victory. That set the stage for the battle with the tournament’s top seeded Wasps that ultimately ended in favor of Juab 5-3.
Luke Stilson set the tone for the Spartans in the first game of the morning, allowing just one hit and striking out seven in a complete game victory. Stilson was in command early as it took just 82 pitches to record the win on the bump.
While Stilson was dynamic on the mound, the Emery offense provided plenty of run support as they accumulated eight runs in the first three innings. Ryker Jensen led the explosion at the plate as he finished 1-3 with a double and four RBIs. Riggs Griffin was also brilliant in the box as he ended 3-3 with one RBI, while scoring three runs.
May 8- Juab- Loss 5-3
The dominating effort in the first game of the morning set the stage for a match-up with the host school Juab in the afternoon. Swapping momentum through the first four innings, the Spartans held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom half of the fifth, where Juab took control and eventually earned the two-run win.
Trevon Wakefield was tagged with the loss despite a solid performance on the mound. Throwing five innings, Wakefield allowed eight hits and five earned runs. Oakley Alton worked the final three outs in relief, giving up just one hit.
Starting the game with two straight singles, the Spartans scored the first run of the game as Stilson touched home on a wild pitch. Juab quickly matched the Emery run in the bottom of the first with a one out single to right field.
Emery broke the 1-1 tie in the third inning as Stilson again came through at the plate, this time scoring Griffin on a ground out to the shortstop. The one run lead would hold until the bottom of the fourth when the Wasps scored on a one-out single to left field.
The Spartans would once again capture the lead as they managed a two-out rally in the top of the fifth. Griffin started the push with a single to center field. Jax Madsen earned a walk on the next at bat, followed by a Stilson single on a ground ball past the shortstop to score Griffin.
Juab took the lead for good in their half of the inning, scoring two of their three runs with two outs. Emery would manage three more base runners in the final two innings, but came up short of bringing them home each time.
May 13- North Sanpete- Win 12-11
Emery went into the game with North Sanpete knowing that they had already beat them once this season in early March with the final of 10-9. The Spartans wasted no time putting up two runs in the first inning when Wade Stilson sent a double to center scoring Jax Madsen and Jace Mangum. From that point forward the two teams would go back and forth.
Emery added two runs in the fourth off a Riggs Griffin single, then in the fifth, three more off a double by Gannon Ward and another single from Tyler Stilson made the score 8-3.
With the score 10-3 in the seventh with two out the Hawks would rally for six runs in the inning and claiming an 11-10 lead.
Coming up in the bottom half of the inning the Spartans had a small rally of their own starting with an error on the pitcher that scored Tyler Stilson and next up, Ryker Jensen sent a single to right that brought home Oakley Alton ending the game at 12-11.
The Spartans collected 17 hits as Tyler Stilson going 4-for-4 scoring two runs and driving in one other. Madsen, Jensen, Alton, Griffin and Wade Stilson all added two hits each in the win.
On the mound for the Spartans Luke Stilson got the start going five and 1/3 innings giving up three runs on seven hits and struck out six. Jensen came in to go 1 and 1/3 and allowed five runs. Madsen gave up three earned and Alton came into get the win and finished the game.
May 13- Carbon- Loss 10-0
The Spartans and the Dinos had squared off twice already this season with each team winning on the others field.
The Spartans couldn’t find a way to get to Carbon pitcher Wyatt Falk, who was almost unhittable.
The trio of Mangum, Ward and Wade Stilson collected the only hits in the loss for the Spartans.
Trevin Wakefield got the start and the loss for Emery going 3 and 1/3 innings giving up eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits striking out one. Alton came in to close out the game and allowed two earned runs on three hits striking out two.
In a recent interview on Drive Time Sports Emery coach Rob Smith was asked how he feels headed into next year. “I feel we’re going to be competitive again, we do lose some offense, but hopefully there will be some kids that step up and can replace those kids.”
Below is the interview with Emery coach Rob Smith: