**Photo courtesy of Laurie Molinar

The Carbon Dinos opened the 2023 baseball campaign with a four-game road trip in St. George Friday and Saturday.

Splitting each of the two double-headers the Dinos finished 2-2 on the weekend. The two day trek was the team’s first live action under first year manager Rob Smith.

“I felt like we played really well for the first time being outside,” said Smith. “We had opportunities to win all four games, we just didn’t come through when we needed to. We left too many runners in scoring position and that’s something we need to fix.”

Carbon opened the four game trip with an offensive explosion, topping Green Canyon 12-2 Friday afternoon.

The Dinos plated 10 runs in the first three innings, offering plenty of run support for starting pitcher Maizen Prichard. After allowing two runs in the first frame, the Dinos blanked Green Canyon the rest of the way to preserve the win in five innings.

Prichard ended with a solid stat line, allowing just two earned runs on one hit and three walks. Keeping Green Canyon off balance, Prichard fanned eight batters in four innings of work. Sophomore Stockton Kennedy logged the final three outs, striking out one in a perfect fifth inning.

Senior Ridge Nelson ended a perfect 4-4 in the box, ending a home run shy of the cycle, as he produced four RBIs off two singles, a double and triple. Fellow senior Quade Henrie went 3-3 with two RBIs, while Chet Anderson and Bradley both finished with two hits.

The second game of the double-header played out differently for the Dinos as they were unable to sustain a fast start in a 9-4 loss to the Juab Wasps.

Carbon scored three runs in the top half of the first inning but surrendered the lead in the bottom half as Juab posted four runs. The game remained a one score game until the Wasps pulled away with five runs between the third and fourth innings.

Henrie was hit with the loss on the mound as he surrendered three earned runs in three innings on the mound. Maddex Willson finished off the final two innings as he allowed one hit and four runs, none of which were earned.

The Dinos struggled to get the bats rolling in the first loss of the season. Held to just four hits, Prichard was the lone Carbon slugger to record multiple hits as he finished 2-3 with one RBI. Anderson, Nelson and Colton Lowe all finished one hit to round out the offensive production.

Carbon responded with a win Saturday afternoon, holding off a late Cyprus run to earn a 7-6 win.

The Dinos once again started hot at the plate taking a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Carbon extended the lead to 4-0 entering the fourth. Cyprus scored in each of the final three frames, including three runs in the sixth to get within striking distance but could not overcome the deficit.

Senior Wyatt Falk was sharp in his first outing of the season, pitching a scoreless four inning set with 10 strikeouts and just two hits. Kennedy and Peyton Molinar worked in relief for two innings giving up four earned runs and each earning one strike out.

Falk helped his own cause early as he sent a two-run home run over the center field wall to give the Dinos a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Falk later added a single as he ended 2-4 at the plate with two runs and two RBIs.

Cameron Vasquez and Prichard both gathered two singles a piece as Carbon gathered six hits as a team. The Dinos left seven runner on base as the bats were patient, registering six walks.

Unable to protect an early 6-1 lead, the weekend came to an end as Carbon suffered an 8-6 loss to the Desert Hills Thunder, giving the team a final record of 2-2 in St. George.

Leaving runners on base proved to be the difference in the weekend finale as the Dinos again left seven stranded. Despite the two run loss the team managed to out hit Desert Hills 9-7.

Ridge Nelson was charged with the loss as he pitched two innings in relief for starter Chet Anderson. Both pitchers gave up four earned runs and a total of seven hits in the loss.

“Pitching was great, I thought we struck out a ton of batters and didn’t let walks affect the outcome of the games,” said Smith. “I’m really excited about our pitching moving forward, because we have one of the deepest staffs in 3A.”

With the opening weekend now in the books the Dinos will shift focus to the potential home opener with the Manti Templars this Friday.