The Carbon Dinos wrapped up a busy weekend with a 1-3 record. The team traveled to Pine View High School to play four games in two days in St. George.
Playing two doubleheaders in as many days, the Dinos started the weekend 0-2 with losses to Murray and Pine View on Friday. The team lost their third consecutive game to Stansbury on Saturday but finished the weekend with a win against Grantsville, bringing their overall record to 2-6.
“We grew a lot as a team this weekend,” said manager Rob Smith. “We are starting to figure out our identity as a team going into region play.”
A pitcher’s duel after the second inning produced four consecutive scoreless innings as the Dinos suffered a slim 6-4 loss to the 5A Murray Spartans to open the weekend.
Murray opened the game with four runs in the top half of the opening inning, but the Dinos responded by chopping the deficit to one entering the second frame. Murray’s bats remained hot as they added two more runs to capture a 6-3 lead. Carbon added one more in the bottom half of the second but could not get any closer.
Maddex Willson was tagged with the loss on the mound as he pitched one inning in the loss. Logan Madrigal pitched the second inning, while Trevor Williams closed the game with four scoreless innings.
As a team, the Dinos recorded six hits and logged four walks. With several opportunities on the bases, Carbon stranded eight runners.
Logan Bennett and Mike Vigil finished 1-4 at the plate, registering one RBI each. Paxton Falk and Vigil logged an extra base hit, both smacking doubles.
Errors plagued the Dinos in the second game of Friday’s schedule in the most lopsided affair of the weekend, falling to the Pine View Panthers 16-0 in four innings.
Carbon used four pitchers in the four-inning tilt, allowing eight earned runs, eight walks and two home runs. Despite the offensive explosion from the Panthers, only half of the runs scored were earned.
Senior Rydge Butler recorded the team’s lone hit with a single.
The Dinos returned to the field Saturday morning for the third game of the weekend against 4A Stansbury. Despite being competitive through the first four innings, the Stallions scored seven runs in the final three innings to earn a 10-2 win.
Falk delivered a powerful performance on the mound, tossing 4.1 innings. Allowing seven hits and four earned runs, Falk fanned seven batters during his time with the ball. Stockton Kennedy worked the final 2.2 innings in relief.
Bennett and Vigil continued their steady work at the plate, finishing 2-4 with one RBI. Butler went 1-for-4, scoring both runs for the team.
Carbon closed the weekend positively, putting together a rally in the back half of the game to secure an 8-5 win over the Grantsville Cowboys.
Playing from behind most of the game, the Dinos outscored Grantsville 6-1 in the final three innings. The win marked Carbon’s second of the season against 3A competition.
Vigil recorded the win on the rubber as he pitched five innings in relief, allowing six hits and just one earned run. Vigil kept the Cowboys off balance as he struck out six batters.
Carbon achieved a notable performance by recording 10 hits, the highest of the busy weekend, to successfully overcome a 4-2 deficit entering the fifth inning. Senior Kannon Childs sparked the breakout performance by going 3-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Six players recorded at least one hit as Vigil and Tyrus Madsen finished with multiple hits. Madsen ended 2-4 with two doubles, while Vigil notched a single and double.
With eight games now in the books, the Dinos will shift focus to the Region 12 opener on Tuesday at home against the North Sanpete Hawks. The two teams wrap up the season series on Friday in Mount Pleasant.