The Dinos closed out their time in Mesquite over the weekend with another game on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday. After taking a loss in the first game against the host team, Virgin Valley, the Dinos rattled off two wins in a row against Duchesne and Enterprise. Then, on Friday afternoon, they would take on the San Juan Broncos, and behind a huge fourth inning, they would win 25-9. On Saturday, they would close things out by facing the Bulldogs once again, taking a 9-6 loss.

The Dinos got started at the Mesquite tournament by playing two games on Thursday, taking a loss in the first to the Virgin Valley Bulldogs 16-0, and then coming back in the second to beat Duchesne 4-0. In their opening game on Friday, they took on the Enterprise Wolves and earned a 10-7 win, setting them up for a game with the San Juan Broncos on Friday afternoon.

The contest with San Juan started out pretty quiet, with both teams tied at 3-3 after the first inning. Things stayed pretty calm all the way into the end of the third, where Carbon would hold a slight edge 6-4, but in the 4th, Carbon erupted.

In the fourth, Carbon collected 11 of their 15 hits, with Maddux Willson leading the charge with a pair of doubles in the inning. The Dinos also tallied 19 runs to close out the Broncos 25-9.

Adrian Vasquez definitely had a day, going 3-4, scoring three runs, and collecting six RBIs in the game. Logan Bennett went 1-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs, and Jacen Urbanik went 2-3 with three RBIs. Paxton Falk went 1-2 with three RBIs, Cash Withers went 1-3 with four runs scored and a pair of RBIs, Willson was 2-3 with four runs scored and two RBIs, and Jordan Nichols was 3-4 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI. Brody Ware was 1-3 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI, and Kaden Sandoval went 1-2 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI in the win.

Falk got the start on the mound, going 3.1 innings, giving up eight runs, six earned, on seven hits, and struck out three, and MJ Rushton went the rest of the way with one earned run on one hit and struck out two.

On Saturday, the Dinos would get the morning off and get ready for a 2:00 meeting with the team that they started with, the host Virgin Valley Bulldogs. This game was closer than the first, but Carbon would still come up short, 9-6.

The Dinos were held scoreless until the top of the third. Falk got the inning started with a single to center, and two batters later, with two outs on the board, Bennett stepped up, hitting a home run that drove in Sandoval to take a slight lead, 2-1, over the Bulldogs. After Virgin Valley went three and out, the Dinos were looking to see if they could pick up where they could continue the momentum they built in the third and take it to the fourth.

With one out, Willson drew a walk. Vasquez stepped to the plate, sending a single to left and reaching second on an error by the left fielder. Willson would score on the error as well, as the Dinos added to their lead 3-1. In the bottom half of the inning, the Bulldogs would take the lead 4-3, and after holding Carbon scoreless in the top of the fifth, they added one more to push the lead to 5-3.

Carbon added another run in the sixth when Ware hit a double to left that drove Withers in, but in the bottom half of the frame, Virgin Valley collected four more runs to push their lead to 9-4.

Carbon moved into the seventh, knowing they had to make something happen, and it was Urbanik who stepped up and got on base with a single to center. With one out and Urbanik still at first, Bennett came to the plate and sent his second home run of the day over the left field wall to get the Dinos as close as 9-6, but that would be where it stopped as the next two batters up became the final two outs and Virgin Valley claimed the 9-6 win.

Bennett came up big for Carbon with a pair of homeruns scoring twice and driving in four. Ware claimed a pair of hits with an RBI, and Urbanik went 1-3 with a run scored. Falk and Vasquez each had one hit, and  Withers had a hit and a run scored. Sandoval and Willson each scored one run in the loss.

Nichols got the start on the mound, going four innings, giving up four runs, two earned, on four hits, and striking out one. Ware went one inning and surrendered four runs, three earned, on two hits with one strikeout, and Withers closed out the contest with one hit and a run.

The Dinos will be back on the diamond and back on the road Wednesday when they travel to Vernal to face the Uintah Utes. They will end the week back down south for the St. George Tournament.