It’s windy and cold in early March—it must be time for some spring baseball. The Spartans opened the 2025 season on Tuesday, welcoming the defending 3A State Champion Union Cougars to Castle Dale. The Cougars struck in the first inning and again in the fourth to earn the lead. The Emery rally in the seventh came up short, and Union handed the Spartans a 6-3 loss.
The Spartans ended last season 17-13 overall and entered the postseason as the No. 8 seed, falling to Morgan. Union won it all with two straight wins over Manti in the Championships. Last season, these two teams met in the season opener in Roosevelt, as Emery came away with the 5-4 win.
The Cougars got on the board first, putting up a pair of runs in the opening frame, but then Union’s defense took over, working through six scoreless innings. The Cougars’ bats would come alive again in the fourth, plating four more runs to take a 6-0 lead.
After building the lead, the Union sent Brennen Mecham to the mound. He pitched three straight innings of 1-2-3 ball, logging nine straight outs and defending the lead until the bottom of the seventh.
The Spartans would find some much needed offense with their final three outs in front of them. First up in the bottom of the seventh was Tyce Larsen. Larsen worked the count full and then hit one that trailed foul down the first base line but left Union enough room to catch it and record the first out. Peyton Nielson was next sending a line drive to center for a single. Trygg Jensen stepped into the batter’s box, taking the first pitch for a ball and then being hit by the next, giving Emery a pair of base runners. Hayden Christiansen was the next batter up, working his way through the count and finally finding a pitch he liked, sending a line drive to left field, bringing Nielson home to put Emery on the board for the first time in the contest.
Hayden Abrams stepped up to the plate, flying out to left field, putting two outs on the board for the Spartans. Treven Gilbert singled to left, bringing Jensen home to push the score to 6-2. With two outs and two on, Garrett Conover came to the plate and took his second pitch to center, giving Christiansen the chance to score, adding one more run. Bronx Olsen was up next and fought through pitch after pitch sending a fly to right field for the final out and the rally came up just short 6-3.
Gilbert collected three hits in the game for the Spartans and added an RBI. Christiansen earned a hit, a run, and one RBI. Nielson got on the stat sheet with a hit and one run, Conover had one hit and one RBI. Larsen had one hit and Jensen collected a run in the loss.
Gilbert also started on the mound, going two innings, surrendering two hits and two runs with one strike out. Christiansen entered the game to go a couple of innings with three hits, four earned runs and struck out three, and Hayden Abrams closed the game with a pair of hits and four strikeouts.
The Spartans now take a break until March 11 when they travel to Vernal to face the Uintah Utes.