After a loss on Tuesday, May 7, the Emery Spartans moved into the one-loss bracket where they took on the Morgan Trojans with a chance to advance to the semifinals of the 3A state tournament. The Spartans would be in control until the bottom of the seventh where they fell to the Trojans 6-5.
Senior Wade Stilson was spectacular for Emery, ending the day a perfect three for three at the plate to go along with five steals, bringing his season total to 42 which is good for the most in the state.
Junior Treven Gilbert, despite coming away with the loss, had an excellent day on the mound, striking out two and walking only one while holding the Trojans scoreless until the sixth inning.
Emery got things started in the top of the second inning, with seniors Turner Stoker and Mason Stilson and sophomore Beau Stilson making their way home to give the Spartans an early 3-0 lead.
The Spartans would increase that lead in the top of the third when Mason Stilson reached home off a single from senior Kade Larsen making it a 4-0 ballgame.
Emery would tack one more run on in the top of the fifth when Stoker struck an RBI single that brought home junior Hayden Abrams which made it 5-0 in favor of the Spartans.
But disaster struck in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Morgan sophomores Kanyon Leoneli and Luke Baurele finding home plate, helping start the Trojan rally and ending the inning 5-2.
The nail in the coffin for Emery would come in the bottom of the seventh, first, it was Tryker Jones making it home for Morgan to make it 5-3. Then Emery faced a similar situation to what they saw against Grantsville in the opening round; with the bases loaded and the opposing team’s best hitter at the plate. Unfortunately this time the cards would not fall in the favor of the Spartans as Baurele would play hero and smoke a ball into the center field gap and bring home three runners to give Morgan the 6-5 win.
With the season-ending loss, Emery’s final record is 17-13 overall and 7-7 in Region 12 where they finished fifth overall. Emery moves on from five seniors, but with a roster full of youth the Spartans are in a good position for the 2025 season.