Charger baseball aiming for region title

By Catherine Garrett | [email protected]

The Corner Canyon High baseball team began the season with a new head coach and won its first four games. The Chargers cooled off a bit, but are still sitting in first place in Region 7 with a 5-1 mark.

“We got off to a hot start and then we were a little inconsistent before spring break,” Coach Jeff Eure said. “The season is going pretty well.”

Corner Canyon defeated Orem 12-0 Mar. 7 in its first game, turning a scoreless matchup through two innings into a rout with runs in the final three innings — including eight in the final inning. Andrew Astin and Braden Winget belted home runs while Keaton Morf added a triple. Dalton Hagen picked up the win on the mound.

Corner Canyon finished off its preseason play with a 6-4 record.

Two days later, the Chargers defeated Juan Diego 7-2 behind Collin Garrett’s pitching performance. First Team All-State third baseman Connor Ebling and Preston Winget led offensively with extra base hits.

In the Summit Athletic Club Invitational at Desert Hills High Mar. 16–17, the squad went 3-1 with wins over Juan Diego 11-1, Maple Mountain 13-5 and Northridge 7-1, while losing to host Desert Hills 5-4.

Corner Canyon then lost 2-0 to Herriman Mar. 21 before a win over Bountiful 6-4 and losses to Salem Hills 12-8 and Maple Mountain 11-2 entering region play. 

The team rebounded against Timpview Apr. 10 and 11 by winning all three games over the T-birds by a combined score of 31-2. Braden Winget hit three doubles over the two-day span to lead offensively while Garrett, Hagen and CJ Horrocks picked up wins on the mound.

Corner Canyon also defeated Brighton 10-4 April 18, coming back from a four-run deficit in the second inning to scored seven runs by the bottom of the inning. The team added three runs in the fourth inning for the winning margin. Braden Winget led the team offensively with 3 RBIs on two hits. Dalton Hagen recorded the win.

Against Brighton the next day, the squad struggled through an 11-1 loss, its first region setback of the season. Colton Clark drove in a run in the first inning but that would be the only score for the Chargers in the game before the Bengals opened up the game through the middle innings.  

On April 20, the Chargers completed a three-game stand with Brighton with a 7-5 victory. In that game, Corner Canyon got out to a 4-0 lead by the middle of the fourth inning before giving up the lead and then scoring a few late runs to seal the win.

Astin picked up the win on the mound and helped himself at the plate with three RBIs.

“I was proud of the way the team battled to win the series on Friday [April 20] after a disappointing loss on Thursday [April 19],” Eure said. “We have a really tough opponent coming up in Jordan. We will be focused and ready to compete.”

The Chargers road to its goal of the Region 7 championship will also include playing Jordan, Alta and Cottonwood three times each before the 5A state championship begins in early May. 

Ebeling is leading the squad with a .439 batting average which includes 25 hits – including six extra-base hits – and eight RBIs. Braden Winget has recorded 22 hits for a .431 percentage and Andrew Astin has a .396 average with 19 RBIs. Preston Winget is also in double figures in RBIs with 11.

Garrett, Hagen and Horrocks have a combined 9-3 record on the mound for Corner Canyon.

Also on the Chargers 2018 squad is Bentley Arndt, Derek Astin, Luke Cahoon, Carson DelGrosso, Tommy Goodwin, Randen Grimshaw, Parker Hagen, Kurtis Hansen, Shad Hathaway, Corbin Haycock, Kayson Lewis, Jackson Light, Bridger Matthews, Easton Putnam, Davis Reese, Payton Richards, Jack Roundy, Kody Tidwell, Jeremy Tilby and Bryant Wroten.

Corner Canyon has an 11-5 record on the season.