Game Details - Baseball

In last year’s state tournament, the Juab Wasps entered as the second seed but fell in the first round of bracket play to eventual state champion No. 7 Union. The Wasps made sure this year was different as it once again entered the state tournament as the second seed but this time advanced in bracket play with a 10-3 win over No. 7 Grantsville. “I think this year we just hit the ball much better than last year,” said Juab head coach Josh Park. “This game we were a little more aggressive at the plate, jumped on them and I felt like that momentum got us rolling in this one.” Juab’s consistency both at bat and on the pitching mound stole the show. The Wasps got consistent hitting throughout its lineup while Juab star and 2024’s Mr. Baseball Austin Park threw seven strikeouts in five innings. Park was replaced by Porter Howard in the sixth inning and he also contributed with two strikeouts. “I thought they did a good job,” said coach Park. “Austin wasn't quite on his game today and he wasn't quite hitting spots, but he did good enough for us and he was forcing them to beat us. Porter did a great job of coming in and mixing speeds, mixing pitches and keeping them off balance.” The first inning Juab jumped out ahead with six runs and took a commanding 10-2 lead by the third inning. All nine batters on the Wasps lineup created a threat to get on base or hit a batter home. Austin Park hit an early home run which scored two runs. Madix Stowell led Juab in RBIs with three. Stowell had only one base hit but had two well timed sacrifice hits that both scored a run.