Layton won the Region 1 baseball championship last year with a senior-heavy group, holding off a challenge from Fremont.

Fremont, along with Farmington and perhaps Clearfield, are viewed as top-half teams this year.

Here’s an alphabetical look at the Region 1 baseball teams.

CLEARFIELD

Clearfield was a good hitting team last year, but not good enough with pitching and defense to put the whole puzzle together.

That said, the Falcons bring back some of their best hitters including senior outfielder Devan Harmer (.420 batting average, 28 RBIs), senior second baseman Jackson Yamashita (.418), senior first baseman Cayden Sato (.383), senior outfielder/pitcher Dawson Burton (.370) and senior third baseman/pitcher Cambell Hardy (.360).

Clearfield coach Steve Ross said the team’s senior leadership and returning starting hitters will be strengths for the Falcons.

And a fun fact about Clearfield baseball: “We currently have seven players on our varsity roster that have had brothers play in the program over the last nine years,” Ross said.

DAVIS

Last year was an uncharacteristically down year for Davis, which finished 11-18 overall and 4-10 in Region 1, good for last place.

“Our strengths this year will be our defense for sure, as well as a team that I believe will play more for each other than themselves,” Davis coach Josh Godfrey said. “We are looking for more strikes thrown out of our pitching staff this year and have spent quite a bit of time working on that. Consistency will be the key both on the mound and at the plate.”

Key players for the Darts figure to be senior catcher Trey Talbot, senior pitcher/infielder/catcher Walker Jensen, senior third baseman Brock Wright, senior ace pitcher Colten Barron, junior outfielder Easton Baggett and sophomore shortstop Max Hunter.

“The most important thing we must do is play together and not worry about personal stats. Our mantra this year, and on our shirts, is ‘We before Me,'” Godfrey said.

FARMINGTON

Farmington’s one of those teams that, despite moving up a classification, is expected to slide right into Region 1 with little to no problems.

The Phoenix went 21-12 last season, advanced to the 5A state tournament championship rounds, and bring back a huge part of the team.

“We return 12 guys this year that have started at the varsity level. This team has a lot guys that can compete on the mound and at the plate. Our infield is one of our biggest strengths this year,” Farmington coach Alex Exon said.

Of those 12 are 10 seniors: Mason Cook (catcher), Landon Tanner (pitcher/first base), Kaden Willis (second base), Tucker Wall (infielder/pitcher), Landon Day (infielder/pitcher), Park Romney (pitcher/outfield), Jack Hansen (pitcher/outfield), Luke Workman (pitcher/outfield), Caleb Takemori (pitcher/outfield) and Jacob Adair (infield/pitcher).

Two juniors, Matt Hecht (infielder) and Noah Buchmiller (pitcher), also have starting experience.

Cook is signed with Hawaii-Hilo and Day is signed with Pacific Lutheran. Minimizing strikeouts at the plate was one thing Exon mentioned the team has to improve.

FREMONT

Like last year, Fremont has a difficult non-region schedule with Skyridge, Pleasant Grove and Jordan on the docket. The Silverwolves went into Region 1 with a 2-6 record and then went 18-6 the rest of the season.

Key returners are senior and Colorado Mesa-signed pitcher/first baseman Bridger Clontz, outfielder Gavin Douglas, second baseman Jaxon Larkin, outfielder Cannon Koford, pitcher/outfielder Calvin Morrow and shortstop Logan Penland.

“Strengths are our pitching depth and offense; our outfield is the one of the best we have had defensively. Infield is inexperienced and has some work to do, but willing to put in the work,” coach Garrett Clark said.

The Silverwolves return practically their whole group of pitchers, led by Clontz, Morrow, and juniors Landon Salvesen, Peyton Surrage and Bodee Goins.

LAYTON

Defending Region 1 champion Layton has a lot of work to do this year after graduating a ton of seniors, including All-Area MVP Cam Day. Key returners include senior catcher Boston Holyoak, senior pitcher/outfielder Cam Hancock and senior pitcher Stockton Malmberg.

“I think sticking to the process instead of the outcome. Our schedule is brutal so the outcomes may not be what we want early but sticking to the process will help us to be more competitive in the end,” Layton coach Robert Ferneau said.

“I like our kids and the work ethic they have.  If we can just hang in there and trust what we are doing, we should be better later than early.”

SYRACUSE

There’s a lot of room for Syracuse to improve after a 9-18 season.

Titans coach Trevor Thomas said the team has a good group of seniors, but also has a young group without much varsity time.

“We need to eliminate our walks and errors on defense. On offense, we need to cut down on our strikeouts,” Thomas said.

Syracuse’s top returning hitter is senior outfielder/pitcher Corbin Sholly (.270) followed by senior outfielder/pitcher Wyatt Humphrey (.260). Two new contributors Thomas mentioned were senior Zade Finch (outfield/pitcher) and sophomore Jake Hopkins (infield/pitcher).

WEBER

Weber finished 17-13 overall last year, beating Kearns in a first-round playoff series. The Warriors return a few important players from that team, most notably Jake Lindsay (infield/pitcher/catcher) and Luke Erickson (outfield/pitcher).

Lindsay had a team-high .462 batting average with 24 RBIs and 12 doubles last season. Erickson hit .363 with 32 RBIs and a team-high seven home runs.

Weber also brings back senior pitcher Bode Larson, senior infielder/pitcher Nathaniel Samaro, junior catcher Jaxson Coleman and sophomore infielder Ashton Burnett.

“Great senior leadership, very close group of guys who love to play together,” Weber coach Trevor Howell said. “We are anticipating a good offensive year to follow up last year’s great success offensively. We have some experienced arms returning to improve our pitching and defense as well.”

Howell said the team’s goal is to compete well in Region 1 and finish toward the top. The Warriors started out last year with a 6-2 region record and ultimately finished 7-7 in Region 1.

REGION 2

Roy makes the move to Region 2 after a 7-20 overall record last year playing in Region 1. The Royals have seven seniors among a big group of returning players.

The seniors are Teyo Gil (pitcher/third base), Max Robinson (pitcher/first base), Ryder Williams (shortstop/pitcher), Conner Munoz (outfield/pitcher), Ethan Herrick (catcher/pitcher), Matt Porm (outfield/pitcher) and Cragun McCloy (second base). Junior pitcher Justin Miller also returns.

Robinson is signed with Centralia College in Washington.

“This senior class is our first four-year class of playing in the program under the system with the same head coach,” Roy coach Monty Vorwaller said. He added the team has even numbers through each class instead of one class being loaded.

The region presents a new challenge for Roy, which is going up against a group of teams that typically aren’t at the upper echelon of 6A.

“It’s easy to look at past years’ performances, but that’s not necessarily a good indicator of how they will perform this year.  I think if we take care of what we need to take care of we have a good shot at being in the hunt for the region title at the end,” Vorwaller said.

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