Prep baseball: Ogden loses rubber match to Grantsville, 33-year wait for region title continues
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- Ogden High’s baseball team goes through the handshake line after a prep baseball game against Grantsville on Friday, April 28, 2023 at Ogden High School.
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- Ogden High’s Ellio Saenz throws a pitch during a prep baseball game against Grantsville on Friday, April 28, 2023 at Ogden High School.
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- Ogden’s Ransom Green (1) slides into third base during a prep baseball game against Grantsville on Friday, April 28, 2023 at Ogden High School.
OGDEN — Ogden High School’s 33-year wait for a baseball region championship will now be at least a 34-year wait.
The Tigers faced a challenging prospect Friday, needing to beat Grantsville and then sweep three games with Ben Lomond to finish as co-Region 13 champions. Instead, they’ll finish no higher than second after dropping Friday’s rubber match against Grantsville 7-2, and the Cowboys will finish as repeat region champs.
Just two years ago, Friday’s scenario may have looked like a pipe dream. A young Ogden team went winless in 2021, but a still-young Tigers team went 14-14 last season, setting the stage to make a run at the Cowboys this year.
“It’s all the kids, it’s not me,” Ogden coach Doyle Holt said. “I mean, I’ve got a great coaching staff, they work their butts off, but it’s the kids. They bought in, they’re doing what we’re trying to do.”
On Friday, the Tigers (12-5, 6-3 Region 13) were undone by a Grantsville (16-7, 11-1) fifth inning that saw the Cowboys score two runs on two separate Ogden throwing errors, plus a third run on a sacrifice fly.
Ogden senior pitcher Ellio Saenz, the team’s ace, started Friday on short rest after throwing an 84-pitch complete game in Tuesday’s win.
One could tell, especially late in the game, that Saenz didn’t have his normal velocity and command on the short rest, but he still struck out nine batters and allowed seven hits with five runs (two earned) and one walk.
“It sucks, you wanted it so bad, it’s been 33 years that we’ve done this, and so it was right there and we didn’t finish it, so it hurts and I don’t really have much more to say about that,” Saenz said through a Spanish translator.
Saenz now carries a 1.66 ERA in 38 innings this season with 73 strikeouts against just 10 walks.
Grantsville starter Kyle Brimhall tossed a shutout first and second inning but left the game with visible discomfort in his right throwing shoulder and elbow.
Ogden jumped on the Cowboys’ bullpen by scoring two runs in the third. Shortstop Diego DeLeon, a .434 hitter who missed most of last season with a broken jaw, hit an RBI single to right field.
Carter Rasmussen, who batted 2 for 3, spun an RBI double just inside the right-field line and Ogden led 2-1.
Grantsville came right back in the top of the fourth with an RBI double, then scored its three runs in the fifth on the two throwing errors and the sac fly.
The Cowboys loaded the bases in the sixth with a 5-2 lead, but Saenz got a strikeout and also tagged a runner out at home for the inning’s third out after a wild pitch went past catcher Sean Garceau. Garceau batted 2 for 3 and also threw a runner out at second base.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I put my best guy up there on the mound and they had some key hits, and that’s the way it goes,” Holt said. “They’re defending state champs. We’re not there yet, we’re still working on our program.”
Ogden had baserunners on in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t score. The Tigers swung at a lot of first pitches and, though they hit a lot of balls hard, they were usually hit right at Grantsville players who played a zero-error game.
“I think we were pressing a little bit … instead of making a play, they want to make a big play,” Holt said. “And I kind of like that. We got a special group of kids. If I was looking at the RPI and looking at the tournament, I wouldn’t want to play us early.”
There’s still plenty for Ogden to play for before the playoffs. A three-game set with Ben Lomond still awaits, starting with a Saturday doubleheader at BLHS (2:30 p.m.) and a Tuesday home game back at Ogden.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.