Cowboy Baseball wins third state title in four years; defeat San Juan in dominant fashion

The Kanab High School baseball team entered the 2026 2A state tournament as the # 2 seed, but they left wearing # 1.

Kanon Virostko hoists the 2026 2A State trophy over his head in triumph with teammates (from left to right) Brady Ramsay, Walker Baird, Kolten Blomquist, Latimer Glover, Hayden Gubler and Brayden Heyborne surrounding. The Kanab Cowboys beat the San Juan Broncos 13-6 to claim their third state title in four years. Photo by Caleb Brown.

The Cowboys defeated Gunnison 2-0 during the Quarterfinals to firmly re­main in the winning side of the double-elimination bracket.

Kanab’s bats were hot in the hands of Grady Ander­son and Sayer Fenus. Both underclassmen batted a mean 0.500 with Anderson nabbing two hits during his four at-bats, and Fenus nabbing one hit during his two at-bats.

The Cowboys never let the Gunnison Valley Bull­dogs get on the board and left with a 2-0 victory. Give the Cowboys’ pitching crew some credit: that’s the team’s eighth straight shutout.

Left to right:

• Third baseman, Brogun Virostko fires one into first base for an out against San Juan. The Senior would end his high school career with three state titles in baseball and one in football. Photo courtesy of Dave Virostko.

• Senior Kolten Blomquist shows his Cowboy pride after a great hit. Blomquist’s hitting would be a crucial aspect of Kanab’s dominant playoff performance. Photo courtesy by Kevin Blomquist.

• Catcher Kanon Virostko contorts for the tag as a San Juan runner tries to slide into home. Virostko remains one of the best catchers and batters in the state. Photo courtesy of Dave Virostko.

The result came thanks to Walker Baird’s shutout, as he gave up just a hit and racked up 14 Ks. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn’t tossed less than seven strikeouts in six consecutive appear­ances.

At the plate, Kanab saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Grady Anderson, who went two-for-four with one triple and one stolen base. Anderson is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he’s now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he’s played.

The win matched Kanab up with the San Juan Broncos the next day for the State Semi Final game.

Kanab had already prov­en themselves in the regu­lar season and they didn’t miss a beat now that it’s playoff time. Everything went their way against the San Juan Broncos on Friday as they made off with a 12-3 vic­tory during their State Semifinal match up. The result was nothing new for the Cowboys, who have now won 15 contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Kyan Lyman tossed a big game, tossing 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn’t given up more than one earned run in five con­secutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Hayden Gubler and Grady Anderson ran wild. Anderson went a perfect four-for-four with four runs, one double and one RBI, while Gubler went one-for-four with three RBI, two runs and one triple. The team also got some help courtesy of Sayer Fenus, who went two-for-three with two RBI and one run.

Kanab was getting hits left and right and finished the game hav­ing posted a batting average of .441. They easily outclassed their opponents in that de­partment as San Juan only posted a batting average of .207.

Kanab would have to wait to see who their opponent for the State Final would be. Hav­ing not lost a game, they would draw the winner of San Juan vs. Gunnison.

When all was said and done Saturday for the state final game, the Cowboys had put away the Broncos in dominant, 13-6 fash­ion.

Brady Ramsay spent all seven innings on the mound, and it’s clear why: he surrendered six earned runs on nine hits and racked up eight Ks.

On the hitting side, Latimer Glover was a standout: he got on base in all five of his plate appearances with one home run, four runs and one triple. What’s more, he posted three hits, the most he’s had since back in March. An­other player making a difference was Kanon Virostko, who went three-for-four with one home run, three RBI and two runs.

Kanab always had someone on base and finished the game hav­ing posted an OBP of .564. They easily outclassed their oppo­nents in that depart­ment as San Juan only posted an OBP of .412.

The victory was the 15th in a row for Kanab, bringing their record up to 25-3 and crowning them 2A State Champions for the 2026 season.

Grady Anderson was named the tournament MVP for his outstand­ing performances at the plate.

Congratu­lations boys! Way to make Kanab proud.