The Buffalos entertained the Bobcats of Panguitch by yielding them a 13-3 win on Wednesday, August 30. Of the showing, Head Coach Lance Peterson commented, “We played good. We looked like a good solid Valley baseball team for three innings; and then, the wheels came off. We made so many errors; and we’re going to lose baseball when we continue to make errors. So, we’ve gotta’ clean that up; and we gotta’ hit: We only scored three runs. Just gotta’ clean those errors up!”
After the first three innings, the score favored the home team, 3-0, highlighted by a heroic play by catcher Holden Harris, in which he captured a slight pop-up hit dropping near the thirdbase line about 15-feet from the plate with his glove upward touching the ground in the process. The runner from second rapidly approaching third was on his way back, when Holden quickly rose into a heads-up throw to second-baseman Hogan Harris (cousin) for the double-play. “I was just trying to field the ball the best I could to make the play. I was gonna’ throw it to second, but I didn’t know if I was gonna’ get him. But it ended up good and I got him! I think it would have been a fair ball.” Although, it may have spun foul had it not been caught! “We’ve got to quit making errors; we make too many a game,” he added.
In his assessment, senior team veteran Ivan Spencer observed, “We played pretty good, except for one inning. We just completely fell apart, and they scored 12 runs; and we just never came back from that. But, I mean, there’s been some improvement. And I think that the coaches are gonna’ come to that and try and change it up just to see what we can do about that. And I felt like there’s a bunch that have really come through. Like Conner [Smith] is doing really well! He’s hitting the ball, and he’s improved really a lot since the first of the season. And that’s what we’re looking for!”
Considering their outing versus Wayne on September 1, Coach P. calculated, “Well, they beat us by 10. But, Panguitch also beat us by 10; and the Wayne game was much better. Wayne earned maybe seven or eight [runs]. I mean, they did well: they had some timely hits. So, even though we lost, we played a lot better. We actually started with eight people in spots they hadn’t started with yet this year. And we’re trying to mix things up. And they did a real good job!
“Boede [Cox], we moved back into the in-field; Holden was actually moved to third, and Ivan was catching. I think we have some good things to look at. The hitting is still an issue. Jake Batty and Ammon Peterson from Wayne pitched a good game. But, you know, we saw progress; and that’s always a good sign.”
This week’s action will be at home versus Pinnacle, and away to Wayne for their Sophomore Tournament.
