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OREM — The saying "it's always better the second time around" rang true Saturday afternoon.
For the Kanab Cowboys, the second time around ended up being better than the first — even if it came a little later than expected.
With one mighty swing by junior Kale Glover, and the ball landing fair just inside the left-field foul line, the Cowboys etched their names into UHSAA history with a 13-12 walk-off comeback win over South Sevier in the 2A baseball championship at UCCU Ballpark Saturday afternoon.
It was a game where Kanab was sucker punched early by the red-hot Rams, who exploded out to a seemingly insurmountable 9-1 lead after four complete innings. The No. 1 seeded Cowboys had no answer for Rams starter Stockton Roberts and bullpen backup Peyton Ingram, who combined to hold Kanab in check.
"We knew we had it in us," Cowboys coach Craig Brinkerhoff said. "We just kept encouraging the kids that we were right there, and they just believed in themselves."
Glover certainly had a hand in it; his lone RBI was the only one that mattered. He laced it on an 0-2 pitch down the line for his only base hit of the game, but it was a base hit that made him a legend for rest of his life in Kane County.
"It's surreal; you dream about it and you run through that situation in your head as a kid," Glover said. "It's an unbelievable feeling."
What made it more unbelievable was Glover said the team discussed whether they would rather win in a run-rule game or win on a walk-off — the former of which was close to occurring multiple times in South Sevier's favor.
Instead, the Cowboys showed the heart of a champion and did it the hard way, which Brinkerhoff said was a common theme of Kanab's run to the championship.
"Resilience is a big theme of our team," Glover said. "We just know our bats are going to get hot at some point. Craig does a great job at making us mentally tough, and all of that hard work has paid off."
Ironically, it seemed like it would never come Saturday; the Cowboys were held to just four hits through the first five innings, but everything changed when Kanab put up four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth.
Despite ending the fifth leaving the bases loaded, and South Sevier's attempt to inch away, Kanab simply refused to quit. Not even a solo home run by the Rams' Rayce Freeman to put South Sevier up 12-8 seemed like a back-breaker.
"When we had the tying run at second base (in the bottom of the seventh), that's when it became real to me," Brinkerhoff said. "I knew we had a long way to go, but all we needed to do was chip away."
Chipping away is exactly what the Cowboys did. Despite being down to their final strike twice in the last three batters, a bloop single brought home the tying run, setting the stage for Glover's heroics, which the junior called a turning of his luck, something his assistant coaches were preaching to him all season.
And it was only fitting, then, Glover was the first to lift the trophy over his head, the second state championship in Craig Brinkerhoff's two seasons.
"Mason Fox laid the groundwork for this," Brinkerhoff said, referencing his predecessor, whom he served as an assistant under before taking over last year. "He started believing in these kids, and I couldn't thank him enough for what he did for us."
3A baseball: Union tops Canyon View for first title since 1989
Camden Frandsen belted a two-run homer, and Hayden Rich and Chase Nielson each added a double as seventh-seeded Union used a six-run fourth to pull away from fourth-seeded Canyon View, 9-3 in the second game of the 3A state championship at Salt Lake Community College's Cate Field in West Jordan.
Frandsen, Gannon Labrum and PJ Hancock each finished with two RBI for Union (23-11), which jumped out to a 6-0 run after four innings.
Freshman pitcher Dylan Watahomigie allowed just one run with one strikeout to earn the win for the Cougars, who won their first state title since 1989 when the school played in 2A. Tyson Marx and Gavin Roberts finished the final three innings, allowing one run each frame to seal the win.
Brady Anderson had a double to lead Canyon View (20-11).
