San Juan Broncos pick up two wins, suffer two losses at Cactus Classic in Mesquite, NV to open 2026 high school baseball season

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
A season ago the San Juan High School baseball team ended their regular season on a hot streak and was poised to make a deep run in the 2025 2A Utah State Baseball Tournament
But the Broncos got hammered with a gut punch when they lost to the rival Grand County Red Devils in their opening game of the tournament, then were eliminated in a heartbreaking extra-innings loss to eventual state champion South Sevier.
San Juan lost a number of seniors to graduation following those tough losses, but another group of seniors took to the diamond this past weekend, eager to put 2025 behind them and get started on a new campaign.
On Thursday, March 5 the team traveled all the way to Mesquite, NV for the season-opening Cactus Classic, which featured three days and four games of challenging baseball against some tough teams.
The Broncos got started on the right foot with a 5-2 win over Enterprise in game one. Remy Whatcott and Baylor Nielson both went 2-for-3 in the game to lead the way. Whatcott got one RBI on a home run and Nielson drove in two runs.
Jagger Nieves, Nache Young, Jonah John, and Keilan Hutchins all got hits in the win. Nielson was the winning pitcher for San Juan. He threw three innings, allowing one run on one hit and three walks, striking out seven of the 13 Wolves batters he faced.
In the second game of the tournament the Broncos scored seven runs in the second inning and left the Bonneville Lakers in the dust 12-4.
Jagger Nieves heated up and led the team with a 2-for-4, four-RBI game. Jonah John was 1-for-1 and drove in two San Juan runs. Nache Young went 1-for-2 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Freshman Kreed Herring pitched an outstanding game, picking up his first win of the season. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out seven of the 16 batters who came to the plate.
In San Juan’s only game on Friday, March 6 they came up against a familiar foe in the 3A Carbon Dinos. For the first three innings the game was a battle, with each team putting runs on the board.
With the Broncos trailing 6-4 heading into the top of the fourth inning, Carbon came to the plate and proceeded to score 19 runs. San Juan mustered five in their half of the inning, but it wasn’t enough to stave off an early conclusion in a 25-9 loss.
Jagger Nieves was the highlight for the Broncos. The senior was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and clubbed his first home run of the season. He drove in three runs and scored three himself.
Keilan Hutchins was also perfect in the loss, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Nache Young had one hit and drove in two runs.
The loss to Carbon set up a rematch with Bonneville on the final day of the tournament on Saturday, March 14. San Juan opened with an early lead in the game, but the Lakers steadily rallied through the middle innings until they led 6-2.
The Broncos plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but their comeback fell one run short in a tough 6-5 loss. Jagger Nieves and Baylor Nielson both had one hit and one RBI each in the loss.
It wasn’t the way San Juan wanted to finish their trip to Mesquite, but eighth-year Head Coach Jens Nielson said he was very pleased with the team’s play in their first games of the season.
“We did pretty well to put the ball in play, played solid defense for the most part, and got outstanding pitching performances from Baylor Nielson and Kreed Herring,” he stated.
“We saw some pretty good pitching with it being this early in the season and the top of our order performed well with Jagger Nieves being a standout.
“We have lots of mobility with our defensive rotations, which makes the job for our pitchers easier knowing they have a good defense.
“We feel good where we are. This team works well together, they don’t get down on each other, and they want to win.
“They embrace the team as a whole and are excited for anyone who can help them win. I think we will continue to get better and better and we are excited to continue our season.”
The Broncos will head up to Moab for the Grand Invitational this Friday and Saturday, March 13-14. They’ll play the host Red Devils, Montezuma-Cortez, and Beaver on Friday, with American Leadership Academy on the docket Saturday.