San Juan spring sports teams head into final month of the season

The San Juan High School spring sports season is more than half over, and teams are headed down the homestretch looking to set themselves up for deep runs in their respective state tournaments.

Softball
The Bronco softball team picked up a couple nice wins over South Sevier in a Region 12 doubleheader in Monroe Tuesday, March 30.

They outscored the Lady Wolves 10-3 in game one and 17-6 in game two to improve to 4-7 on the year and 3-4 in the region.

Emilie Palmer led the way for San Juan with five RBIs in the wins, including three home runs. She was 4-for-7 on the day for a .571 average and scored five Lady Bronco runs.

Makaeli Begaye also hit .571 for the day with three RBIs and five runs scored. Trinity Whatcott was 4-for-8 in the games with four ribbies and three runs.

Kaitlynne Perkins was solid for San Juan in Monroe with four hits in six at bats, an RBI, and six runs scored. Elizabeth Pugh had the best average for the Lady Broncos in the wins. She was 5-for-7 (.714) with four RBIs.

Though Sadie Brown went just 2-for-9 in the games, she contributed four RBIs, including a homer, and scored a couple runs for San Juan. Halli Palmer and Adriann Johnson had an RBI apiece in the wins.

Following the trip to Monroe, the Lady Broncos had ten days off to get set for the Payson Icebreaker Tournament in Payson, UT, which featured a collection of 2A through 5A teams.

It was a tough weekend for San Juan. They battled hard, but suffered losses to Springville, Gunnison Valley, Snow Canyon, and Cedar.

Following the past two weeks, the Lady Broncos are 4-11 overall, ranked #13 in the current RPI standings, which were released for the first time on April 6.

The girls are set for three key Region 12 matchups in the next few days, at Carbon on Tuesday, April 13, versus Emery at home on Friday, April 16, and at home against Grand on Tuesday, April 20.

Baseball
It was a challenging past couple weeks for the San Juan baseball team, with five key Region 12 games against three of the top-ten teams in 3A, Emery, Carbon, and Richfield.

In Blanding on Tuesday, March 30, the Broncos played well, only allowing five runs to the #5 Emery Spartans. But unfortunately, San Juan was only able to get one runner across the plate, and they fell 5-1. Taylor Black scored the lone run in the loss, driven in by Jace Johnson.

The next two games weren’t as close, a 14-5 loss to Emery in Castle Dale on April 2 and a 19-0 loss to Carbon in Blanding April 6.

But when Richfield came to town on Wednesday, April 7, the Broncos had upset on their minds. They almost pulled it off, too.

Though the Wildcats scored two runs in the first inning and added two in the second, San Juan answered with one run in the first and three in the second to tie the game at four.

Then it got interesting. The Broncos scored a run in the third inning and added one in the fourth while holding Richfield scoreless for three straight frames.

San Juan led 6-4 headed into the sixth inning, but Richfield was primed for a comeback. The Wildcats scored two runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game 6-6.

Richfield then drove one baserunner across the plate in the seventh inning to take a 7-6 lead. When the Broncos were unable to add to their tally, the Wildcats headed home as victors.

Three Broncos got RBIs in the loss, one each to Jeter Perkins, Jace Palmer, and Jerzy Nieves. Parker Snyder was a perfect 2-for-2 on the day and Nieves was 2-for-3.

In their third game in a four-day period, San Juan traveled to Price for a rematch with the Carbon Dinos. This time the game was much closer.

Though Carbon opened the scoring with a run in the first inning, it remained 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth.

The Dinos got three runners across the plate in that frame, then added three more in the sixth inning. San Juan mustered one run in the sixth, but that was all, and the Broncos suffered a 7-1 loss.

With the losses, San Juan falls to 2-10 on the year and 0-6 in Region 12 play. They’re ranked #17 in the RPI standings and back-to-back games against rival Grand County this week will be a key opportunity for the Broncos to gain some ground.

The Red Devils sport a 2-13 overall record and they are also 0-6 in the region, ranked #18 in 3A baseball. The teams meet in Moab on Tuesday, April 13 and in Blanding on Friday, April 16.

Boys soccer
It’s been a tough past couple weeks for the San Juan boys soccer team also, with shutout losses to Emery on April 1, Carbon on April 6, and Grand April 9.

The Broncos are 0-8 on the season and ranked 18th in the 3A boys soccer RPI standings. They’re headed into the final four games of the regular season with two scheduled this week and two next week.

South Sevier visits Blanding on Tuesday, April 13, then the Broncos travel to Richfield on Thursday, April 15. The boys play Emery in Castle Dale Tuesday, April 20, then they close out the regular season with a home match against Carbon on Thursday, April 22.

Girls golf
Though the San Juan girls golf team is quite shorthanded, down to just two golfers, both overcame challenging windy conditions at the Millsite Golf Course in Ferron on Monday, April 5 for excellent rounds.

Isabel Young shot an 85 to finish second among the 34 golfers who competed at the event. Brinli Bowring played her personal best tournament round, carding a 105 to tie for tenth place.

The girls are back in action this week against Region 12 teams at the Carbon Country Club course in Helper on Thursday, April 15.