By the bottom of the seventh inning, No. 2 Carbon had undoubtedly put the fear in No. 1 Juab.
After the Dinos had turned a 5-0 deficit into a tie in just two innings, Juab senior Wyatt Payton told his coach, “Don’t worry, I got this.”
He was absolutely right.
Payton added another hallmark moment to an incredible tournament run with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Wasps over Carbon, 6-5, on Friday afternoon and book Juab’s trip to the 3A state championship game on Saturday.
“As soon as I saw Wyatt come to the plate, I knew something special was going to happen,” coach Josh Park said.
Payton’s job was simple. With Cooper Ford already advanced to second on a steal, all he had to do was get a hit. It showed he had great intentions when an initial foul ball went off his bat and well out of the park on the left side.
Two pitches later, he cracked a grounder to left field past the shortstop, and Ford ran like wildfire to home base, sliding across just in time for the win.
“It’s a pleasure to coach these kids,” Park said. “You saw them battle with the sticks yesterday, and today they battled with the gloves.”
Payton wasn’t in the batting order during Juab’s first tournament game, but when he returned against Manti yesterday, his performance was the stuff of folklore. He racked up an incredible nine RBIs, and today’s walk-off seemed like a sequel to a series of legendary moments for the power hitter.
“My confidence level at the plate is just unbelievable right now,” Payton said. “We struggled the last couple of games in region play, but we came in (to the tournament), and we knew what we needed to do. We just came out and exceed way beyond what we’ve even planned.”
Juab’s gloves were what mattered for most of the day. The Wasps displayed some incredible fielding through the first five innings, including three off-balance putouts and a double play.
Juab senior pitcher Cael Smith was on the verge of a no-hitter entering the top of the sixth inning having only thrown two strikeouts.
At the top of the sixth inning with one out already on the board, Carbon finally woke up and went to work. Dinos junior Peyton Molinar broke up the no-hitter with a single, then both of Carbon’s next two hitters collected an RBI. Carbon whittled the lead down to 5-3 by the end of the inning, and the Dinos’ dugout went from silent to deafeningly loud.
The Dinos added to the rally at the top of the seventh, tying up the game on an RBI double from senior Ridge Nelson before Juab ended the Dinos’ run with a putout at first.
The rest was history.
The Wasps will have a shot at the 3A state title, their first since 1998, when they return to the diamond on Saturday.