High school baseball: With no favorite, 2A tournament up for grabs

KEARNS — For the first time in several years, there is no overwhelming favorite to win the 2A state baseball tournament.

Certainly, teams such as Gunnison, Beaver, Enterprise, San Juan and North Sevier have separated themselves from the rest of the 2A field this season. But trying to figure out which of the elite teams is favored is no easy task.

That will make things interesting when the state tournament resumes at Kearns High on Thursday. The Gunnison-Beaver and San Juan-Enterprise winners' bracket semifinal games are evenly matched, while North Sevier, Parowan, South Sevier and Grand will try to fight through the one-loss bracket.

"I think we've got the eight best teams there," said Gunnison coach Jared Anderson. "It's a matter of who puts two or three games together now."

The same could be said for the first day of the tournament last Saturday. San Juan, Beaver and Enterprise each entered postseason play having lost their final regular season game. That didn't matter as each of the three teams won two tournament contests — mostly in dominant fashion — to avoid the losers' bracket.

San Juan, after taking third place in Region 15, just might be the team to beat. The Broncos know how to win at this time of the year after capturing the 2A championship last season. They might not seem like a contender after going 5-5 in league play, but they're peaking at the right time.

The Broncos 10-runned both of their opponents on Saturday.

"We're a different team now than we were at the first of the year," said first-year San Juan coach Charlie Taylor.

Anderson knows this. His team had to go to extra innings to beat San Juan both times they played this season.

"Until they get beat, San Juan is the clear favorite," Anderson said. "They're a good team. They're the champs until they get dethroned."

Gunnison is the hottest team left in the state tournament. The Bulldogs have won seven straight games, and blanked both Kanab (6-0) and Parowan (2-0) on Saturday. They only have two seniors on their team, but that doesn't mean Gunnison is too young to win a title now.

"I like our chances," said Anderson. "A lot of our juniors have been starting. They aren't young in experience."