High school baseball: Wayne advances in 1A tourney

SPANISH FORK — It wasn't picture-perfect, but the state champion Wayne Badgers did enough to advance in the 1A tournament.

Wayne earned a hard-fought 5-1 victory over Green River in the 1A quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon, thanks to a solid pitching performance from Colin Anderson and the hot bat of Brennan Rees.

"Colin pitched well," said Badgers coach Scott Ellett. "Our hitting was subpar, our defense had too many errors. Colin kept us in the game."

Anderson allowed a couple of hits in the first inning, but regrouped to mostly dominate the Pirates. He threw six scoreless innings and finished with 10 strikeouts.

"Oh really?" was Anderson's response when he was told he struck out 10 batters. "Sweet."

The Badgers quickly gave Anderson some run support in the first inning, as Rees hit an RBI double. Wayne added another run thanks to a Green River error to go up 2-0.

Anderson rarely faced any trouble after the first, and he struck out the side in the fourth.

Anderson added an RBI double in the fifth, and Rees helped put the game away with an RBI triple in the sixth.

"Brennan carries our team a lot," Anderson said.

The Badgers weren't in much of a celebratory mood after picking up their 10th straight state tournament win. Wayne committed an uncharacteristic four errors and its offense didn't string many hits together.

"We live to play another game," Ellett said. "In a way, when you don't play your best game and still come out with a win against a good team it gives you some confidence. I know we can play better than that. Our players aren't satisfied."

One aspect of the game Ellett was pleased with was the catching of Rhett Taylor. He called a good game behind the plate, and made some nice blocks on pitches made by Anderson and reliever Randy Ellett.

"He was excellent," Ellett said. "Most people in the stands are not going to notice the play of our catcher, but he had some outstanding blocks. Our pitchers are not afraid on a two-strike count to bury a curve in the dirt. Our catcher blocks those."

Wayne advances to play Region 20 rival Piute in the semifinals. The Badgers won both meetings between the two teams during the regular season.