Mr. Baseball: Taylorsville's Dallas Carroll a true diamond warrior

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TAYLORSVILLE — Utah high school baseball teams must be mighty glad that, when it comes time to face the Taylorsville Warriors next season, they'll no longer be seeing double.

As in double trouble.

As in the Carroll twins, Dallas and Dalton, two shining diamond stars who have terrorized Region 2 opponents for the past couple of years and will be taking their talents up on the hill to play for the University of Utah next season.

Dalton Carroll, the Warriors' outstanding pitcher/outfielder, batted a robust .467 with three home runs, eight doubles and two triples while posting an 8-2 record on the mound with a glistening earned-run average of 1.11.

Dallas Carroll — Dalton's "younger" brother by two minutes — primarily played shortstop this season and also spent some time on the pitching mound after enduring some issues with his elbow as a junior. This year, he batted leadoff and hit .412 with two homers, 12 doubles and three triples. His Taylorsville coach, Jake Brown, proudly hails him as "the best defensive shortstop in the state — by a lot."

Trying to pick one Carroll over the other is like trying to choose between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini — hey, you just can't lose either way — but Dallas was voted team MVP by his Taylorsville teammates this season. And, after helping lead the Warriors to a runner-up showing in the 5A state tournament, he's being honored as this year's Mr. Baseball by the Desert News.

"It's an honor," Dallas said, sincerely humbled by the award. "I know that a lot of kids in the state could've won it, so it's a big honor to be named Mr. Baseball.

"Dalton was happy for me, my whole family was, and I would be happy for him if he won it, too.

"He's a lot better pitcher than me," Dallas said of his twin brother. "We're both good hitters; he's more of a power hitter and I'm more of an on-base kind of guy. He's real good in the field, too, and much more dominant on the mound."

When he begins his collegiate career at Utah next season, Dallas will play in the outfield, while Dalton will pitch for the Utes.

"I'm excited to go up there next year," Dallas said. "I'm just glad I got the chance to play at the next level. We get to play together again next year and in the the years to come, so it continues for us."

Taylorsville took the Region 2 title with a 14-1 record and wound up going 24-8 overall this season. The Warriors reached the finals of the 5A tournament and knocked off American Fork, 6-2, in the morning game on the final day of the tournament, with Dallas drilling a double on the first pitch of the game and scoring two runs in the victory.

That forced a second winner-take-all game between the two teams, where the Cavemen rallied for a 5-4 win to claim the 5A crown.

"I was pretty disappointed we didn't win it," Dallas said. "Everybody was disappointed, just pushing that strong and coming up just a couple of innings short.

"At the same time, no one expected us to get that far. I feel that after losing that first game to Alta the way we did and then coming back the way we did, we could say we over-achieved, especially by playing in the loser's bracket and beating the teams we had to play.

"From the beginning, everyone was on the same page with us trying to win the state championship."