San Juan baseball team goes 3-1 to open season at Cactus Classic in Mesquite, Nevada

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School baseball team opened the 2025 season with three wins and one loss at the annual Cactus Classic tournament this past weekend hosted by Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite, NV.
The Broncos began with a 7-2 win over Duchesne on Thursday, March 6 but suffered a tough 13-0 loss to Enterprise in game two on Friday, March 7.
In the nightcap Friday night they took a 10-5 lead over Moapa Valley into the fifth and final inning, but the Pirates plated six runs in the inning to take an 11-10 advantage.
San Juan rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fifth, earning a 12-11 win on a walk-off single by Brody Bilbao.
The team concluded the weekend with a dominant 10-1 win over Duchesne on Saturday, March 8 for their second win in a row over the Eagles.
The Broncos scored seven runs on nine hits in their first game against Duchesne, with Jaiten Knight picking up the win on the mound. He struck out eight Eagle batters.
Talon Mendoza got the win against Moapa Valley as San Juan collected ten hits and 12 runs offensively. Branten Bethea drove in three runs in the game.
In their second game against Duchesne the Broncos put up an impressive 14 hits and ten runs. Corbin Middleton led the attack with three hits and two RBIs, and pitcher Jaiten Knight picked up his second win of the season.
San Juan Head Coach Jens Nielson, who just began his seventh season, said he is pleased after the team’s first four games.
“We played great defense and got solid pitching from Jaiten Knight, Jake Ivins, and Corbin Middleton,” he reported. “We had strong hitting from Middleton, Nache Young, Cash Palmer, and really the whole team at times.”
“It was a great start to the season,” Nielson continued. “This is a fun group who play together and want to win. We are excited to find out what else we can do.”
San Juan will have plenty of opportunity to prove themselves this weekend when they face four teams in a round robin tournament in Moab.
They’ll take on Beaver Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m., then the host Grand County Red Devils at 2 p.m. On Saturday, March 15 they’ll play Emery at noon, followed by a contest against American Leadership Academy at 4 p.m.