San Juan baseball team suffers loss, but looks to get back in gear for state

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
The San Juan High School baseball team suffered a tough 12-3 loss to the Grand County Red Devils in a key 2A East matchup in Blanding on Friday, April 26.
The loss snapped a four-game Bronco winning streak and allowed the Red Devils to jump ahead of San Juan in the 2A RPI standings before they were taken offline by the Utah High School Activities Association over the weekend.
Grand won two of the three meetings between the two rivals during the regular season and it’s likely the Red Devils earned the right to host first round state tournament games this weekend while San Juan will be forced to travel.
Corbin Middleton had a good day at the plate for San Juan, going 2-for-3 in the loss with one RBI. Branten Bethea drove in two Bronco runs and was 1-for-4. San Juan stole four bases in the game.
The Broncos dropped to 15-6 with the loss, and probably to fifth place in the 2A standings, though that’s uncertain.
Their regular-season-ending doubleheader with North Sevier on Tuesday, April 30 will decide San Juan’s final position in the standings and their seeding headed into the 2A state tournament this Saturday, May 4.
The games against the Wolves were played after the San Juan Record print deadline. The Broncos will most likely play their first two games of the tournament on the road, possibly in Moab.
One-loss bracket play will take place at the home sites of the highest-seeded teams on Tuesday, May 7. The remainder of the tournament will be played at Utah Valley University in Orem May 9-11.