High School Baseball: Juab And Canyon View Advance To 3a Championship Series

A baseball remains on the field after a high school baseball game held at the Magna Copper Baseball Field in Magna on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

Juab 5, Grantsville 3

A year ago, Juab lost in disappointing fashion after what was otherwise a strong season. The Wasps were double eliminated by Union as it went on to win a 3A title.

No. 2 Juab had extra motivation in this years’ 3A bracket and as a result has qualified for the 3A championship series after a 5-3 victory over No. 7 Grantsville on Wednesday.

“I think it’s just a couple of breaks here and there,” said Juab head coach Josh Park. “I felt like our team last year had great talent. This year we’ve just had a few more breaks go our way. We’re throwing strikes, we’re making the outs that we need to make and we’re getting some clutch hits at times where we need clutch hits.”

Its lead was never overbearing, but Juab was never in a position where its lead was in jeopardy. The Wasps jumped up to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a home run from Austin Park with a runner on base. It was Park’s second home run of the postseason.

Grantsville scored in the top of the third inning, but Luke Marostica had a sacrifice RBI to keep its lead at two with a 3-1 score. The Wasps built its lead up to 5-1 in the fourth with an RBI single from Trevin Park and an RBI triple from Connor Cowan.

While Juab never trailed, things got a little scary for the Wasps in the sixth inning with Grantsville’s Guhner Kimber hitting a single which brought home two runs to cut the lead to 5-3.

As the Cowboys went up to bat in the seventh inning, Juab knew it just had to get out of the inning without giving up two runs. Marostica delivered with two strikeouts as Juab held Grantsville away from a seventh-inning comeback.

“Luke came in right there and pitched really well,” Park said. “He came in and pounded the strike zone and made some big, big pitches.”

It was a big win for Juab. Had they lost to Grantsville, the Wasps would’ve had to play another championship qualifier on Thursday. However, winning guarantees a championship appearance and a day of rest for the pitchers’ arms.

“It’s actually huge because it resets our pitching back to where we need it to be for that that championship series, so this was a big game for us,” said Park. “We did not want to drop this one. We wanted to take care of business today and kudos to our kids for doing just that.”

Canyon View 2, Emery 0

It wasn’t its most lights out performance of the postseason, but top-seeded Canyon View executed where it needed to and advanced to the 3A championship series with a 2-0 win over No. 12 Emery.

The Spartans were the Cinderella team of the 3A bracket as they entered as the twelfth seed and knocked off No. 4 Morgan twice to earn a chance against Canyon View.

However, the Falcons held a tight defense on Wednesday with four three-up, three-down innings and didn’t allow Emery to score a single run. CJ McClellan got the win at the mound with five strikeouts on the night.

“You have a good chance when you limit them to three hits,” said Canyon View head coach Jason Jacobsen. “I don’t think we gave up too many freebies and (McClellan) was just really great tonight and pitched with a lot of confidence and just pounded the zone.”

Canyon View’s hitting wasn’t quite as solid as it has been so far in 3A bracket play, but it did enough to finish the job.

Jarron Bradshaw first scored for the Falcons in the second inning as he stole home after the Spartan defense had an error. Canyon View’s Jake Thomas also had an RBI single in the second inning to take the 2-0 lead.

The base hits tapered off for Canyon View. It got one in the third inning off a single from Trenton Ludlow, but that was its last base hit of the night.

Emery’s defense also played a tight game as pitcher Zander Robinson threw no walks and had three consecutive three-up, three-down innings. The Spartans held Canyon View to just three base hits for the evening.

While it wasn’t as pretty of a win as Jacobsen would’ve liked, it was the first time Canyon View was really tested in bracket play as its other two wins were mercy-rule routs. The Falcons proved it can battle in close playoff games.

“It’s been a while, but I said on Monday, ‘We have to be ready to win a 3-2 score game and then tonight we had a 2-0 game. We came up with some hits there that second inning and that was the that was the difference,” he said.

Canyon View now has a chance to win its first baseball championship in school history as it starts its 3A championship series against Juab on Friday. However, Jacobsen knows his team will have to play better against the Wasps to secure the 3A crown.

“We will need to do a little bit better job at the plate than we did tonight,” said Jacobsen. “Give all the all the credit in the world to Emery. I thought they were fantastic and we’re going to see some good arms on Friday and Saturday. (Juab) knows us, we know them, so there’s really no surprises.”