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Many of the players from last year’s championship team are returning this year, which makes the Bulldogs a favorite to win the title this year.

Experience makes ’Dogs favorite for title
By Sean Hales
3-12-08

KANAB—There’s little doubt in 2A baseball that this year’s Gunnison Bulldog baseball team is the team to beat.
The team is coming off a championship season in which it was undefeated in region play and finished the season with just three losses. It lost few (if any) key players to graduation, and the Deseret Morning News has the team ranked first in the state.
But, according to Gunnison head coach Jared Anderson, his team doesn’t have a target on its back anymore than any other year.
“Year-in, year-out, I always hear about the target on the back,” said Anderson. “But when hasn’t Gunnison had a target on our back?”
The key, Anderson said, is what you do with that target, which is also related to the team’s focus this year of “win the last game.”
Anderson said if his team is content just being a target, it would lose. On the other hand, he said, if the players focus on making good decisions on and off the field, and taking their experience and improving upon it, and focus on winning every pitch and every inning, they will put themselves in position to win the ultimate last game: another state championship.
“I like our chances,” he said.
And why wouldn’t he? He is returning all but one starter from last year and arguably the best pitching tandem in 2A baseball with Kevin Nay and Bradley Jackson. Nay and Jackson can also get it done at the plate, but can be streaky, which is where Taylor Newman and Max Sanders come in.
According to Anderson, Sanders hit well last weekend at a tournament in Kanab and since last year has become a consistent hitter.
As for Taylor Newman, Anderson said he played in the shadows a lot last year but has stepped up to the challenge of being the leadoff hitter.
“He’s been the most impressive kid for me this year,” said Anderson.
Jace Anderson, a nearly four-year starter at pitcher is the team’s captain and leader, both on and off the field. “He’s the workhorse,” said coach Anderson.
Also, the coach said, his team knows how to get to championships.
“We’ve been there twice,” he said. “All they know is getting there.”
What’s more, Anderson said this year’s team is the “best bunch of baseball talent” he’s put on the field in his five years at Gunnison.
In addition, he says he has a good group of assistant coaches, including former North Sevier head coach Nolan Anderson.
“Every single one of my coaches are a big part of why the team is where it’s at,” the coach said.
But, as much as Anderson likes his team’s chances to get to another championship, “that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy,” he said.
First of all, the team and community need to be unified in their actions to achieve that goal.
Second, they have to get past Richfield, the second-ranked team in 2A.
Gunnison beat Richfield three times last year, including a 2-1 win to earn the state title. But much like Gunnison, Richfield lost few players to graduation and is returning two of the top pitchers in the state, Jesse Hartle and sophomore Chris Jensen.
Hartle hit a grand slam against American Leadership Academy to seal the first game of the Richfield tournament last Friday, when Jensen pitched a one-hit shutout. Hartle then pitched a five-inning shutout against Enterprise to win the tournament on Saturday.
Coach Anderson hasn’t seen Richfield in action yet, but he knows the Wildcats will be stiff opposition.
“I know the players they can put on the field,” he said. “There’s some good talent right there.”
As for Gunnison, they fell short of a championship win last weekend in Kanab at the Chuckwagon Classic when Virgin Valley beat them 11-2.
Coach Anderson said they were trying different personnel in the game, including putting underclassman pitcher Shawn Gubeli on the mound, to see what different players have to offer.
But the loss only proves Anderson’s point: “If we’re content with where we’re at, who we are and what we do, we will lose.”
But there is a silver lining, he said, “It was a good learning experience.”
Gunnison got to the championship game by beating Lincoln County, Nev., 13-0, and Beaver, 5-3.
On Friday, Jackson pitched a shutout and hit a triple to beat Lincoln County in five innings.
The Bulldogs found their stride in the third and fourth innings when they put up 11 runs. Nay went 3-for-4 from the plate with a double and two RBIs.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs secured their second win of the tournament when they withstood a seventh-inning rally in which Beaver put up all three of their runs..
Max Sanders went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBIs, while Nay recorded the win.
Gunnison hosted Manti Tuesday (results not available by press time) and will play Morgan on Friday at 10 a.m. in the first game of the Hillsports Spring Classic tournament in Gunnison.