Spring is in the air, and high school baseball is in full swing around the state. Local Davis County teams have begun region play, and Davis is off to a good start. 

The Darts won their first two Region 1 contests, defeating Syracuse 9-3 on April 7 and 8-2 on April 9. The two teams squared off again on April 10 on Syracuse’s home field, after our press deadline. The two victories pushed the Darts’ overall record to 8-7. 

In the first victory over Syracuse, played on the road, Davis prevailed behind Lincoln Green’s six strikeouts on the mound and his home run and two RBI from the plate. Will Nixon also had a home run and added three RBI. Mitch Ossmen also drove in a run and had a double, as did Kysen Gellegos. 

The second game with Syracuse, this time at home, the Darts overcame a 2-1 deficit in the fourth inning to outscore the Titans 7-0 the rest of the way. Davis capped the victory with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Trigg Wimmer had a big day, batting in four runs for Davis and adding four strikeouts. Gellegos and Cam Moody each had RBIs. 

Next week, Davis has a three-game series with Layton. The two teams will collide on April 14, 15 and 17. 

Farmington 

The Phoenix will be the last team in Region 1 to start league play, with a game at Weber on April 14 and a rematch on April 17. Heading into those two matchups, the Phoenix are 2-11, having struggled in non-region play. 

Farmington has wins over Cottonwood (11-5 on March 9) and Northridge (13-6 on March 27). The Phoenix are hoping the region portion of the season offers a restart and a chance to gain some momentum. Farmington and Davis meet in a three-game series April 21, 22 and 24. 

A bright spot for the Phoenix has been junior infielder/pitcher Ryland Drollinger, who has a home run, four doubles and nine RBI so far this season. Britton Graham has struck out 16 batters. 

Bountiful 

In Region 6, teams have been entrenched in league play for a few weeks. Bountiful is off to a 5-3 start in the seven-team region and is 7-7 overall. As of April 9, Bountiful 1 ½ games behind first-place Olympus. 

The Redhawks scored a big 13-11 win over Olympus on April 7 in what has been the Titans’ only league defeat of the season. 

In that victory, Bountiful had a huge rally in the fifth and sixth innings, outscoring Olympus 8-0 with four runs in each of those innings. Heading into the bottom of the fifth, Olympus held a 10-5 advantage. 

Several Redhawks contributed to the win. 

Mickey Wilis, J Castleberry and Tait Caldwell each smacked home homes and drove in two runs apiece. Castleberry, Dax Jenkins and Tegan Barnes had doubles, with Barnes adding three RBI. Wilis was also big on the mound, earning the win and retiring three batters. 

Bountiful couldn’t beat Olympus a second time when the two teams met up on April 8, as the Redhawks fell 12-6. Bountiful and Olympus completed their three-game series on April 10 on Bountiful’s home field, after our press deadline. 

Next week, the Redhawks play three games at Woods Cross, April 13, 14 and 17. 

Caldwell has been a major force behind Bountiful’s success this season. The sophomore had hit two home runs and a double, and he has added 12 RBI. Pitcher Corey Erickson has struck out 21 batters. 

Woods Cross

The Wildcats are just a game behind Bountiful with a 4-4 record in league play, meaning next week’s games between the rivals will be critical in the league standings. 

The 8-7 Wildcats took a pair of games from Alta earlier in the week, with one game left against the Hawks on Friday, after our press deadline. Woods Cross prevailed 10-6 on April 7 and won again on April 8, this time by the score of 13-12 in a slugfest. 

In the April 7 matchup, Woods Cross got off to a great start, thanks to seven runs in the second inning. The Wildcats led 8-2 after three innings and held on, adding two runs in the top of the seventh inning for insurance. Beckham Stanger, Paxton Healy and Creighton Farr each hit doubles, with Stanger and Healy each batting in two runs. 

The second game featured 27 hits, with Woods Cross winning despite recording seven few hits than Alta. This thrilling matchup wasn’t looking good late when Alta took a 12-8 lead into the bottom of the seventh. That’s when the Wildcats reeled off five hits to pull off the comeback. James Hallows hit a home run and brought in three runs. 

Viewmont 

Viewmont dropped all seven of its non-region games but has picked up a pair of region games in six tries. Now, at 2-4 in Region 6, the Vikings are working to move up the standings and improve their RPI ranking. 

Viewmont has a challenging series with Olympus next week, with games on April 14, 15 and 17 against the league leaders. The Vikings were off this week on the heels of three losses to Alta March 31, April 1 and April 3. Viewmont’s two Region 6 victories came over Bountiful. The Vikings toppled the Redhawks 11-0 on March 24 and 11-6 on March 25 before falling to the Redhawks 10-2 on March 27.