The smiles were not hard to find.
Despite the 8-3 regular-season-finale loss to rival Wasatch, the Park City High School boys’ baseball team celebrated its senior day Thursday afternoon, and the mood was the farthest thing from somber.
And for good reason.
While the Miners did drop their last home game of the season, the outcome may prove to be vital for the team’s postseason outlook. The loss puts the Miners in a preliminary-round bracket that does not include the vaunted No. 1-ranked Spanish Fork Dons.
With the victory, the Wasps clinched the No. 2 seed out of Region 10. Park City, the No. 3 seed, will most likely face Cedar High School or Dixie next Saturday in the first round of the 3A state playoffs. Should the Miners win that game, a potential second-round matchup against the Stansbury Stallions is a bit more welcome than one against Spanish Fork.
“To be the man, you have to beat the man and I understand the mentality,” said Park City head coach Lou Green. “I agree with that. I never want to lose, but I’m OK with today.”
As were the Park City fans and family members, who crowded the diamond afterward to honor this year’s seven seniors Nate Stanley, Gabe Cohen, Ryan Stokes, Caleb Kaufman, Brenner Webb, Conner Lagnese and Brae Dilley.
Ironically, the Miners had ruined the Wasps’ senior day on Tuesday with a 4-1 victory over Wasatch in Heber. On Thursday afternoon, the Wasps returned the favor as Green abandoned his typical no-nonsense approach to the game and gave his seniors one last hurrah on their home field.
“They’re seniors, they worked hard and they deserved to play just like anyone else,” he said. “I’m a real stickler on ‘the best guys play.’ But today was more about the seniors than the wins or losses for me. This is the one time of year I kind of bow out and give in a little.”
Park City jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when freshman catcher Chandler Anderson attempted to steal second base. Sophomore shortstop TJ Mayo, who was on third, took off when he saw the Wasatch catcher uncork a throw to second.
But from there it was all Wasatch.
The Wasps tied the game in the top of the third inning and eventually took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Wasatch tacked on three more runs to take a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth, bouncing Lagnese from his senior-day start.
“We got behind in counts and that’s the name of the game,” Green said. “When Conner’s ahead you in the count, you can’t beat him; when he’s behind in the count, he’s very beatable. That’s what we fell into today. But he’ll bounce back. He’s Conner Lagnese.”
The Miners made it interesting in the bottom of the sixth, adding two more runs before Wasatch added some comfort with two runs in the top of the seventh. Stokes, a senior second baseman, had an impressive day, going 3-for-4 and reaching base four times.
Despite losing four of their last six regular-season games, the Miners, as Green said, head into the postseason confident. He said his players know their strengths and weaknesses and, as long as they can play smart baseball, they have the potential to make some postseason noise come next Saturday.
“We’re more disciplined and we play better defense,” he said. “I have a lot better confidence going into May this year than I did last.”
Following the game, the seniors who were honored thanked their family members, friends, fans and teammates for their support. Green grabbed the microphone and addressed the crowd, adding his own thoughts.
Assistant coach Matt Strader approached Lagnese and the two embraced in a hug.
“Let’s keep this thing going,” Strader told his ace lefty, “so we can really celebrate in a couple weeks.”