Fair 48° F

Home > Archive > Jul 26, 2007

Snow Canyon All-Stars Return to San Bernardino
By Stephen Vincent
The Snow Canyon Little League 12-year-old All-Stars won their third straight state title.
Not only was it the third straight state title for Snow Canyon in the 12-year-old boys tournament, it was the third straight championship for the team, who won state titles as 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds.
The team advances to the six-team Western Regional Championships in San Bernardino, Calif. The championship game of the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN, and the winner will advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
The tournament begins with pool play, with each team playing four games. The teams with the top four records from pool play advance to a single-elimination tournament that begins Aug. 9. The West Regional final is Aug. 11 at 7 p.m.
The Snow Canyon All-Stars will start the tournament on Aug. 3 against the state champion from Nevada at 12:45 p.m.
The team will also play the champions from Arizona (Aug. 4), Northern California (Aug. 6) and Southern California (Aug. 7). Hawaii is also in the West Regional pool, but that team will not face Snow Canyon in pool play.
The schedule this year has been rearranged so that Snow Canyon can avoid Sunday play, a sticky issue that caused last year's team to forfeit a scheduled Sunday game. 
The games will be played at Al Houghton Stadium, which can seat 8,000 people in the stands and another 2,000 fans on the grass.
Travis Gates, the head coach of Snow Canyon, is coaching an All-Star team in San Bernardino for the second time. He coached the team two years ago that went to San Bernardino.
“It's an awesome experience,” Gates said. “The kids are going to have their eyes wide open. They take care of the kids; it's all about the kids there.”
Gates said he expects they will play in front of crowds of around 3,000 in their day games. He said the attendance rises during night games and when one of the California teams plays.
Those two factors will be in play on Aug. 6, when the team takes on Northern California in the late game, so Gates said he expects that will be the game they play in front of the most fans.
Gates said he has enjoyed coaching this team and that each player contributed to Snow Canyon's state title.
“All of these kids do their part,” Gates said. “We need all 12 of them to win these games. We try to keep it in the kids' minds, championship teams are not made of two or three guys; we need them all.”
The team members were Brody Adams, Mason Smith, Chandler Day, Brenden Truman, Trevor Cox, Tyler Strehlow, Joey Sargent, Riley Gates, Taylor Johansen, Chandler Gines, Jesse Lambert and Brogan Secrist.
Gates said his two assistant coaches, Lonnie Truman and Mike Day, also contributed to the win.
“They're both really good with the kids,” he said.
Snow Canyon qualified for the tournament by winning the Utah Little League championship in the state tournament that was in Cedar July 9-14.
Snow Canyon's key to winning the tournament was a come-from-behind win over Cedar American in extra innings July 10.
Gates' son, Riley, plays on the team and picked up the victory on the mound in both games against Cedar American. Gates, who coached the Orioles in the Snow Canyon Little League, coaches, in part, to be around his son.
“I love to be around my boy,” he said. “But it's past that. It's about all the kids now. They're fun to be around.”
Cedar American came back through the bracket to earn another shot at Snow Canyon in the state championship, but Snow Canyon prevailed 7-0 to win the title. 
The championship was one of several for the Snow Canyon Little Leagues, as their 11-12 girls’ softball team, and 11-year-old and 13-year-old boys all won state championships.
Members of the 13-year-old boys state championship team included Taylor Apple, Kyler Brower, Landon Fausett, Zack Frei, Sean Gunter, Kole Halladay, Dallin Hunt, Skyler Moss, Austin Robertson, Zack Simmons and Joshua Wills-King. The team was managed by Matt Brower, whose assistants were Erik Halladay and Tim Apple.
The 13-year-olds beat Cedar American, 13-12, to capture the title.
The 11-year-olds won their state title by downing Dixie, 14-3.

---