By Josh McFadden | [email protected]

The offseason came a little earlier than members of the Skyline baseball team had hoped. 

The Eagles lost a pair of games in the double-elimination Class 5A state tournament. Skyline ended up fourth in Region 6 with a 7-8 record, cementing for the team the final playoff spot from the league. Once at state, the Eagles had a difficult matchup against Skyridge, the champions from Region 8. 

The two teams met on Skyridge’s home field on May 13, and the Falcons displayed how they had compiled an impressive 21-4 regular season record. Skyridge blanked Skyline 10-0, allowing just one Eagle hit in the process. It only took five innings for the Falcons to get the 10-run advantage and end the game. Skyline pitcher Pierce Von App and his teammates kept its talented opponent off the board in the first inning, but the Falcons were too powerful from there. 

The Eagles were still alive and traveled to Davis County to face new school Farmington the following day in the one-loss bracket. Unfortunately for Skyline, the game was similar, with Farmington limiting the Eagles to just two hits in an 8-1 win. Skyline’s lone run came in the top of the fifth inning, making the score 3-1. However, Farmington responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to effectively put the game away. Mason Lund hit a double for the Eagles, but the team made three errors and didn’t have nearly enough in the tank to keep the season going. 

Skyline struggled down the stretch of the season against quality opponents. 

The Eagles finished the year with an overall record of 13-14 but lost their last seven games, including the two in the playoffs. Skyline had a tough draw to end the year by having to face Olympus and Highland in back-to-back series. Those two teams shared the Region 6 title, and the Eagles went a combined 1-5 against them. The lone victory in that span was a 6-5 triumph over Olympus on May 1 when Skyline scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. 

Prior to the losing streak, Skyline had put together an impressive 13-3 run over 16 games, including a 7-3 start in league play. 

The good news is the Eagles have some firepower coming back next season.

Sophomore pitcher Preston Clark picked up four wins on the mound and chipped in two doubles from the plate. Another soon-to-be junior, Hudson Manwaring, was a big contributor on offense and in the pitching lineup. He had a home run, a triple and 16 doubles this season, in addition to posting a 3-2 record from the mound.