ERIE \u2014 An Erie baseball season full of highs came to a jarring close Friday in the Class 5A Region 3 tournament.<\/p>\n
With a state tournament spot on the line, third-seeded Erie unraveled in the third inning of its regional championship game against No. 14 Mountain Vista before ultimately falling, 10-1. Ace Maddox Burnett was knocked around for six hits on his home mound, and the Tigers committed two costly errors in an eight-run third for Mountain Vista.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if anything went wrong, in particular,\u201d Erie head coach Eric Dillinger said of the costly third inning. \u201cWe haven\u2019t faced a ton of adversity this year. We faced a little adversity, we got punched in the face and just didn\u2019t quite punch back. Maddox got hit around a little bit. It doesn\u2019t happen often, but it\u2019s gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erie ended its season at 22-3 while Mountain Vista earned a spot in the eight-team, double-elimination state tournament bracket.<\/p>\n
In the opening frame, Burnett struck out two, but one reached on a dropped third strike and later scored, giving Mountain Vista an early 1-0 lead. In the fateful third, Mountain Vista\u2019s first four batters reached and all scored. Burnett recorded one out before allowing three extra-base hits and exiting.<\/p>\n
A BYU commit who entered Friday with a 7-1 record and a 1.23 ERA, Burnett will now look toward the next chapter of his bright baseball career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going on to big things,\u201d Dillinger said. \u201cWe\u2019re really proud of the man he\u2019s become.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offensively, Erie was held to one hit \u2014 a Burnett single in the first. Its lone run came on a sacrifice fly from Hudson Dageenakis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just weren\u2019t swinging at the best pitches,\u201d junior shortstop Jackson Flarity said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t really as aggressive as we hoped. It wasn\u2019t really our day. In the grand scheme of things, we just didn\u2019t hit the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Erie secured a spot in the regional championship via a 4-2 win over No. 30 ThunderRidge, marking the Tigers\u2019 10th straight victory. Senior Austin Sieckmann hurled a complete game for Erie, capped off by a strikeout with the tying run on second.<\/p>\n
Mountain Vista beat No. 19 Valor Christian in its first round matchup, 7-4.<\/p>\n
One year after falling to Chaparral in the first round of regionals, Erie suffered a similar fate Friday. The Tigers last reached the state tournament in 2022 when they fell in the Class 4A semifinals.<\/p>\n
Still, the Tigers enjoyed their winningest season in the MaxPreps era (since 2008) and will return a few key contributors, including Flarity. For their seniors, however, Friday marked the end of a memorable run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a heck of a ride,\u201d Dageenakis said. \u201cI love this team. We had so much fun and so many great memories. It\u2019s just a tough way to go out.\u201d<\/p>\n