TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (May 12, 2023) - It may not have always been pretty but the Salt Lake Community College baseball team's hopes for a Region 18 championship are still alive.
 
SLCC had a split performance in Thursday's Region 18 tournament games in Las Vegas, dropping a 13-5 decision to No. 10 Southern Nevada in a winners' bracket game to start the day. The Bruins then responded with a 6-1 win over Southern Idaho in an elimination game Friday evening to advance to Saturday's final. 
 
Salt Lake will play Southern Nevada again Friday at 12:00 p.m. PST in the Region 18 championship game. The Bruins will have to defeat the Coyotes twice in order to claim the region title.
 
Southern Nevada 13, Salt Lake 5: An early SLCC lead didn't hold up as the Bruins fell out of the winners' bracket.
 
Salt Lake held an early 2-0 lead, thanks to a Trey McLawhorn home run in the third inning, before Southern Nevada scored five runs to take a lead it would never relinquish. McLawhorn did hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning but it proved to be too little, too late. 
 
McLawhorn was 2-of-3 in the game with three RBI's. Chip Beck went 2-of-4. 
 
Salt Lake 6, Southern Idaho 1: The Bruins performed under pressure in an elimination game, moving to a strong victory to advance to Friday's region championship games.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, SLCC scored six runs, with four runs being unearned. Hunter Neumayer also had an RBI single in the inning. Southern Idaho had two errors in the game, with both errors happening in the pivotal fourth inning.
 
Blake Stanger earned the pitching win, posting 12 strikeouts in six innings. Dillon Kelly closed out the game in relief, throwing five strikeouts.