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Preseason Countdown: No 21 Rock Canyon

March 11, 2015

By John Cackowski
State Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage. The top 50 teams are picked from all classifications, and are not divided up by class level. To see the entire list click here

Team: Rock Canyon
Preseason Rank: 21
2014 Record: 14-6
Conference: Continental
CHSAA Class: 5A
Head Coach: Tyler Munro
Playoff Run: Lost in 1st round of districts to Mountain Range 5-1
2014 Final Rank: 20
Returning Starters: 7
Returning Pitchers: 1

TOP PLAYERS:
Chris Givin, SS, 2015, Xavier Commit. 
Josh White, 2B, 2015. West Point (Army) Commit
Quinn O'Neil, CF, 2015, Trinidad State Commit
Bryce Dietz, SP, 2015
Daryl Myers, Util, 2016
Trevor Howard, 2016

X-FACTOR:
Scoring Runs was the achilles heal for the Jaguars in 2014. Producing runs will be key for them to make a deep 5A playoff run.

NEW PLAYER TO WATCH:
Logan O'Neil, C, 2017., 5-foot-9: O'Neil started 8 games at catcher as a freshman last spring

KEY PLAYER LOST:
Kade Castleberry: Graduated

STAT RAT:
Up the middle SS Chris Givin, 2B Josh White, and CF Quinn O'Neil only made 3 errors all together in 2014.

BOTTOM LINE:  

The Jaguars will again be a team flying under the radar in 2015. In 2014 they were in position to be a potential host site, then ran into a good Mountain Range team in the first round of the 5A district playoffs and lost 5-1. What the state needs to realize is their top 7 batters are returning and their No. 1 pitcher is coming back. Their CF/SS/2B are all committed, and their No. 1 pitcher is getting D-1 interest. 2015 SS and Xavier commit Chris Givin returns and he might be the best defensive shortstop in the state. Givin hit .349 in 2014 and led the team with 14 RBI's. 2015 2B and West Point commit Josh White returns and he might be the best defensive 2B in the state. Between Givin and White they only made 3 errors in 2014. White hit .377 and led the team with 17 runs in 2014. 2015 CF and Trinidad State commit Quinn O'Neil was the Jaguars top hitter in 2014 hitting .400 while providing speed on the bases stealing 10. No. 30 2015 RHP Bryce Dietz comes back to anchor the staff. Going into the playoffs Dietz led 5A in ERA. He would end up going 4-1 on the season with a 2.05 ERA in 30 IP only giving up 22 hits. 2016 UTIL Daryl Myers can play anywhere on defense and atted .410 with 10 SB as a sophomore. 2016 OF Trevor Howard returns as well and batted .357 with 11 SB as a sophomore. The Jaguars don't beat themselves, and with all of the experience coming back if they can get some consistent offensive production they will be one of the top teams in the Continental League and in 5A.

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