Utah HS Team Preview: Snow Canyon HS

Utah HS Team Previews -Snow Canyon Warriors

Opening Day and the weekend has arrived! The Utah High School Activities Association has announced that opening day of the 2022 season will commence on Monday March 6th. Jeff Scholzen (Utah Scouting Director) begins the 2023 season coverage with our annual preseason team previews, where we will take notes from coaches, and highlight returning players, newcomers, and some sleepers. Over the next couple of weeks and leading up to opening day, we will be highlighting some of the top programs in the state with our team previews.

As our ardent readers are aware, Team Previews are answered by the Head Coaches of those programs and the scouting reports embedded in the PBR player profiles of the top players, are written by state scouting director Jeff Scholzen, the states only full-time MLB Area Scouting supervisor ever. 

With data partners Trackman Baseball, the leaders in measuring the ball flight and its characteristics off the bat for position players and out of the hand for pitchers. No one does it better. Blast Motion captures key swing metrics in evaluating the efficiency of the swing and where a player's swing is good or bad and what needs to be worked on. Swift Performance measures power output as an athlete with the EZ jump mat and collecting not only the 60 yard dash, but the 10 and 30 yard dashes as well. 3M technology measures key pitching mechanics and how the delivery through the body moves in sequence to produce and provide a more effortless and efficient delivery. 

This season as in every past season, stats are collected across the state at the end of that week's play, with input from coaches, assistant coaches and ultimately myself in putting together comprehensive player content on a weekly basis with the following. 

1. Weekly Utah Power 25 Overall Team Rankings (Monday)

2. Player and Pitcher of the Week, along with other notable player performances (Tuesday)

3. Player Spotlights throughout the spring of top players who are making their mark on the HS scene in capturing college recruiting looks. 

4. I will be scouting games throughout the state and posting player videos on Twitter for college marketing purposes on a weekly basis and in some cases where action is flowing and games are staggered, such as the preseason tourneys down south on a daily basis. 

Quick Footnote: Only 7% of all HS baseball players will play college baseball and the elite of that group, which consists of only 2% will play at the D1 level. These are the players I’m watching and gleaning information on. This is determined by objective data from events, as well as the subjective eye evaluations, honed from my 30 years at the college and professional level. 

Snow Canyon by the numbers

Head Coach: Reed Secrist (19th Year)

(3A/4A Coach of the Year numerous times) 

• 4 State Championships 

Classification: 4A

Region: 10

2021 Win-Loss: 28-4

2022 Win-Loss: 22-12

State Playoff appearances in last 10 years: 7

State Championship appearances last 10 years: 4

State Championships last 10 years: 3

2021 Final PBR Utah Ranking: 4

2023 Preseason PBR Ranking: 11

2021 4A State Champions

2022 4A State Runner-Ups

Tradition and History

This years Snow Canyon squad should make another deep run into the state tournament and definitely has the depth and fire power to make another run at the state title, as the Santa Clara area school, where Snow Canyon is located, boasts a decades long baseball tradition, one that has captured the attention at different points in time nationally. Snow Canyon wins on a consistent basis and supports PBR endeavors with player recruitment and sends players onto the next level, while playing in one of the prettiest venues in the state, with Warrior Field, being a destination of many snowbird schools in January and February, making the trek south to get practices in, and play scrimmages. 2023 will be fun to watch as the Warriors are already in action, when they welcome many of the snowbird programs to southern Utah for the annual pilgrimage of preseason tournaments. 

The Warriors are one of the premier baseball schools in the state, regardless of classification. I have long been a supporter of the baseball type school, which wins region and state championships, while also producing collegiate talent. I am not a believer in big schools are better, because of their enrollment and perception of talent. Wins, titles and college commitments combined are what makes a school a baseball school and state powerhouse, and Snow Canyon fits that bill. One thing that is a given, put a bigger school up against the Warriors and 6 out of 10 times, they beat them. They currently have the 2nd most active college players in the state, behind American Fork HS.

 Landon Frei, 2B at the U of Utah

      Mason Strong, C at the U of Oklahoma

  Mayze Mosher, LF/3B at the College of Southern Nevada

  Isaac Lyon, RHP, Grand Canyon University

     Austin Deming, 3B, Brigham Young University

 Luke Anderson, LF, Brigham Young University

  Carston Herman, LHP, Utah Tech University

   Cannon Secrist, RHP, Academy of Art

Key Returners with Class/Position

Sam Lindsey OF / C / Snow Canyon , UT / 2023 Rankings  State Rank: 49 / POS: 10   Uncommitted 2021 All-Region / HM All-State 2022 All-Region / 2nd Team All-State 8/13/21 A Future Games and West Coast Games participant, Lindsey at the WCG’s showed well behind the plate during the workout and got off some strong throws with area of the bag clothesline throws. An Outfielder at the Future Games, and was slated to catch at the WCG’s, but after the workout, a freak stray ball hit him in the right shoulder and kept him from action over the weekend. But he displayed well in the workout portion and strung together a solid BP with well struck balls and his usually high Trackman and Blast data. Lindsey will most likely be the starting catcher over the next 2 years at Snow Canyon HS, but wherever he lands on the defensive side, his big bat will be squarely in the middle of the order and will be counted on to carry the legacy forward at his powerhouse HS.  7/31/21 A Future Games participant and played RF in LakePoint and made some nice running plays with a shallow fly ball that he retreated a step and played well on the turf to throw out and force the runner at 2B. Smashed a 3B to the RF corner and took sharp turns at each back to make it standing up with ease. Had a solid workout and showed 99 mph EV’s with big hand and bat speed. Is an invite to play in the inaugural PBR West Coast Games in Las Vegas and expect him to show well. Will be the starting catcher at Snow Canyon as a junior, after manning RF as an All-Region Sophomore in ‘21

Hayden Smith C / 3B / Snow Canyon , UT / 2024 Rankings  State Rank: 23 / POS: 4   Uncommitted 2022 HM All-Region 10 10/30/22 Smith has a very solid workout and showed well. The junior to be, was the starting catcher for the state powerhouse Snow Canyon Warriors this past spring as a sophomore, hitting .393 with 2 HR’s, 26 RBI’s and 7 2B’s to go along with 2 3B’s. Smith even walked 21 times vs 17 K’s, suggesting plate discipline is in place, to improve even more in that category. Smith put up a EV of 93.1 with a max distance of 352 to go along with a very good sweet spot contact of 82% and hard hit rate of 73%. From the Blast Motion metrics, an on plane efficiency mark of 82 was elite in keeping his barrel in the zone and in line with the baseball, giving him an elite chance to make the sweet spot and hard hit rates! Defensively Smith is an efficient receiver and continues to improve and get better in this area and does catch some slightly above average arms at his HS, plus his head coach caught for many years in pro ball, to go along with having a former 13 yr MLB pitcher as the pitching coach, to learn and grow along with his head coach in running and working with a pitching staff. This is by breakout player in the 2024 class for next spring and look forward to seeing his numbers soar even higher over the next two seasons. ** College coaches should get on this kid quick and he would be an impact bat and receiver at the next level    3/06/22 has taken over the catching duties at state powerhouse Snow Canyon with a knack for squaring up the ball and making hard LD contact to all fields. He has a simple repeatable whippy stroke to hit and with continued physical development, his metrics will only rise with age and maturity. Behind the plate he takes charge for a young kid and that is key as Coach Reed Secrist expects nothing less, after all Smith is replacing big shoes on 4A Player of the Year Mason Strong (BYU). Smith has a quick release and sound footwork. His throws are on the money with a developing arm that should add significant strength with age once again. Smith plays for highly competitive Mountain West in the summer and as his notoriety increases, and he matures physically, college coaches should definitely take notice.

 

Crew Secrist SS / 2B / Snow Canyon, UT / 2024 Rankings  State Rank: 22 / POS: 5   Uncommitted 2022 HM All-Region 10 10/30/22 2022 PBR West Coast Games The son of long time state champion head coach Reed Secrist, who was a 13 year veteran of professional baseball and has won numerous state title and coach of the year awards. The apples didn’t fall too far from the tree, as the other two Secrist boys have played college baseball. Crew is the last in the line and has improved leaps and bounds over the last 2 years, since entering HS, as he has cut his 60 time from 8.2 to 7.3 and has added significant wiry strength. All the Secrist boys as well as his coach/father are stout, tall and strong. Crew displayed even further strength gains this past weekend, with highs of 96.4 in exit velo, 78.8% sweet spot contact and has jumped his bat speed max to 73. Secrist has a feel for the game with the bloodlines, but has the wiry strength to get even stronger and take his short, quick slightly uphill stroke to another level over the next couple of years and add sme latent power. Best suited for 2B, but the hands work and the bat should play as an offensive 2B type at the next level.  8/21/22 Had a good showing at the West Coast Games, as he excelled in game 3 w/3 hits and 4 RBI’s along w/a slick one handed play to his left and made a accurate backhand power feed to the 2B’man for the force at the bag. Lean and wiry with the frame to add muscle and size as he matures. His father Reed is his HS coach and is a 4 time state champion coach and has produced dozens of college baseball players, along with 12-13 currently playing at the next level. Crew’s father played 13 years of professional baseball and has 3 brothers that play or played at the next level. So the bloodlines are in place w/the instruction as well. Crew features an upright stance with a drawback of his front side into his backside w/an inward turn of the knee to load his backside and takes the knob of the bat and drives it inside out with a short, compact stroke to find the barrel. Gained valuable varsity time in ‘22 as a D1 commit went down at SS, allowing Secrist to start every game up the middle as a sophomore. Makes plays with instincts and field awareness and his arm is a bit short right now, but will only get stronger as he fills out overall and gains his man strength down the road. Look for even more development over others with the instruction and bloodlines intact.  7/12/22 Positional Profile: SS/2B Hits: RHH Power: 92 max exit velocity, averaged 86.7 MPH. 315' max distance. Arm: RH. INF-79 mph . Defense: Run: 7.36 runner in the 60 Vizual Edge: 76.02 Edge Score   3/06/22 A bloodline player, he had a couple of brothers that play at the next level and a father, who is the Snow Canyon 4 time state champion head coach, who played 13 years of professional baseball. Taught and coached right, Crew is blossoming into a projectable hitter for the next level. Currently holding down the 2B spot as a sophomore for the defending 4A state champs, Secrist has a slight uphill approach to hit and is gaining strength and maturing physically. Room for another 25-30 pounds at maturity. The ball jumps off his bat with an EV high of 91. Currently with long legs and a lean skinny look, the men in his family are physical and I look for the same from Crew. I see a hitter that will be a late bloomer and impact the Warriors offense.

 

Talan Kelly 3B / RHP / Snow Canyon, UT / 2024 Rankings  State Rank: 16 / POS: 1   Uncommitted 2022 All-Region 10 10/30/22 Kelly has been on my radar for a couple of years now, and I’ve seen him quite a bit at local Snow Canyon HS (14 active college baseball players - most in state), and I was able to see him for the first time since this last spring. Kelly is a strong fire hydrant type build w/a strong burly look and has really good leg strength. Kelly showed future solid avg raw power to the pull side with an EV max of 94.8 and drove one out to straight away LF at 356’. Also possessing one of the top 3-4 INF arms at the event at 84 mph across the diamond, Kelly also took his turn on the mound and spotted the FB to both sides, from 85-87 and wouldn’t surprise me to see 90 before next spring is finished. The separator on the mound, besides abv avg HS velocity, is the CB 74-77 featured spins of over 2500+. With 2 years of HS remaining, look for Kelly to be the next college baseball player coming from Snow Canyon HS.

Makaio Swensen RHP / OF / Snow Canyon, UT / 2024 Rankings  State Rank: 21 / POS: 6   Uncommitted 10/30/22 2022 PBR Future Games 2022 West Coast Games The Future Games alum was a big surprise as far as his bat was concerned. Having scouted him as a pitcher and that being his role as a sophomore for state power Snow Canyon this past spring, Swensen went both ways at the All-State Games, and took a very good BP. What stood out from a data standpoint, is his Blast scores of 25.2 hand speed and 77.8 bat speed were elite, to go along with a Trackman EV of 93.1. He features an athletic, even proportioned square stance at the plate with his bat held in the cocked position and fired the knob inside and through the baseball, with some natural lifted plane of attack to back spin the ball. On the mound, the sinker baller, pumped in K’s at 82-85 with the FB and reached a high 87.3 for a low ¾ slot at the Future Games in July at LakePoint. There is definite growth and maturation to come, as his Dad is 6’6 and Makaio has long legs for a 6 footer, so he may not be done growing? Big upside for any school on this kid from a two way perspective. Solid athlete and running gate! 8/04/22 Swensen made the most of his 3 inning start at the PBR Future Games, as he left the game in a 2-1 deficit, but pitched well, showing a lively sinking ground ball type FB 83-87, sitting 86. With a flexible med to high kick to delivery, Swensen has a longer take away in back w/a slight palm up towards 2B. The delivery and LTQ arm action are a spittin’ image of former BYU great and current big league Cubs pitcher, Michael Rucker. With the arm slot and movement pattern of the arm stroke, Makaio gets inside the baseball, which creates a spin pattern of late life w/run and sink. The CB takes on SL type shape at 73-77 with horizontal action and sweep. As he gets older and his body matures with added strength, it’s easy to see a power sinker type arm in the low 90’s as he induces GB’s that hitters will swing over the top of, while chasing the SL away. Makaio will be at the PBR West Coast Games in Las Vegas as well on August 12-14!

‘24 Ryder Harrison, LF

‘24 Kyson Goates, RHP/UTL

Key players lost to graduation 

Luke Anderson, CF (BYU) 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year and "Mr Baseball Utah"

Isaac Lyon (Grand Canyon U)

Jake Johnson 

Drake Kelly

Logan Mendenhall

Who is your X Factor to your success

Makaio Swensen

Returning players who were named All-Region / All-State 

‘23 Sam Lindsey, 1st Team All-Region 10 / 4A 1st Team All-State

‘24 Crew Secrist, HM All-Region 10

‘24 Hayden Smith, HM All Region 10

‘24 Talan Kelly, All-Region 10 

Players who are now playing College Baseball from 2022

Luke Anderson

Isaac Lyon

Jake Johnson

List players you feel have college baseball potential*

Everyone, you know if they'll leave Utah there is somewhere for them to play. 

Coaches Summary and Outlook

We'll be young, but these guys were able to get a lot of experience last year playing for the state championship.  Looking to make a run again through a very competitive region 10.  Pitching will be key but we have guys with varsity time on the mound - Coden Herman 23, Talan Kelly 24, Kyson Goates 24, Makaio Swensen 24,  Crew Secrist 24, Andrew Lyon 25.  If the pitching is good, the defense could be even better.  

With 5 starters returning at key positions.  Hayden Smith will be the everyday catcher once again, with Ryder Harrison being  asked to move from 1B to LF.  Crew Secrist will man SS, Talan Kelly  at his usual 3B and Sam Lindsey will move from RF after two years and patrol CF. Hitting should be good once again, but we’ll see how it all plays out over the next few months. 

• Reed Secrist (Head Coach) Link to professional career

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