Skyline baseball: Ashton Sponaugle feature

On Feb. 23, I interviewed former Skyline baseball player Ashton Sponaugle. This was the fifth - and final - feature article on seniors who played on the Eagle's baseball team last year. Sponaugle transferred from Bountiful just before his senior year and made a big impact. He's a guy with potential in a lot of different areas. Doesn't know what he wants to do with his life yet, but he certainly is interesting.
Here is the article for the yearbook.


Ashton
Sponaugle:

His quick adjustment to his new team
provided a spark at important times

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Ashton Sponaugle was the new guy. He started attending Skyline as a senior specifically due to baseball.

Sponaugle commuted from Bountiful, where he had three years experience as a pitcher and would have likely started in the Braves’ outfield. He felt he wasn’t treated well, however, and his friend, Devin Gomez, convinced me it would be fun to play together at Skyline.

“Devin was a really good friend and he had a lot of good things to say about Skyline,” Sponaugle recalled. “His dad and my dad worked together. That’s how we met. Playing at Skyline ended up being my best sports highlight.”

“One of our main goals at Skyline was to win the region championship,” he added. “Early on, we had our doubts, but it was good to feel part of a winning team. At Bountiful, we didn’t have a winning tradition for baseball. I liked the camaraderie we had at Skyline and everyone accepted me from the start.”

It took a little while, however, for Sponaugle to accept himself. He had his doubts early, but became one of the team’s most-important players. He had a strong arm and pitched several games. He also started in right field.

“My best memory of our season was the close games we had against Cottonwood and West,” he said. “Those four games were big. Just adjusting to Skyline was my biggest problem. They had a new way to play. I hit the ball OK. It wasn’t my best season, but I did OK.”

Sponaugle created his role from the beginning. He started in right field in the opening game and was asked to start as pitcher a few days later – against Uintah. He said he took the mound that afternoon with a lot of butterflies in his stomach. He walked the first batter on a 3-2 count, and he came around to score.

“It was just nerves,” he said. “I wanted to come in and show everyone what I could do and just play good for the team. After the first inning, I calmed down and pitched really well.”

He scattered three hits in Skyline’s 15-2 victory. Overall, it was a great day for him. In the game against Logan a few hours prior, he had three hits and stole four bases in the Eagles’ 16-3 win.

Sponaugle also fondly recalled the Eagles’ victories against Cottonwood. The first game (a 3-2 Skyline win), he started off badly.

“I had been playing horrible. I got picked off base and then had a ball go through my legs on defense,” he said.

He made up for it in the final inning, when his RBI single scored Skyline’s first run in its seventh-inning rally. He later scored when the winning run on Bryce Barr’s hit.

“Then, when we played them there, I made a diving catch in the outfield and double-off the runner at first base,” he said. “That was a big play.”

That also led to other victories that gave Skyline its first region championship in seven years. Sponaugle said he was worried about Cottonwood and West the most and, when the Eagles beat West 11-9 late in the year to sweep both opponents, it resulted in a celebration because that’s when the team felt like it had won the title (even though it wasn’t official until beating Murray later).

Sponaugle said having Gomez on the team helped make him more comfortable, and his contribution also made him a well-known figure. He said he also developed friendships with guys like Jordan Hall, who also had moved to Skyline from Bountiful, and Carter Allen.

“I really liked playing baseball for Skyline,” he said. “It was just a really good experience.”

After graduation, Sponaugle’s family moved to Cottonwood Heights. At press time, he said he wasn’t certain what we wanted to do. He had considered going to college at Dixie State and was considering joining the U.S. Marines. He also had some experience as a model.