Timpanogos and Jordan compete in a highschool baseball recreation at Jordan Excessive Faculty in Sandy on Friday, April 1, 2022. Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
The third-ranked Jordan Beetdiggers welcomed one of many state’s winningest baseball coaches to their stadium this week and gave him a uncommon dose of humility.
After two shut wins over Timpanogos, Friday afternoon’s finale of the three-game sequence was presupposed to be even higher, proper? Not so quick. As a substitute, the Diggers’ Evan Atkinson had three hits and pitcher Dylan Merkley improved his report to 4-0 as Jordan whipped the Timberwolves 10-3 in a Area 8 recreation.
The win helped safe Jordan’s prestigious spot within the season’s first RPI rankings, and the Diggers improved to 6-0 in area. Timpanogos fell to 6-6 (3-3 in area) in coach Kim Nelson’s 40th general season.
“This was thrilling for us,” mentioned Jordan coach Chad Fife, who's setting his personal requirements in his 18 years at Jordan. “Our pitching was on and, when we have now good pitching, we’re robust to beat.”
Good pitching wasn’t truly the issue within the first two recreation of the sequence. As a substitute, good hitting simply overcame it.
Within the opening recreation of the sequence Wednesday, the Diggers rallied from a 5-0 deficit to take a 10-9 win. The subsequent day, they blew a 6-0 lead and pushed throughout 9 runs within the remaining two frames to assert a 17-16 victory. The sport ended on Cade Nalder’s three-run double with two outs.
The encore efficiency, nonetheless, went nicely for under the house staff.
Merkley gave up simply 5 hits and single runs within the first, third and sixth innings. In the meantime, Atkinson was pacing Jordan’s offensive assault with a triple and two doubles. Cole Kershaw additionally had a pair of doubles.
Jordan led simply 3-2, however Stockton Mathis, Hunter Gatti, Kershaw and Kade Larson had consecutive doubles in a three-run fifth. Atkinson, Carter Perry and Kershaw then rapped balls that reached the fence throughout a five-run sixth.
In between, Merkley escaped an enormous inning when Timpanogos received its first two runners on base through errors. After an intentional stroll loaded them up with no person out, Merkley enticed the following hitters into groundouts, together with one double play.
“A bounce right here, a great play there and this can be a entire totally different ball recreation,” famous Nelson. “That’s why we play them. They (the Diggers) received us this time, however we'd see them later within the yr.”
Underneath this yr’s format — of enjoying every area opponent in three consecutive video games — Nelson and Fife are hoping to develop deeper pitching staffs as a result of they are going to be wanted in the course of the grueling state tourney. Nelson mentioned regardless that the Timberwolves gave up 27 runs within the first two video games utilizing their two high pitchers, senior Dylan Gazaway and three different hurlers didn’t have dangerous video games on this heat, sunny afternoon.
“A sweep in opposition to them (the Timberwolves) is uncommon,” Fife mentioned. “We’ll learn the way good we're within the subsequent couple of weeks. This can be a robust area and may get us all prepared for state.”