Brad Winget hit two home runs, picked up five RBI and scored four runs to lead Murray to a 13-3 drubbing of Judge on Tuesday afternoon.
The Spartans are ranked second in the Deseret News 4A Coaches Poll, right behind Spanish Fork, but they are looking to be number one in their own league.With a win today over Granite, Murray (9-1) can assure itself of at least a co-championship in Region 6. Manager Bill Siebenberg notes that, "We've never gone two years without a region championship in our program."
Murray can win the region outright if it beats Tooele on the Buffaloes home turf on Thursday. Right now the Buffs are just one game behind the Spartans in the loss column.
Besides the heroics of Winget, who has signed a letter of intent to play for BYU, catcher Casey Moes also hit a home run and Jess Siebenberg (the manager's nephew) went five solid innings on the mound. The game was never in doubt after Winget clubbed a grand slam in the first inning. In fact it was so much not in doubt that it only went six innings.
The American League might take note that the high schools have come up with an answer to the four-hour baseball game. If one team is ahead of the other by 10 or more runs after five innings, the game is called. Such was the case when Murray scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Siebenberg is happy with the way his team is playing. "I think we're getting better. We're getting decent pitching," he says. "We're just about ready for the playoffs."
Half of the 4A State Tournament will be played at Murray's Ken Price Park. Siebenberg admits, "We're familiar here," but also claims, "I don't think it gives us a lot of edge."
In other prep action Tuesday:
Mountain Crest 11, Bear River 3
Mountain Crest secured its fifth straight Region 5 baseball championship Tuesday with a victory over Bear River. The win leaves the Mustangs 10-1 and Bear River 8-3 heading into final games on Friday.
Jeremie Rinderknechp threw every pitch in the alphabet at the Bears and held them to two hits over six innings.
Olympus 6, Woods Cross 2
Titan pitcher Robb Rice controlled the game. Besides going the distance on the mound and chalking up six strikeouts, he also had two hits at the plate.
Alta 9, Brighton 2
Although Rusty Raines was officially the winning pitcher for the Hawks, the real star of the game was Clint Salisbury who relieved him in the second inning. Between the two of them they held the Bengals to a pair of hits. The offense was spurred by catcher Cameron Denney who had a double and a homer.
Bingham 12, Kearns 1
Curtis Wilson pitched a two hitter for the Miners. Battery-mate Chris Lear hit a triple.
Hunter 1, West Jordan 0
Hunter's Jason Barker came out on the winning end of this pitcher's duel. He only allowed three hits, one of which was a bunt single. The Wolverines scored their lone run in the third inning on a Jaguar throwing error.
Pleasant Grove 6, Provo 1
Damian Sapp hit two home runs for PG while Brandon Huntsman pitched a complete game.
Bonneville 16, Clearfield 6
The Lakers offensive outburst featured home runs by Justin Coggin, John Jensen and sophomore Greg Shamada.
Roy 8, Layton 6
The Royals upped their league record to 6-3 to stay in the hunt for the Region 1 title.
Cyprus 8, West 1
Cyprus ran its record to 11-1 with a home win in Magna to stay firmly in control of Region 7.
Mountain View 8, Hillcrest 2
Milt Gale picked up a save and hit a double to keep Mountain View on top in Region 4.
Jordan 6, Granite 3
Ben Wright hit a homer and Lake Johnson added a triple in the Beetdigger win.
Taylorsville 9, Granger 6
Brandon Ballard was the winning pitcher with help from a triple by Zack Rappleye.
Spanish Fork 9, Timpview 5
The Dons managed to score all of their runs on 10 singles. Tyson Brackett went 4-4.