Somebody should put a sign on Bingham's uniform: Caution, may ignite at any time.
Tied 2-2 going into the eighth inning, Bingham exploded for nine runs, shocking Valley tri-champs Alta 11-2 Tuesday night at the American Legion state baseball tournament at Oquirrh Park (5900 S. 4800 West).Bingham was a half inning away from not even qualifying for this tournament a week ago. In that game, the Miners scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Skyline 6-5 and gain a berth in the state tourney.
Monday night, they surprised Cache Valley, the northern number one seed, 10-7. Now, Bingham is one of only four undefeated teams in the 16-team tournament.
"Going into the eighth inning, I thought we could do it," said Bingham's J.D. McBride. He led Bingham offensively with three RBI on two doubles and a triple. He also scored three runs, including two in the damaging eighth inning. Taylor Stauffer drove in four runs on four hits for Bingham.
"After they beat us 21-2 in the regular season, we wanted to beat 'em. I wanted these guys."
Bingham knocked out five hits and took advantage of four walks and a hit batsman to score nine runs in the extra inning.
"We've stayed in every game," Bingham's coach Terry Maio said. "We haven't given up and good things have happened. Whether it's luck or not, we'll take 'em how we get 'em."
Now they have the rest of the field looking for a diffuser.
Bingham will take on Tooele at 8:30 p.m. tonight in a battle of undefeated teams, while Alta will play the winner of the Payson-Bountiful game at 2:30 p.m. A rain storm forced officials to postpone Tuesday's early games between Brighton-Ogden and Payson-Bountiful until this morning at 11 and 11:30 a.m.
Taylorsville 9, St. George 4
Zach Rappleye drove in two runs on a double in the fifth inning to help Taylorsville win. Brandon Ballard struck out seven for Taylorsville, the defending champs. T-Ville advances to play Viewmont at 8 p.m. and St. George will wait to face the winner of the Brighton-Ogden game at 2 p.m.
Viewmont 13, Granger 10
Shae Cook and Ryan Green chipped in with three hits apiece to lead Viewmont past Granger. One of Cook's hits was a two-run homer. Viewmont assistant coach Scott Lalli was ejected from the game for disputing several pitching calls. Troy Farnsworth hit a solo home run in the seventh for Granger, who will face Cyprus at 5 p.m. tonight.
Tooele 11, West 4
Tooele jumped to an early 8-0 lead in the second inning and held on to pull off a mild upset over the higher ranked West. Scott Pratt, Trent Pratt and Ernie Beacham hit doubles for Tooele. West goes up against Cache Valley at 5:30 p.m. tonight.
Cyprus 9, Woods Cross 5
After being shut out 1-0 Monday against St. George, Cyprus bounced back to score nine runs on 12 hits and eliminate Woods Cross. Down 5-2 in the sixth, Cyprus got consecutive singles by Mike Gonzales, Travis Searle and Brandon Nash to score four runs and pull away with the victory. Searle had 3 RBI, and Brandon Smalling hit a two-run homer for Cyprus.
Cache Valley 4, Pleasant Grove 1
Frano Barrera doubled in a run and later scored, helping Cache Valley break away from Pleasant Grove with a three-run seventh inning. The loss eliminated Pleasant Grove from the tournament.
AMERICAN LEGION STATE TOURNAMENT
At Oquirrh Park (5900 S. 4800 West)
Wednesday's games
South field
Payson vs. Bountiful, 11:30 a.m.
Alta vs. Payson-Bountiful winner, 2:30 p.m.
Cache Valley vs. West, 5:30 p.m.
Tooele vs. Bingham, 8:30 p.m..
North field
Brighton vs. Ogden, 11 a.m
St. George vs. Brighton-Ogden winner, 2 p.m.
Granger vs. Cyprus, 5 p.m.
Viewmont vs. Taylorsville, 8 p.m.