West Jordan 8, Kearns 3WEST JORDAN -- West Jordan coach Al Poland delicately describes his ballclub as being full of talented players who can do some terrific things on the diamond.

That they showed while winning the Automotive state championship last year.

Likewise, he says they're also being capable of pulling off an occasional "boneheaded" play or two.

By no means is that a rip on his players. Just the facts. After all, that never-quite-know-what-you're-gonna-get type of play is almost expected from a team that's as young as the Jaguars.

Much to the delight of Poland and the scattering of Jaguar fans who braved the chilly and windy conditions Friday, the youngsters showed no signs of "boneheadedness" while putting an 8-3 whipping on Kearns in a Region 2 game.

"They're a pretty good team," said Kearns coach Kenyon Clark, whose squad (8-3, 1-3) lost its third region game in a row after beating Bingham in the opener. "They (the Jaguars) are going to beat some people."

And the core of West Jordan's club (9-2, 3-1) is going to be beating plenty of people for the next two years.

The Jaguars have an all-underclassmen infield, featuring three juniors and even a sophomore. Of the players who took to the field Friday, seven were too young to be invited to the Senior Ball. In fact, just four seniors played in the victory.

"We've still got a long way to go, but we're getting there," said junior Brett Baldwin, who had a great offensive outing. "I think we can contend with anybody. Once we get experience, we'll be a tough team to beat."

The Jaguars, winners of three in a row since a 9-5 loss to Taylorsville, were solid from all fronts Friday.

Baldwin led the outburst with three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. His highlight was a towering, wind-aided, two-run homer that put the Jags up 2-0 in the first frame.

"It was a curve ball and I just got under it," said Baldwin, who had only hit one home run before in his life. "I didn't think it was going out, but hey, I'll take it."

Poland will take the kind of outing he got from his pitcher and defense any day as well.

Steve Seare, a senior, gave the Jaguars 100 mostly productive pitches during six innings from the mound to pick up the win.

Helping his cause was a combination of a nearly flawless defensive game from his teammates (only one error) and Kearns' inability to come up with a couple more clutch hits. The Cougars had eight hits, but they also stranded eight baserunners.

"Steve threw a real nice game," Poland said. "When it counted, he was making good pitches and we got guys out."

Two innings, in particular, stick out for the Jaguars defensive-wise.

In the opening frame, Kearns threatened with early base runners, but catcher Josh Stansfield, a junior, rifled a throw to third to gun down a runner trying to steal.

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Then in the third, after Kearns scored twice on four consecutive singles, Seare settled down and struck out two straight batters to end a potentially huge inning for the Cougars.

The Jaguars won big despite being outhit 8-7 by Kearns. They made the most of their base runners early on, scoring two runs in each of the first four innings.

Jordan Mehl and Bryce Olson drove in Jon Dinkelman and Dave Herren with sacrifice flies in the second inning to put the Jaguars up 4-0.

Dinkelman then belted a two-run double in the third, and Baldwin and Stansfield each knocked in runs in the fourth.

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