SANDY — Jordan coach Mike Wright learned a lot about his team in its 7-5 victory over Murray.
The pitchers need to hit more spots. The defense needs work, and the hitters need to record more than five base hits.
He's willing to be patient though. His team has only practiced outside twice before Tuesday's baseball opener.
Taking live ground balls, seeing live pitching and throwing to hitters in full-speed practice and game situations will only help.
"Overall, we're going to compete," he said. "Our kids are pretty good kids."
He also adds into the equation the loss of four senior starters, and that makes the victory even sweeter.
"We played almost everybody which is good for us," Wright said. "We have a lot of positions from last year we graduated."
Three Jordan pitchers, all on strict pitch counts, combined for a three-hitter and struck out 12.
Senior Tyler Saxey fanned four in two innings, including the side in the first inning. Zack Terry struck out five in two innings, and Kevin Larson allowed just one run in three innings while striking out three.
"I'm happy with our team. I think we're going to be fine," Wright said. "That's the first time we've seen live pitching all year. Defensively, we can get a lot better."
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Two of the first three Jordan hitters walked before Erik Larson hit a towering three-run homer four batters into the game.
Saxey and Terry made it stand for four innings before Jordan's porous defense allowed two errors that led to four Murray runs. Ryan Whitehead had a three-run double in the inning.
Murray took a two-run lead with another run in the top of the fifth thanks to two more Jordan errors. The Beetdiggers committed six errors in the game.
Terry belted a two-run double in Jordan's three-run fifth, and the 'Diggers added a run in the sixth with an RBI single by Kyle Guest to earn the victory.
In other Tuesday games:
PARK CITY 8, GRANTSVILLE 4: Park City jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on for the victory. Jeremy Kilgore earned the victory on the mound and Alex Finston had a solo homer. Matt Stice had a double for the Cowboys.
SPRINGVILLE 5, PINE VIEW 3:Dan Bulow homered twice, and Jesse Wheeler added a double whiling picking up the victory on the mound for the Red Devils.
COPPER HILLS 12, GRANGER 2:Jason Price recorded three hits, two of which were doubles, and added four RBIs to lead the Grizzlies.
LONE PEAK 8, EAST 6: Nate Empey hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give Lone Peak the win.