SOUTH JORDAN — According to Kearns baseball coach Tom Gatten: "It was Todd's game." Starting pitcher Todd Privett threw a complete-game gem in leading Kearns over defending champion Bingham 6-3 in a first-round 5A playoff contest.
Privett has been the Cougars' ace all season, and Tuesday was no exception. "One reason we won today was Todd Privett. He was the one we wanted out there," said Gatten. Privett responded by throwing all seven innings, striking out 13 batters, giving up five hits and surrendering only three runs.
The lefty did it in a variety of ways. "At first I was just throwing it by them with my fastball (which according to the radar gun was in the upper 80s), but as my arm got tired I switched to throwing more curves which my coach wanted," said Privett.
He began the game, however, in a feast or famine method. He struck out the side in both the first and second innings, but sandwiched in between those six strikeouts were a hit-batsman, two walks and a towering home run by Zach Druce that tied the score.
Kearns lead-off hitter Mike Brown began the game with a bang. He lined a shot into the gap in left-center, and he didn't stop until reaching third base. He then scored on an errant throw trying to pick him off the base.
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Tyler Wartman started on the mound for Bingham, and after the first three batters, really seemed to find a groove. Wartman has an unusual delivery that has a pause a hitch and a jump just before releasing the ball toward home. Except for the first inning hiccup, his pitching slowed down the Cougars' offense for the first four innings.
Besides Druce's home run, Bingham struggled to get anything going offensively against Privett until the fourth inning. An error, a single and a fielders choice left two Miners on base for Jeff McDonald. He singled to pick up the two RBIs and gave Bingham the lead.
That was when sophomore Andy Derksen decided to hoist the offense on to his shoulders. Wartman tired and had to be pulled after walking the first batter of the fifth inning, and plunking the second. Druce entered in relief, and Derksen welcomed him to the mound by lining his third pitch to right-center for a two-RBI double to even the score.
It stayed that way until the seventh inning when Derksen again came to the plate with two men on base. Same result. He doubled to the gap to score two more runs . "Andy is a hitter. He may only be a sophomore, but he can really hit the ball," said Gatten of his star.
"I just got new batting gloves and wore them the first two times up, and I struck out," said Derksen. "I switched back to my old gloves and started to hit the ball." He said he will probably go with the old gloves for the next game.
Kearns will face off against Viewmont today to advance on the winner's side of the tournament brackets. Bingham will play Jordan. "This is huge for us. To do it against a team with a lot of tradition," Gatten said. "We made some mistakes, but these kids have always come back and battled."
In other 5A baseball tournament games Tuesday:
VIEWMONT 9, JORDAN 8:Matt Madsen went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, including a single in the bottom of the seventh that drove in two runs, to help Viewmont come back from being down early.
RIVERTON 6, NORTHRIDGE 4:Nik Gumeson went 3-for-4 with one RBI as Riverton beat the Knights. Tyler Schick went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Silverwolves.
TAYLORSVILLE 12, FREMONT 2:Todd Morlock and Preston Grimes combined to throw a three-hitter in the Warriors' playoff win over Fremont. Morlock and Grimes also drove in two runs apiece.
LAYTON 3, WEST JORDAN 1:Josh McFarland hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie and give Layton the eventual win. Wyatt Bubak went 3-for-3 from the plate and scored a run for Layton.
ALTA 10, DAVIS 2:Davey Johnson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as Alta beat Davis in the 5A tournament. Mark Urry threw a complete game and allowed only two hits while striking out six.
COTTONWOOD 7, WEBER 0: In his first start of the season, freshman Rem Wilson didn't disappoint as he led the Colts over Weber. Wilson went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. B.J. Ferguson threw a one-hitter with five strikeouts to notch the win.
SKYLINE 11, BRIGHTON 0:John Langford pitched a four-hit shutout to earn the win. Langford also went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Tyler Nielsen added two doubles and had four RBIs.
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com