PROVO — Sean Pitts only had two pitches to win it.
With the game tied 6-6, one out in the bottom of the seventh and a runner on third, his coach told Pitts he could either hit the first pitch he saw or squeeze the runner in on the second one. Pitts chose the dramatic and lined a first-pitch fastball from Spanish Fork reliever Jordan Daley into right field to give the Murray Spartans a 7-6 win Monday night in the Class 4A baseball playoffs elimination game.
"You know (Daley) is going to try to get ahead of you, so I was just reaching out and trying to put it in play," Pitts said of the game-winning single.
The Dons had rallied twice in the final three innings to take the lead, but the Spartans also came from behind twice and the final time ended Spanish Fork's season. Both of the Don's tournament losses came in their opponent's final at bat.
"Spanish Fork has always given us a good game," Pitts said.
  | |
Coming to bat for the final time and trailing 6-5, the Spartans final rally began with an innocent grounder to short from Luke Johnson that Brad DeGraw threw away, putting the tying run on second with no outs. Johnson advanced to third on an errant pick-off attempt. Following a walk, Murray coach Bill Siebenberg called for a squeeze bunt to tie the game, but Daley pranced on Tyson Tuft's high-bouncing bunt and dove to tag Johnson out at home.
"It seemed like the appropriate time to do it but the kid just made a great play," Siebenberg said. "That was an athlete out there on the mound."
But the Spartans, with two runners still on base, quickly regained the momentum. Adam McDougal, Murray's No. 9 hitter, came right back to slap a single into right field to score the tying run and advancing Tuft to third. After the Dons had talked strategy on the mound and brought the outfielders in close, Pitts ended it in a hurry.
"He's the guy whose driven us all year long. If he can't get it done nobody is going to," Siebenberg said.
The only damage in the early going was a solo shot over the left-field fence by Bryce Herrera in the first to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead — which held up until the fifth.
The Dons finally scored two in the fifth to take a one-run lead. Kyle Andrus reached on Corey Shimada's error, stole second and advanced to third when Shimada tried to throw him out at third on another grounder. Andrus scored on Kaid Gordon's sacrifice fly to tie the game. Pinch runner Casey Zabriske scored the go-ahead run all the way from second on a little pop that fell between the pitcher, catcher and first baseman.
Shimada redeemed himself in the bottom half with a triple to center that scored the tying run. He then scored on a single by Jeff Rosander to put Murray back up 3-2.
Spanish Fork, behind doubles from Daley, Andrus and Dallas Pruitt, put four more back on the board and ended the sixth with a 6-3 lead. But Murray had two more rallies remaining. The Spartans scored twice in the sixth on a Tuft single, a double from McDougal and a grounder to deep short by Herrera — which closed the gap to 6-5 heading into the Spartans final dramatic seventh-inning comeback.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com