SALT LAKE CITY — After falling behind in the count during a third-inning at-bat on Wednesday, Taylorsville's Hayden Heugly was encouraged by his coach, Jake Brown, to turn it into a quality AB.
Heugly listened, settled in, and then blasted his first varsity home run.
Heugly ripped a knuckleball over the left-field fence at Skyline High in Taylorsville's 14-2 win over the Eagles. His home run put the Warriors up 10-0, and was no surprise to Brown, who was watched Heugly consistently improve since the second-year coach has been at the school.
"He's done a good job," Brown said. "He's a real hard worker. He's a kid that you kind of hope succeeds because he puts so much into it. He's a real baseball guy and you like to see those guys have success."
Taylorsville (3-1) enjoyed consistent success against Skyline (3-4) because of its discipline at the plate. The Warriors blew the game open during a six-run second inning by drawing four walks and getting timely hits. Taylorsville scored two runs off of wild pitches, Dallas Carroll was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Isaac Fullmer and Anthony Dixon each had RBI singles.
"Our guys did a good job of laying off the pitches they need to lay off and having good at-bats and staying within themselves," Brown said. "When you're hitting line drives and taking balls, that puts pitchers in a tough situation and we did that pretty well today."
The Warriors had five extra-base hits. Bryson Heaton uncorked a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Heugly doubled to lead-off the second to start Taylorsville's big inning.
"It's nice to come out and win by a lot, get another win and keep rolling," Heugly said.
Pitcher Mike Springer started for the Warriors and kept Skyline in check. He allowed just one hit and recorded three strikeouts in three innings.
Springer, a senior, is about 15 months removed from Tommy John surgery. The hard thrower has recaptured his velocity, and is shaping back into form.
"He's very good for us," Brown said. "He works hard and is getting more and more consistent, and better every time he throws."
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