The Uintah boys baseball team are in 4A Region 8, which only has five teams in the region. Most regions have six teams, so Region 8 plays three games per week to make up for the difference. The Utes played their three game series with the Mountain View Bruins this week to finish off Region 8 play.
The Utes traveled to the Bruins den in Orem on Monday for game one. The Utes came out swinging building a 9-3 lead after three innings. Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Utes held an 11-4 lead, but the Bruins put together a rally scoring 5 runs to cut the Utes lead to 2.
The Ute bats responded with five runs of their own and then held on for the 16-10 victory. Zane Murray and Wade Benson each strokes two doubles with Murray and Cooper Goodrich batting in four runners each.
The Utes then hosted the Bruins on Tuesday. The Bruins kept an edge in the early innings until the Utes tied it up at seven after three innings. The Utes took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Bruins reciprocated with 5 runs in the top of the sixth to take a three run advantage. The Utes responded in the bottom of the sixth with 5 runs of their own then shut down the Bruins in the seventh for the 14-12 victory. Both teams had 15 hits and Brody Murray smacked a home run and a double and was responsible for half of the Ute runs. The Utes had lots of extra base hits with Dace O’Bagy and Hunter Funk each tripling.
The Utes finished off the series heading back to Orem on Wednesday. The Utes outscored the Bruins 9-3 in the first three innings, then Mountain View outscored the Utes 5-2 over the next couple of innings. A couple of runs in the seventh inning completed the Ute sweep of the Bruins in the 13-9 victory.
The Utes finished Region 8 play with a 6-6 record, having swept the Payson Lions and the Mountain View Bruins and being swept by the Timpanogos Timberwolves and the Provo Bulldogs. The Utes will host the Morgan Trojans on Friday April 25th and visit rival Union on Monday the 28th while the wait for pairings in the 4A State tournament.
