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Show Page 10 OREM TIMES Thursday, December 14, 2006 Community sports, people and outdoor, fun Jones not giving up on big-league dream Neil K. Warner I , , , " . . . ; ; NOMH COUNT I .i . . , . 'L ', ' "'''''I '. Brian Hassler The Cheap Seats S)uv fry anil? He has beaten National league Most Valuable llayer Ryan Howard in a I lome Run Derby three times. In the minor leagues he has won three championship rings and has been an all-star all-star at every level. 1 le's averaged 2!) home runs over the last three years and he's now a free agent. Let the bidding begin at 10 millioa Tea 10. 10 - do I hear 12 million? Actually, there haven't been any bids yet on Mitch Jones, the former Utah Valley Val-ley State baseball player and Mountain View High School product, who could . Ix; had for the bargain price of the Major league minimum. 1 leek, he could be had for the right minor league contract. We're talking Iwrgain here people. Blue-light special. 1 lello, Kansas City Royals are you listening? Tampa Bay, come in Tampa Bay. Attention Milwaukee Brewers. Craig ( ounsell may have been your one big free agent prize, but here's a guy who lias more pop than Geoff Jenkins and would cost $6,(00,000 less per year. Do the math. After spending seven season in the minor leagues, Jones Ls now a free agent. It turns out the New York Yankees were never serious about giving Jones a chance to see how many home runs to could hit in Yankee Stadium. Overlooked and ignored, Jones finally got his wish free agency. Now he is living with his wife and two s ins in Springville while he waits for word on his future. "I'm hoping to get it (a deal) done before be-fore the first of the year," Jones said, "As of Nov. 1, the Yankees were out of it. We needed to get through the winter meetings meet-ings and give it a couple of weeks for teams to decide which free agents they want to pursue." Jones developed into a promising slugger slug-ger in the minor leagues, but the Yankees have never been famous for promoting their young talent and in a game where it pays to x the right player, at the right time, in the right organization, Jones has fell like a man in the wrong uniform It turns out that not everyone wants to l)e a Yankee. "I don't want to be a Yankee unless I can be a New York Yankee," Jones said, who actually asked to be released or traded from the Yankees organization. "I saw the writing on the wall after the 2004 season when it hit 39 home runs (AA) and I dicint really get looked at. I fought h . ' il l ' II North County photo Former Mountain View and UVSC standout Mitch Jones prepares to bat for the Triple A Columbus Clippers. tooth and nail to try and at least get a big league invitation, but it didn't happen." Jones did make an appearance in the Major Leagues last year, but as it turned out he was just a spectator in uniform. A pitcher wasn't hurt as badly as anticipated anticipat-ed and in a numbers crunch, Jones, who didn't get an at -bat, was shipped back to AAA Columbus after just two days. "Everybody always dreams about getting get-ting called up. It was exciting, don't get me wrong, I just felt like ... finally," Jones said "I was very disappointed when 1 was sent down It reaffirmed to me what I already knew, that I needed to move on I don't think they give players in their system a hard look. They don't have to, they would rather a guy who is already an established player." So now what? At age 29, it leaves Jones at a crucial stage in his career. Major League Base ball is not big on 30-year-old rookies, so Jones knows his next stop could make or break his career. "At this point I want to make a mark in an organization. I just want to get some big league time," Jones said "I want to get with an organization that will allow me to get in front of people and show them what I can do." Jones prepped at Mountain View High School in Orem and from there went to UVSC where he not only still holds the record for most home runs in a season with 23. The 18 home runs he hit his freshman fresh-man year still ranks second all-time for a single season. His baseball prominence earned him an off-season honor earlier this year when he was inducted to the UVSC Athletics t Hall of Fame in the summer. "I was excited about it to be part of that and be one of the first baseball play ers inducted," Jones said. "I'm excited about the direction of their baseball program. pro-gram. Hopefully in a few years they'll get the kids they need to compete with some of the top programs." It was while playing at UVSC where Jones caught the attention of Arizona State after UVSC, a junior college then, played Arizona State's junior varsity team Jones signed to play with the Sun Devils and there, in the baking sun of Tempe, he became a hot prospect. As a junior, he hit .333 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI. Then as a senior, he set a single-season record with 27 homers in 2000, and led the nation in that category. He also set a team record with 49 extra-base hits that year, and wound up with the best career slugging percentage percent-age in Sun Devil history (.731). He was See JONES, Page 12 Tiger boys get by Mountain View in hoops matchup Brian Hassler N'MIH COUNTY If Orem's boys basketball team thought this one was big next year's game will be even bigger. While Mountain View's move to 4A competition and Region 7 won't take place until the 2007-08 season, sea-son, Orem and Mountain View still mixed it up on Wednesday evening and the game meant as much as it will next season as Orem (0-0, 2-1) pulled away to win 54-42. "It's a big win," said Orem coach Mike Conner. "We're playing Mountain View at Orem and it's huge. This kind of game is what high school ball is all about." Led by the hot slvxrting of Daniel Hockersmith and Timo Valimaki and a strong defense that limited Mountain View's Taylor Russell to 14 points, Orem only truiled once and outscored Mountain View 20-13 20-13 in the fourth quarter. "It's a big game and we rewind wanted to make sure that Taylor didn't get off," Conner said. "Our defense was different differ-ent and we switched on the screens. We were aware of him (Russell) and Japser and I thought we did a good job." Hockersmith, who led all ' scorers with 21 points, controlled con-trolled the pace of the game and kept Mountain View (0-0, 0-3) 0-3) off-balance throughout the night with big shots that seemed to answer every Bruins Bru-ins run. With 11 points in the first half and 10 points in the fourth quarter, Hockersmith allowed Orem to build on its 34-29 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and turn it into an eight -point lead before he fouled out with 2:15 remaining. remain-ing. "We're point-guard oriented and Daniel was a big part of it tonight," Conner said. "It seemed like every time Mountain View made a run, Daniel would come up with big basket or got to the free throw line." I I .1 i .v kVVe have an Extensive Credit Program. We can help with a New or Used car and Reestablish your credit. No Hassle 24 hr. Credit Line. (801)492-1870 Or For One-on One Help Call Jake at 492-0100 DOUG A 523 W. Main, American Fork, Utah Exit 281 801-492-1110 Of his 21 points, eight came on free throws and Hockersmith Hocker-smith managed to connect on all eight of his free-throw opportunities. op-portunities. But Hockersmith wasn't alone as Orem's Timo Valimaki Vali-maki came up big from beyond the 3-point line with three 3-point ers, as well as a back-breaking field goal and free throw in the final minutes of play to give Orem a 50-42 lead and end any chance for a Mountain View rally. "Timo broke his thumb last week and came back to play tonight," Conner said. "He's a good player and after Daniel went out he took care of the game." Mountain View wasn't without its own highlights, as junior center Holden Jasper added 14 points of his own from the field while Greg May scored seven points but Orem's defense held Jasper to six points in the second half and poor free throw shooting by Mountain View, 14-of-26 from the line, doomed the Bruins. Next up for Orem is a road game against Davis on Friday with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain View will host Murray on Friday at 7 p.m. for its next game. MOUNTAIN VIEW (52) Bateman 3. May 7, Russell 14, Jasper 14. Nevarez 4. Totals 11 14-26 42. OREM (54) Valimaki 14, Robison3, Kauvre 11, Hockersmith 21, Warner 1, Hall 2. KallunM 2. Totals 17 14-18 54. Mountain View 6 13 10 13 42 Orem 8 IB 8 20 54 3-pointers: Mountain View 1 (Russell). Orem 6 (Valimaki 3, Hockersmitti 2,Kauwe) THURSDAY, DEC. 7 Girls basketball I Orem 51, Murray 43: At Murray, Mur-ray, Orem and Murray fought in a close battle but the third quarter was the difference, putting the Tigers ahead enough to hang on in the fourth quarter for the win. Orem more than doubled the Spartans third quarter point total, 15-7, and were led by Jessica Saliby with 15 points and Delyse Downey with 13. Orem jumped to 2-2 on the season and next hosts Jordan on Tuesday. OREM (51) Saliby 1 5, Downey 1 3. Martin 1 0, Sagers 6, Larsen 5, Dort 2. Totals 16 16-25 51. MURRAY (43) Washington 10. Maughan 1 0. Kennedy 6, Solono 3. Pappas 3, Cowley 2. Totals 15 13-21 43. Oram t 16 15 11 51 Murray 11 12 7 13 43 3-point goals: Orem 1 (Downey). FRIDAY, DEC. 7 Boys basketball I Davis 65, Orem 46: At Kaysville, the Tigers(2-2) couldn't overcome the outstanding out-standing performances of Brady Hurst and Nick Mar-tineau. Mar-tineau. Hurst finished with 25 points and 10 boards Martin-eau Martin-eau chipped in 19 points and 8 assists to lead Davis (3-1). X 1 ' v V "1 m WW COBB CONDIENorth County Orem's Goose Kallunki, takes a shot over Mountain View's Daniel Hockersmith (14) during their Dec. 6 game. OREM (46) . . Valimaki 13. Kauwe 7, Egbert 2, Hockersmitti 16, Hall 8. Totals 13 16-17 46. DAVIS (651 ' Mortensen 2. Gruniger 2, Martneau 19, VanBrocklin 12, Flint 2, Florence 3, Hurst 25. Totals 25 13-21 65. Oram B 12. 10 15 46 Davit 19 7 16 23 65 3-point goals: Orem 4 (Hockersmitti 2, Kauwe, -Valimaki), Davis 2 (VanBrocklin, Mattineau). MICROWAVE MUSINGS ON OREM SPORTS Ihere has to be a long list of guys who have exploded hot dogs in the microwave. Not that the explosion explo-sion of my last hot dog was the desired result on Friday night, but it happened and I'm pretty sure that I'd make the short list of guys who have blown up the hot dog, the most beloved of all the mystery meats, on more than one occasion. While pondering such important impor-tant things, namely the countless count-less number of items that have met their doom in my microwave, micro-wave, it was also a time to think of Christmas and the great number num-ber of sporting events I have been able to watch, fall asleep to and even write about. It.is with those thoughts in mind that we head back to the world of athletics in the fine city of Orem, as well as try and figure out why it is I can't seem to microwave anything with any measure of success. I Orem and Mountain View boys make us all look forward to 2007-08 2007-08 season: There was no region title on the line last Wednesday when Orem and Mountain View mixed it up, and the game even started 30 minutes late, giving Mountain View's fans plenty of time to jump up and down and get in trouble for causing further damage to the bleachers with said jumping. But after the game finally started, and Mountain View's students were roundly scolded for jumping, we were all treated to the kind of game that makes high school sports so darn exciting. Orem took an early lead and never trailed.but Mountain Moun-tain View's Taylor Russell and Holden Jasper never quit despite strong play from an Orem team that is going to be a force to be reckoned with throughout region play and in the state tournament. I UVSC women still winning: Count me among the number of people who are truly amazed by the UVSC women's basketball basket-ball team. Not only are the Wolverine Wol-verine women 9-1 heading into Saturday's contest with BYU, but they've accomplished that feat, including a seven-game win streak, against the likes of San Diego State, Boise State, Utah State, Weber State and New Mexico State. Granted, that's a lot of states to play so early in the season, but you could venture outside of the friendly confines of Happy Hap-py Valley and find that people have heard of these opponents. Stop and think about it for a second. UVSC doesn't have the name recognition of almost everyone else and doesn't have the recruiting and travel budget bud-get of everyone else, but somehow some-how Cathy Nixon has managed to lead UVSC to a position that should have occurred a few years from now. . I don't exactly buy into Karma, Kar-ma, but considering how Nixon treats her players, fans and even us media pukes, I'd say she's getting exactly what she deserves. A winning season and some long overdue respect. See HASSLER, Page 12 Annual MB Pet Food III MM W H ill H III Ml Ml . . ., Drive Donate a 10 lb. bag of dog or cat food & SAVE $5 on pet grooming. All donations given to the Humane Society. Make your holiday appointment today! 4T Ptttaua 61 W. 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