___The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS Saturday, May 22, 1999 Mountain Crest Sweeps Payson for First 4-A Baseball Title BY JAY DREW ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE team came together and became teammates,” said Mountain Crest coach Stephen Hansen, who won a OGDEN — The Mountain Crest Mustangsdidit the hard way, but title three years ago as Tooele’s coach. they say that madeit twiceas nice. With no superstars, Mountain Crest did it with unity and bal- Battling back from the one-loss bracket, Mountain Crest claimed its first state baseball champion- shiplate Fridaynight. Needing to beat Payson twice, Mountain Crest did just that knocking off ance. Kolby Rowser, Cole Maughan, Doug Robinson, Adam Sorensen and Dustin Anderson were the heroes in Game 1; Jed Jensen, Ryan Jessop, Nick Bott, straight into the air. They appeared to have given up on the ball, they said, because they had to wait so long for it to come down. phy in school history to proveit. The dispute was made moot two batters later when Cole Maughan hit a homerto give the Mustangs a 7-3 lead. But Payson coach Scott Haney couldn’t help thinking Payoon 1810) woos 41 Moustie (res (264) one 052 X—$ 132 Mattison, Wilson(6)and Ford, Jesop, Jeneen(5) andZimmer. sin 25Pry) Rawr (0), eran OC, ot 3B-Cox MC) HR-Cox QC), Maughan OC Mountain Crest 12 Payson 9 what might havebeen,citing momentum switches and emotional the Lions 12-9 and 9-4 for the 4-4 crown at Lindquist Field. Mike Zimmerman and Cox the stars in Game2. swings. “T will never forget this week,” The Mustangs blew Game 2 open in the fifth on a controver- “WhenI getolder, I am going to tell my kids it was out,” he said. “I swearit was out. I thought it hit a light pole or something.” said Mountain Crest right fielder Travis Cox, previously known as a football star. “Everyone on this team has thebiggest hearts I have ever seen.” Mountain Crest finished the season with the best record in the state (26-4) and, like 5-A champion Bingham, fought back from a ‘Tuesday loss and won convincing- ly Friday. The Mustangs struck a blow for far-northern Utah base- sial home run. With Rowser and Zimmerman aboard, Cox hit a boomingdrivetoleft. It was not clear whetherthe ball cleared the fence, but it bounced back into play. Cox stopped on second because base umpire Phil Leonard did not immediately signal a home run. After a conference with the other two umpires, home plate umpire ball, which has gone decadeswithout a statetitle. Blake Hansenruled it a homer. “Twill rememberthe hard work this team putout in the summer and Matt Barkersaid the ballhit and the winter and the way this Payson outfielders Scott Peery the warning track in front of the fence,then hit the fence and shot sen. “Our team, we neverdie. We've got heart after heart after heart on this team.” And thefirst gold baseball tro- Cox thought it was a homer. Paysonstruck back with a run in the fifth, but Mountain Crest got someinsurance in the sixth when Zimmerman and Bott doubled in runs. Payson took a 3-0 lead in the second when Barker singled in Clint Ballard and Peery, who had doubled. Aaron Haveron singled homeBarker. But Mountain Crest pitchers Jessop and Jensen shut downthe Lions after that. “We thought we could come here and doit,” said coach Han- OGDEN — Trailing 9-8, the Mountain Crest Mustangs got RBIs from Doug Robinson, Jed Jensen, Josh Hansen and Mike Zimmerman in the top of the seventh and forced a second gamewith a 12-9 win over Payson. Cole Maughan helped Mountain Crest fight back with a three-run homer in the third. Clint Ballard hada grandslam in the first inning for Payson and Zane Osborn and Tom Ford homered in the fourth. oust Crest 254) 053-000 4-12 122 boner 0 400 K— 9112 Sorenson, Hansen (8), Jensen (7) and Zimmerman. Barber, ‘Martinson (3)and Ford. WP-R. Hansen LP-Martinson. 2B-Robin002 (MC), Rowse (MC), Osborn (P), Ballard (P) HR Maughan (HC) Ballard (P), Osborn (P), Por (P) Steve GrifiyThe Salt Lake Tribune Payson’s Aaron Haveron throws around Mountain Crest's Mike Zimmerman while trying to complete a double play. Duke MakesUp for Losses With Nation’s Best Recruiting Class Bountiful Wins 4-A Soccer Title BY MIKE GRANT LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL Before Dukecould befitted for the crown, Connecticutjolted the Blue Devils and seized the NCAA Championshipis second straight for the Braves championship foritself. The linchpins of that supposed Duke juggernaut — Trajan Langdon, Elton Brand, William Avery and Corey Maggette — will leave without college basketball's most cherishedprize. Perhaps the new blood will BY LYA WODRASKA THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE MIDVALE — Defense, defending, defended. Any wayyoulookat it, the 1999 soccer season was all about defense for the Bountiful Braves. Friday, Bountiful successfully defendedits Class 4-A statetitle with a 4-0 win over Bonneville at the newspaper's No. 1 incoming class last year. “They have four guys who are going to play right away. one‘re going to make an impact. The Panes werebasedoninterviews with college coaches, high school coaches andscouts. 1. Duke:Four ofthesix recruits are prep All-Americans: Jason Williams, Michael Dunleavy Jr., Carlos Boozer and Casey Sanders. When's the last time that hap- pened? When Chris Webber, havebetter luck. The Louisville Courier-Journalhas rated the Blue Devils’ re- Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King formed the core of cruiting class the best in the nation. “It's Duke, hands down,” said DePaul assistant coach Tracy Dildy, whose Blue Demons had Donnell Harvey, Breti Nelson, Justin Hamilton, Matt Bonner Michigan's Fab Fiveclass in 1991. and prep school transfer Sylbrin Robinson should make Gators fans giddy about the future. Hillerest High School. Junior K.C. Nordfors sparked the Bountiful offense, assisting on Burgess Tells Media He’s Utah Bound the first goal and scoring two others. BY PATRICK K THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE “This is a great feeling,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect from Bonneville. We just played our hearts out.” Bonneville cameout firing and managed a couple of clean shots at the Bountiful goal, but never could connect. After about 15 minutes, the Lakers visibly let down, possibly realizing they weren't going to be more successful than anyone else against Bountiful’s defense. Only Pleasant Grove scored against the Braves in the tournament. Two years ago, the news media sought out Chris Burgess. This year, after Burgess’ two humbling seasons at Duke,the situation reversed. The obvious became official Friday morning, when Burgess contacted Salt Lake City media members to confirm that he Mike Miller/The Salt Lake Tribune Bonneville’s Jeff Byrne fights for control against Bountiful's Colby Larsen (4) during the 4-A state championship, won by Bountiful, 4-0. The Bravesallowed only one goal in the playoffs. “Our defense was so solid, they madeita ton easier for us,’ Nord- fors said. “Theygotthe ball up to us and we just finishedit.” The Braves dedicated the win to schoolmate Devon Jones, who died last week. Every player wore a wristband with Jones’ initials and basketball number. He was friends with everyone and meanta lot to us,” said Josh Robbins. ‘We pulled together and wanted to win this for him The Braves end the season 16-4 Their only region losses were to Woods Cross and East A 5-1 loss to East made the Braves regain their focus on de. fending their state title Friday's win was never in question after senior Steve Bailey con- nected midwaythrough thefirst half. Bonneville didn't allow another goal in the half, but lost the aggressiveness it showed in the opening minutes. “If we had scored early, it may have been a different game,” Bonneville coach Bill Fletcher said. “Weplayed well in thefirst minutes, andI think they got frustrated and we got some momentum. But that goal hurt Nordfors connected onhisfirst goal earlyin the second half. Less than two minutes later, he streaked down the middle jumped a prone defender and Bonneville goalkeeper, and “It was a definite wake-upcall for us," Nordfors said “We punchedtheball intoan open net and out of their sails, and the third played hardthe rest of the season camethrough Brighton Takes5-A Title, Topping Jordan it in the net,” Cushing said second half was little differ Down 3-1 at halftime, the Beetdig gers came back with strong shots at the Bengal net — including five in the final minutes Brighton's “quick lead burt quite a bit,” Jordan coach Bill Noble said “We made the wrong choices” close to the net ‘And once the teams started shoving out of frustration, Noble said, “I don't think [the referee) was going to give us another PK Noble tried to pump up his team after Hansen's second score by put ting eeper Larkin Noble up front with 14 minutes ‘ ’ “Our defense was so solid, they madeit a ton easier for us. They got the ball up to us and we just finishedit.” ‘The second goal took the wind He was creatingstuff,” Noble said of his son. “He had fresh legs and playsreally aggressive The Beetdiggers werestill recover ing from Thursday's shootout semifi nal against Alta, when the team played a manshort, dueto a red card Wedid a bit of standing around the first half, the second half was a different game,” Noble said. “We needed to loosen up after yesterday It took us 40 minutes to warm up. We had a lot of sore muscles. Another day ofrest would have helped Larkin Noble is the coach's third son takesecond in the state. Still, Jor dan could be back next year, with five starting underclassmen returning Brighton graduates 12 seniors and Cushing could not single out any of them Every one of these guys, I love. he said The teams met twice earlier in the season, with the Bengals winning 1-0 both times The last two times don't mean any thing.” Cushing said. “The intensity of it was different. It's the final game ‘We had a lot more intensity; they did, too,” Simmons said. more fun.” “It was a lot K.C. Nordfors Bountiful Junior Bo was devastating,’ Bountiful coach Michael Parker said. "K.C. had a heck of a game and maybe his best. He picked up his intensity after that first goal Robbins madeit 4-0 when he scored with 13 minutes left Only Woods Cross, which won titles from 1984 to 1987, has won morethan two in a row. Bountiful loses 11 seniors, but has a talent: ed junior class and could be play- ing on the last day again next year. The Lakers lose 10 seniors, but already are thinking of next sea. mn, too. Bonneville finished 15-3, with losses to Roy, Logan and the Braves. “No one would have picked us to play for thestate title,” Fletcher said. “This is a great bunch of kids and it was a heck of a run.” would continue his college basketball career at Utah. Burgess had said all alonghis first choice was Utah. “I just felt it was the best possible situation for me to get better and be the player that I wanted to be,” Burgess said. As a transfer, Burgess will red- shirt next season and then have two years ofeligibility. He will be a junior for the 2000-01 season, the same yearBritton Johnsen re- turns after serving an LDS mission. Johnsen and Burgess played together in two all-star games for elite players after their senior years in high school. and rarely was featured in the offense. Considered among the top handfulof players coming out of high school, Burgess usually played forward at Woodbridge Highin Irvine,Calif. “I know whatI can do,” hesaid. “It’s just a matter of working and working.” At 7-feet, 255 pounds, Burgess envisions playing the frontline with Johnsen. Whenthe twoplay- ers areeligible, center Nate Alth- off would be senior. Burgess started 14 games last season at Duke, but rarely put up significant numbers. He did show his potential against FresnoState, when he had 15 points, 16 re- bounds andsix assists in 19 minutes. “Things really clicked for me when I was given the opportunity,” he said. Amid much hoopla two years ago, Burgess held a news confer- ence in Irvine to reveal he was choosing Duke over Brigham Young. The two biggest Southern Burgess said Utah Coach Rick Majerus told him he would play California newspapers and The Salt Lake Tribune covered the the power forward position. At Duke, he mostly played center event, along with a local cable television station. Miners Lancaster to the mound in Game 2 but Bingham rocked him for six runs. ‘The Bruins should have started Jeff Gardner, who moved from shortstop Sweepa Pair, Win 5-ATitle @ Continued from B-1 a hitter Even longtime Miner opponents wouldn't ye the popular and humble Sato the title. And after Bing ham spanked No. 2-ranked Mountain View twice, no one could argue that the Miners weren't the best team. “We are No. I now, and we proved it,” said third baseman Kelly Peck. ter who crushed a piteh the scoreboard high above field in the first inning of it in the third inning and didn't allow a runin the last four Bingham players said it was extra sweet because Mountain View defeated Bingham in the state basketball a game. The Miners’ heroes were ee but junior Beau Stoker had an traordinary hitting day, going 7- for8 with three RBIs. wouldn't give in. We had all kinds of kids step up when we needed them to It was a greatjob by i players, four coaches and a couple of managers.” Secramen, Lanenser Seth 8 HRPech Pee OR “4 Mountain View 4 (6) OGDEN — Curtis Clayton went , even after losing 4-3 to Mountain View on Tuesday night. The Miners battled back from the one-loss bracket. nipping Alta and West Jordan on Wednesday, then putting away long. Taylorsville 62 on Mike Miller The Sait Lake Trimme Brighton's Andy Simmons (15) and Jared Rasmussen celebrateafter Rasmussen scored to put the Bengals up 2-0. Out of the Warriors’ shadow, the Miners were brilliant Friday. ripping 77 hits and scoring 22 runs. With staff 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and drove in four runs as Bingham forced a second game by whipping the Bruins 14-4 in six innings Fri day. Wyatt Gines went 3-for-4 and Logan Sorensen and Beau Stoker drove in two runs apiece for the Miners. eee Pir Rage 8 i ih st Retewt Cathe, Gare 6, Sch. ge 0 Wyle Tomeant eth WP Yong LP deter 2BPon (% Pock feter th. Con om