OCR Text |
Show OREM TIMES Page 9 COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Bruin baseball wins pair to stay unbeaten in region Oil Orem catcher Harrison's passion for the game has led to success on the baseball diamond Thursday, April 10, 2008 rata Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY In basketball they're called gym rata In baseball the term might be diamond hound, baseball junkie or any number of other names. Whatever you choose to call the baseball version, few players would be described de-scribed by it better than Orem senior catcher CJ. Harrison. Harrison fives and breathes baseball year round, and that has helped hen become one of the top aUaround catchers in Utah Valley this year. ' - "He loves the game. He probably invests as much time as anybody else kidevelripiig has talents," said Orem coach Gary Mher. "He's the equivalent of what you'd call agym rat in basketball. bas-ketball. He'sbeen very committed to the game. Very committed is almost an understated description of Harrison's passion. Tiwolverflyffearoundt"Harri5onsaid -of his cornrniment to the game. "It was the first thing I ever loved to da" When Harrison was two years old, he began playing in a t-bafl league trying to run down every ball that was ht, no matter where he happened to be playing in the field He continued contin-ued rJayirgki super leagues and started as a freshman at Tanpview before coming to play at Orem His love of the game continues to this day . Now, Harrison doesnt try to get every bait that is hk, however, he does stop everything that comes near him in addition to gunning down would-be base stealers and picking off runners who drift too far away from the bases. Offensively, Harrison has used his sweet left handed swing to pepper the outfield gaps for extra base his. Last season, Harrison was one of the top juniors in the county, hitting .384 with 10 doubles and 17 RBI. Although Harrison has struggled slightly by his standards this year, he still is hitting 316 with a .447 on-base percentage and six extra base hits. "He's got a fat of potential hitting wise," Miner said "His mechanics are as good as anybody's any-body's and he hits the ball extremely hard." Miner recalled a particular instance against ftwo this season when Harrison drove the ball deep into the left-center gap. There's not many kids that will ht the ball that far the opposite direction and CJ.'s got the abity to do that pretty consistently the coach said As sofid as Harrison is offensively, his defense de-fense b where he truly excels. When asked, Harriscn could only remember one occasion this season when he let a ball past that he could have stopped r When Miner was asked what his catcher's -greatest stniigm was, he ccfmred without ( hesitation, There's no question it's his defensive ability. He's a very good catcher." 1 son also has a strong arm and uses it often He is aborespcreibtefcrcalEngrraftte throughout games, a task that is made easier by die studious approach that he brings. Tve learned who can hit what pitch," Harrison Har-rison said about Orem's opponents. "I fed Eke I take a lot of pride in our pkching because they have a lot of confidence in ma 02 curvebaD ki the dirt, they trust that Tm going to block the ball." Akhough he takes pride ki Orem's successful pitching game, he's also quick to give almost all of the credit to the team's pitchers who have executed very wel In addition to studying opposing hitters and knowing his pitchers extremely wel, there's not much about the game that Harrison does not know about Having been around i his whole fife, he has been able to pick up things that most t . CO if ' Q . - ' : ...... M? JpHUJSTONNorth County Orem catcher CJ. Harrison looks to throw dUUngduring a ganeSgaihst Provo on March 27. ; 'S '.;' people would not observe. . Tie's grown up around i his whole fife and I think a lot of that shews in kind of the instincts and die savvy he has for the game," said CJ.'s father Keith Harrison, to whom CJ. credits most of what he knows about the game. "He does love i and if s just kind of come natural to . ran. The game may come naturally to CJ, but his hard work and dedication have definitely taken his game to another level When CJ. was a sophomore, he gave up f botball so that he could focus entirely on baseball His dad was unsure about the decision initially; however, both now acknowledge that i has paid off . "At first I was kiid of dfeppointed," Keith sail Tire of my worries was that he was just gomg to take time off , but he has taken full advantage of his time not playing football You dcrrt have to push him, he's always pushing himself." One of the ways CJ. has pushed himself is by putting h long hours during the winter in the batting cages hitting off of atee, often timesby himself . CJ. has also gone to numerous camps and played h many leagues. "I just fed like there's always soniething you can be doing and that's why I spend time in the gym or ratting off die tee in a cage," CJ. said "It all comes down to work ethic and who's going to put in the tine." ' CJ. puts in time everywhere, even to maintain the team's field Due to the fact that his last class of the day is P.E., CJ. is able to arrive at the field early before practice to get a head start on the maintenance duties. "No one else is allowed to touch the mound or home plate before the games " CJ. said with a laugh. "Coach Miner always jokes about how someday I'm going to become a professional grounds crew guy. I know for a fact that no matter where I go I'D be playing or coaching or being around the game. I just dont see how it won't be a part of my life." For now, the game is a central part of his fife, and CJ. and his teammates' eyes are set on finishing high in region and making a run at a state charnpioiiship. CJ. believes that Orem has the chemistry and talent to accomplish big things this season. That is already al-ready beginning to show as the Tigers have jumped out to a 3-1 start in Region 7 play. Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY Everything was going right for Orem, or so it seemed. The Tigers had just taken a 1-0 lead and were threatening threaten-ing to score more runs when Mountain View turned the tide back in its favor and went on to earn a 2-1 win in a great contest between previously unbeaten region foes last Wednesday. It all happened in the top of the fifth inning after Orem had already pushed a run across, coach Gary Miner elected to try one of the most daring and exciting plays in all of baseball the suicide squeeze. Travis Strong took off full speed from third to home and Jordan Johnston dropped down a perfect bunt down the right side to plate Strong with ease. The Bruins fielded the bunt and threw to first, but the throw was mishandled and Johnston was safe. Initially it looked like the beginning of the end for Mountain View; 2-0 score, runner on first with only one out and Orem ace pitcher Riley Ri-ley Adamson set to continue his dominant outing in the bottom bot-tom half of the inning. Then, as quickly as the surprise sur-prise squeeze play happened, it was all reversed. Moments after the play, the umpires ruled that Johnston ran inside of the baseline and obstructed the throw to first. As a result, re-sult, Johnston was ruled out, Strong was forced to return to third, and the momentum took a major swing in the Bruins' Bru-ins' favor. "That play was huge, if they get that play it's a different differ-ent ballgame," said Mountain View third baseman Caleb Loveland. Mountain View pitcher Sam Roden quickly retired Jeff Mella to end the inning and the Bruins went to work on the offensive end. Mountain View third baseman base-man Caleb Loveland led off the bottom half of the fifth with a double off the fence in left-center. Jordan Gustin hit an infield single to prolong the rally and Spencer Riley delivered deliv-ered a clutch single to right that scored Loveland from second and tied the game. One batter later, an Orem throwing throw-ing error allowed Taylor Dalrymple, who was pinch running for Gustin, to score the godhead run and give Mountain View a 2-1 lead. After the exciting 4nd unpredictable un-predictable fifth inning, one of the best pitcher's duals of the season thus far between Adamson and Roden resumed with Roden and the Bruins coming out on top. "This was a well-played game," said Mountain View coach Chris Coopoer. "Sure I would've been happier to get more hits out of our team, but I credit both pitchers on this one. I think they both did a heck of a job." Orem's Sargent led off the sixth inning with a single, but Loveland started a 54-3 double play to end the inning. Roden retired the side in the sixth to give Mountain View its third region win in as many tries. Roden allowed only five hits and walked only one batter to earn the win. "I came in feeling pretty confident," Roden said. "I've always done pretty well against these guys. I was hitting hit-ting my spots and had some good defense." As good as Roden was was, his Tiger counterpart was just as good and it took some tough breaks to hand Adamson Adam-son (5-1) his first loss of the season. Adamson pitched the whole game and gave up only six hits. Orem scored its only run of the game when Colton Baird hit a one-out double to right past a diving Draper. Baird then scored on Strong's single down the third-base line. Loveland led the Bruin offense of-fense by going 2-for-3 with a pair of long doubles. The Mountain View defense was also rock-solid and didn't commit com-mit a single error during the game. t Mountain View 14, Timpview 0: At Provo, the fear was that a day after an emotional win over rival Orem, Mountain View would suffer a letdown Thursday afternoon when the Bruins played at Timpview. How long would Mountain View be in celebrating mode? Do you have a stopwatch? Marcus Draper de-stressed Mountain View fans by hitting hit-ting a two-run homer in the first inning and helping the Bruins roll to a five-inning win over Timpview. "It took us a little while to get going after Draper's home run. I think our guys were a little anxious," said Mountain View coach Chris Cooper. "We're coming off a game where we couldn't hit a lick, so to hit like this today, I'm happy with that." Mountain View pounded out 12 hits in five innings. Eight of the nine starters had at least one hit and the first seven players in the lineup had at least one RBI. As a team the Bruins hit for the cycle. x Kyle Kendall led off the game with a single. Draper then smashed a two-run See BRUINS, Page 1 1 :;;rr.:iii.inr:;H:-rr!:i " tn r. rt T . n ; j - uh.. ukuu i-. nunAJtus -A . 801-756-8686 , , - 'W ' 33 E. Main V W " y I ' American Fork, Utah 84003 I v K v A Smile Beautiful j ...this spring with a Whiter I Brighter Smile in about an s hour with ZOOM Whitening , : for $295.00 Hl'iA Call for an Appointment 756-8686 wmmmm mm m 6-15 acre recreational estates underground utilities electric, phone state-of-the-art water system restrictive covenants architectural review committee well-maintained roads year-round access MOUNTAIN ESTATES call BOl 3GB B272 soldiersummit.com marketed through. David Cunningham banners Meany S 1 E H N k developed by: K MATTRESS CLEARANCE SALE! 10-20 Off Most In-Stock Furniture ; Save Big $$$ On Carpets ft Flooring 20 sleeted Etimw Dt A |