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Show 5 Vernal Express wednesdoy, May 2, 1984 Union skins bits 6-2 Beit Rob i i 4 . - 3 , ' - - 1 - The Union Cougars refused to be whipped before the hometown fans so ; y cracked a 2-2 tie by scoring two 1 '.i:is in the fifth and sixth innings for li 2 state baseball tournament win, iday in Roosevelt over the Delta ibbits. ISoth teams were shut out in the run oring world in the first inning, f ?lla's Edwards struck out, but the third strike was dropped. However. ids 7 A HEADFIRST SLIDE by Bryan Eldredge, bottom, nets a run for the Union Cougars. Union scored two runs in the fifth and sixth innings and beat Delta, 6-2, in a state tournament game. f YES OWNED by Mike Olsen follow the baseball to the plate. Ohen pitched a complete game and was the winning pitcher in Un .. f r1 1. n b-i and the ball was fired to first base for the first out in the top of the first inning. Craig Church grounded out and Union hurler Mike Olsen whiffed Delta's Jeff Jackson to end the inning. Union went down in order in the bottom of the first inning as Mike Ross, Bryan Eldredge and Wayne Gingell flied out. Delta went down one, two, three in the top of the second inning as Mont Myers and Rob Young grounded out 4 A -A. v J m p r ' ' t f ' Ok r " ':y,rg Ihroueh he ar is Ueifa v : t i V ' " , . . .. I x and Danny Sheriff struck out. Union gained a lead in a big hurry on one mighty shot as Chad Richard drilled a pitch by Delta's Jackson a long, long way over the left field fence for a home run and a 1-0 Union lead. However, the next three batters weren't as fortunate as Troy Hall and Ryan Eldredge grounded out and Olsen struck out in the bottom of the second inning. Olsen struck out two of the batters he faced in the top of the third inning as lead off batter Geno Schena struck out and the final batter, Edwards whiffed. The second batter, Greg Tapham, was walked and moved to third on a ground out by Matt Smith, but was stranded on the strike out by Edwards. Union's Bobby Riding singled singl-ed with one out in the bottom of the third inning, but Ross struck out and Bryan Eldredge flied out. Baseball disaster struck for the Union Cougars in the top of the fourth inning as their defensive roof caved in and the Rabbits scored two runs for a 2-1 lead. Church grounded out and Jackson was walked. Myers struck out for the second out, but a base hit by Young dropped in between outfielders and infielders in shallow centerfield for a single. Sheriff hit a shot to third base, but the throw to the first base bag was high and Jackson crossed home plate to tie up the game at 1-1. Union attempted to pick off Sheriff at first base, but the ball hit a Delta Rabbit and darted into right field. Young scored to put the Rabbits into the lead at 2-1. Schena singled, but Tapham, who started heading to first base because he thought the pitch was ball, was greeted with a strike three call by the umpire for the third out. The Cougars were on the losing side of the ball game, but Union got back into the ball game with a blasting missile over the centerfield fence on a home run shot by Gingell in the bottom bot-tom of the fourth inning, which tied up the game at 2-2. Richard singled, but was stranded at second base as Hall flied out, Ryan Eldredge struck out and Olsen flied out. Delta batters Smith and Edwards were retired quickly as Smith grounded ground-ed out to the pitcher at first base and Edwards struck out, but the next three Union's 6-2 triumph over Delta, beba!:rr, Church. rht. Richard s'urxed a home to gve Umon a 10 lead in the second jnntng. batters turned into a problem for Olsen because of walks to Church, Jackson and Myers, which loaded up the bases. Olsen breathed a sigh of relief when Young hit a shot to Joe Arnold for a force out at third base to get the Cougars out of a jam. The Union fans were happy as they could be when the Cougar baseball team answered their hopes and prayers with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for a 4-2 lead. Nickell grounded out, but Riding was walked and moved to second base on a wild pitch. Ross lined a powerful shot into centerfield and Riding scored from second base to place the Cougars into the lead at 3-2. The Cougars had the hit and run on, but Ross put a reversal on the play as he ran and got hit by a ball slugged by Bryan Eldredge for the second out. Eldredge reached first base on a fielder's choice. Gingell singled and Richard was walked to load up the bases. Eldredge scored on a wild pitch to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead. Hall was walked walk-ed on purpose, but Ryan Eldredge hit into a force out on Richard at second base. Delta was blanked in the top of the sixth inning, but the Cougars weren't shut out as they produced two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 6-2 lead over the Rabbits. Olsen flied out in the bottom of the sixth inning, but he delivered a knockout punch to his aluminum bat as he broke it in half during his visit to the plate. The designated hitter rule had Joe Arnold playing in the field at third base, but once the Cougars were up to bat Arnold sat in the dugout and watched wat-ched Nickell do the hitting. However, Coach Brent Fieldsted decided to let Arnold bat for himself and he came through with a double. Riding gained a safe trip to first base because of an error and Arnold scored Union's fifth run. A sacrifice fly by Ross drove in Riding with a 6-2 lead. Bryan Eldredge was walked, but Gingell was retired for the third out. Delta's last hope at pocketing a win over the Cougars was destroyed as Smith, Edwards and Church grounded ground-ed out to make the final score: Union, 6 and Delta, 2. 4 1 i -I ,4 - 4 Friday. a, . MM "W mrnm mm m if- A THE TAG comes too late as Delta's Church steals second base and causes a dust storm. Union Cougar in the picture is Mike Ross, left. Union beat Dixie Tuesday, 5-4. Aluminum bats have replaced the fragile old wooden bats, which could easily be broken in the game of baseball, but Friday during the Union-Delta Union-Delta state tournament game this reporter, Aldon Rachele, witnessed an unusual baseball occurrence and that was two broken aluminum bats in one game. A batter took a swing and the hard substance at the end of the bat flew out and sprayed all over field. I guess that bat will be needing a refill. The second broken aluminum bat occurrence took place in the bottom of the sixth inning. Mike Olsen hit the baseball and he flied out. When the bat was picked up it was discovered that the handle was hanging on by just a hair as the bat was broken almost clear through. Another unusual item in the game should be called the strange delay. Delta went down one, two, three in the top of the first inning and the Union fans waited for Mike Ross to arrive at the plate. The fans waited and waited and the Delta players and the umpire were becoming impatient. Finally the umpire said, "Batter up" and the Union batter said, "Just a minute, we have a knot in our helmet bag." A helmet finally broke loose from the bag and Ross became a batter. Excellent teamwork on defense and offense enabled the Union Cougars to defeat the Delta Rabbiu, Friday in a 2-A State Tournament baseball game. 'We hit the ball better. The runs Delta scored were unearned. Mike Olsen pitched a good game and got the strike outs when we needed them," stated Union High School baseball coach Brent Fieldsted. "We played good defense except for the one inning when we gave them their runs." A home run by Chad Richard gave Union a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and he remarked, "It was a fast ball right down the middle and I just swung for a base hit and it went for a homer. It felt nice to win this one." Wayne Gingell slugged a home run to tie up the game at 2 2 In the Uiltom of the fourth inmng. " VT . V y . " . i THE BASE. BALI E?s t!a!?d by pn Over the fenc for 3 hnmcf s - - -v! "Our first base coach picked off Delta's signs and he told me a fast ball was coming. I just tried to hit it and caught it just right for a homer. It feels great," said Gingell. Mike Olsen was the winning pitcher in the game for the Union Cougars and the sophomore hurled the entire contest. "I had a heartbreaking slider that worked well. I was glad to pull it out. I almost lost it in the fifth inning when the bases were loaded up," said Olsen. "We played more as a team and just played better ball. We had good defensive defen-sive play and my slider was breaking pretty hard." A single by Mike Ross in the bottom of the fifth inning drove in Bobby Riding and put the Cougars ahead for good in the ball game at 3-2. "Our first base coach had the signs and said 'fast ball' and I was waiting for it. I popped it out into center field and Riding scored to put us ahead," said Ross. Ross' visit on the base paths in the fifth inning was a short one as he was hit by a ball slugged by Bryan Eldredge. "We had the hit and run on and I forgot to duck. I ran and got hit," commented com-mented Ross- . Joe Arnold and Willie Nickell shared ' ' the sport of baseball in the game with Delta. Arnold played defense at third base, and sat on the bench during the offensive portion of the game for the Cougars. Willie Nickell batted for Arnold Ar-nold and when it was time to go back onto the field for defensive purposes Nickell remained in the dugout. However, in the sixth inning, Coach Fieldsted let Arnold bat and he came through with a double. "I drilled the pitch for a double in my first time at bat in the game. I only on-ly gained four base hits this year and 3 of the 4 are doubles," said Arnold. Union had seven hits and scored six runs in their win over Delta. Richard was 2 for 2 with a homer, single and walk. Gingell was 2 for 4 with a homer and single. Arnold was 1 for 1 with a double. Hiding was 1 for 2 and Uoss was 1 for 3. Olson allowed only two hits and the two runs were unearned. Olson recorded nine strike outs. Young ami Schena were 1 for 3 in the game for Delta. The Cougars riprn-d the ball for four hits and scored two runs in a loss to Emery, Wednesday, April 23. Olsen was 2 for 3 with two singles. Ryan Eldredge was 1 for 3 and Tracy Hall was 1 fur 4. Emory's lop hitter was Jim Lund, who was 3 for 3 with three singlos and one walk, The Spartan had seven hits and scored seven runs, t'nion rnmmiltod errors and six uf the seven runs were unoarned. " J v" A . 0 I I - Unci Couear V.'ayno qi 3nrj in hg fou'th inning. v-hfh bd |