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Bingham baseball finishes atop Region 3

Jun 05, 2017 11:51AM ● By Billy Swartzfager

Waiting for action on a sunny day, a Bingham outfielder looks on. (Billy Swartzfager/City Journals)

By Billy Swartzfager | [email protected]
 
The Bingham baseball team was in the driver’s seat all season in 5A’s Region 3. The team finished the year with a 18-7 overall record and a 15-3 record in region play. The Miners had a 12-6 record in region matchups last season, finishing second behind Cottonwood, which subsequently ended Bingham’s 2016 season earlier than hoped by sending them home prior to finishing third in the state.
 
This year has been even better. The Miners only lost one game in March to start the year off on the right foot. The loss, on March 11, to non-region foe, Spanish Fork, was early and didn’t do anything to get in the way of Bingham’s region dominance.
 
The Miners began region play by sweeping Brighton in mid-March for a three-game series. Bingham averaged 11 runs in that series while only allowing the Bengals to score one.
 
The next region foe to fall to Bingham was West Jordan. Bingham played the Jaguars three times in four days at the end of March, winning securely all three times. The Miners didn’t score as many runs against West Jordan as they did against Brighton, but they averaged eight runs a game to close out the month.
 
Bingham began April much the same way, starting with Cottonwood. Cottonwood played well, but still lost to Bingham in all three matchups. The first game of the series on April 4 at Bingham was a close one, 2-0, and the second game the following day was determined in extra innings, 11-6, in Bingham’s favor. The Miners capped their run against Cottonwood with a win in April 6, 7-4.
 
In mid-April, Bingham traveled to Anaheim, California, for the annual National Classic Baseball Tournament, where the Miners faced some very good national competition. Bingham went 1-3 for the tournament.
 
After returning home, Bingham went back to work against region competition, starting with Taylorsville. On April 18, Bingham went to Taylorsville and won 20-0, but couldn’t complete the sweep. The Miners lost on April 19 in a close fought battle, 5-4. But, Bingham won two days later at home against Taylorsville in their usual fashion, 11-3.
 
To begin May, Bingham squared off against Copper Hills. The Miners won all three games they played versus the Grizzlies, May 2, 2-1; May 2, 5-3; and May 5, 8-4. The games against Copper Hills were closer than usual for Bingham and may have been an indication for what was coming.
 
Bingham finished its regular season playing a three-game series against the Beetdiggers of Jordan High School. Jordan, who finished third in the region, surprised Bingham the first two games, winning both, one on May 8 at Jordan, 8-3, and the second on May 9 at home, 11-0. The Miners bounced back, beating Jordan in the final game of the season on May 10, 7-4.
 
The Miners have been led all season by several seniors and a few underclassmen. Junior Nick Burdette leads the team in both batting average and home runs while playing first base. Seniors Copper Hansen and Tate Farnsworth are first and second on the team in runs batted in. Senior outfielder Chad Wilson has shown a lot of speed on the base paths, leading the team in stolen bases. Junior, Derek Soffe has been outstanding on the bump with a record of 5-0 and an earned run average of .28. Soffe also leads the team in innings pitched, and sophomore Peyton Jones went 4-1 with an ERA of 1.09 for the season.