Taylorsville baseball ends state tournament streak

By Greg James |  [email protected] 

The baseball team at Taylorsville High School has had many years of successful seasons. This year, it just missed the playoffs, its star player has signed at Kentucky and its head coach moved to a new positon in the school district

The Warriors have captured 10 state championships and had made the state tournament for seven straight seasons, but that streak ended this season. For the first time since 2010, the Warriors will not be playing postseason baseball.

“We could have played a lot better than we did,” junior Griffin Winward said. “I don’t think we played to our potential, and that was disappointing.” 

A disappointing season for the Warriors, defined by its players, means not making the state tournament. Their final regular season record was 5-13 and included a sweep against Brighton and single victories over Bingham and Copper Hills. 

Senior Kasey Gaal led the team in hits and doubles. The Warriors had a .290 team batting average, and four of the team's 13 losses were by two runs or less.

In a victory over the eventual Region 3 champion Bingham, they avenged a terrible series opening loss.

The Miners were cruising through the regular season and had buzz sawed the Warriors one day prior 20-0, but Taylorsville rallied behind the heavily recruited right arm of Crosby Bringhurst. They made game two of the series a different story. The Warriors beat the Miners 5-4.

In the game, Bringhurst only allowed seven hits and two earned runs over 6 ⅓ innings. He had pitched a gem. Even though the Miners attempted a last-inning rally, junior Caleb Schulte held them off to capture a save and preserve the victory. Schulte also had a double and two runs batted in.

Bringhurst is ranked as the 28th top baseball recruit in the state of Utah by MaxPreps. He throws a fastball clocked at over 90 mph, and before his senior season began, he signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at the University of Kentucky.

He had received offers from The University of Utah, Arizona and Arizona State before choosing Kentucky. He told the City Journals that his choice boiled down to a desire to play the best competition in the Southeastern Conference.

“I loved pitching with Crosby,” Winward said. “He taught me how to be a better pitcher. We all learned what hard work can do and how it pays off in the future. Most of the team has played on teams with him since little league. He has shown us how we need to act and how to respect the game,” Winward said.

Bringhurst will not be the only person leaving the program. Seven-year head coach Jake Brown has accepted a position in Granite School District administration. The search for a successor has begun, but no replacement has been announced (at press deadline).

In six straight state tournament appearances the Warriors are 13-12 in the postseason. Their best tournament run during this stretch came in 2012 when they lost to American Fork in the championship game. 

Their last state title was in 2002, and they won three straight titles from 1992 to 1994.