by Jake Gordon

STAFF WRITER

With three home runs as part of a 12-hit barrage, Ogden pitchers Dallin Laird and Matt Brady most assuredly got a sore neck looking at all the balls flying over their heads in the 17-0 beating at the hands of the Grantsville Cowboys in five innings.

Tyson Hutchins, Mark White and Taylor Clark all hit long bombs to lead the power-hitting show put on at their home field.

With two outs in the first White and Kort Fonger were able to reach on errors to start up a rally. With runners on second and third Taylor Matthews nailed a single down the left field line bringing in the game's first two runs.

Clark followed with a powerful double off the fence in right-center field scoring Matthews giving Grantsville an early 3-0 lead.

With a three-run lead Grantsville starter Benji Cole was in the middle of pitching a fine game. Cole did not give up a hit until the fourth inning and only gave up two hits the entire game, while striking out six in the five inning shutout.

Hutchins came to the plate with one-on and one-out and promptly hit a towering shot over the center field wall to tack on two more runs for the Cowboys. With a wild pitch from Ogden's Laird, Alex Childs was able to score to give Grantsville a 6-0 lead.

Fortunately for Grantsville the balls continued to fly over the outfield wall. White quickly deposited a fastball over the left-center field fence bringing in three more runs. Clark came up later in the inning and hit the second three-run shot off of reliever Matt Brady for the sixth run of the inning and a 12-0 lead.

With a 12-run lead Grantsville coach Loren Anderson decided to put in some seldom used players to get some game experience. The plan appeared successful as the Cowboys continued scoring in the fourth inning.

T.J. Sieh came to the plate with the bases loaded and lined a single through the left side of the infield to score Ryley Boman. Andrew Nelson and Paeyton Harris both had back-to-back RBI singles and then Cole came on to top off the Grantsville scoring with two RBIs through the left side of the infield.

"I was proud of my guys for keeping their intensity out there," said coach Anderson. "In games that get blown wide open sometimes it is hard to stay focused."

The Cowboys now 3-2 in Region 11 play travel to Bear River today at 3:30 p.m. with their next home game against Ben Lomond next Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

jgordon@tooeletranscript.com