With a storybook comeback-in-the making after erasing a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh, Tooele had the bases loaded with no outs with a big opportunity to win the game.

Unfortunately, the Buffs could not muster in another run and eventually lost the game 9-3 in nine innings to Mountain View.

Matt Gochis proved to be a tough out going four-for-five in the game with three singles and a triple to baffle Mountain View starter Caleb Loveland but it was not enough to overcome the visiting Bruins.

Tooele starter Derick Anderson cruised along in the first two innings with minimal damage, but all that changed in the third.

With runners on the corners Mountain View started the hit-and-run to perfection as Marcus Draper broke for second on the pitch to disable the double play as Tooele's Matt Medina was only able to get the runner at first, allowing Spencer Riley to score for the first run of the game.

The Bruin scoring did not stop there as Tanner Young followed up with a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield, then Sam Rhoden hit a towering fly ball that bounced off the glove of Chisholm Wooley to score Young to give Mountain View a 3-0 lead.

Tooele did not lack for opportunities during the opening innings. The Buffs had runners in scoring position in four of the first five innings but were unable to advance those runners to home plate.

With two outs in the sixth Jordan Linnell started a rally with a double.

Tooele coach Danny Medina opted for pinch-hitter Taylor Hunt to hit in this pressure situation. Hunt hit a towering pop fly just right of the pitchers mound, but with a lack of communication the ball hit safely to the ground as Linnell hustled from second to score the first Tooele run.

The top of the order was coming up for Tooele's last chance in the seventh, needing two runs to extend the game and three to win. Medina drew a walk to start off the seventh then was followed with a single by Anderson. Gochis continued his hot hitting ways with an RBI single in the infield to score Medina and bring the game within a run 3-2. Christensen followed up with a game-tying single to knot the game 3-3 with still no outs.

With the bases loaded and no outs for Tooele, Cameron Schmidt came on for Mountain View and achieved the nearly impossible task of recording three consecutive outs without allowing a Buff base runner to cross the plate.

Anderson put in a courageous performance on the mound for Tooele as he not only pitched all seven innings, but also headed to the mound for the extra innings as well as he pitched a perfect eighth as well.

Tooele came up in the eighth with hopes of ending this game with the strength of their hitting. With two out Anderson reached on a error and Gochis singled to give a chance to Steven Witkowski with runners on second and third.

Witkowski hit a slicing liner to left field that appeared headed for a game-winning base hit, but Bruin right fielder Caleb Loveland made a great running catch to extend the game

Anderson ran into some trouble against the top of the Mountain View lineup in the ninth as they promptly loaded the bases. With the bases juiced, Anderson made a great pitch to get Bruin clean-up hitter Young to pop up just behind the pitcher's mound. The bad news is that no one was there to catch it giving Mountain View a 4-3 lead.

The scoring did not end there for the Bruins as Loveland came to the plate after a walk forced in another run and blasted a single to right scoring two more runs and a 7-3 advantage. Another two-RBI single for Mountain View gave the Bruins a 9-3 advantage that Tooele could not overcome.

Tooele and Mountain View had the same amount of hits in this game with 12 a piece but Tooele had a harder time converting those hits into runs. Tooele 8-7 will host Morgan Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Provo 10 - Tooele 0

Tooele had a rough game to say the least against Provo on Thursday. The visiting Bulldogs scored three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to end the game in six innings 10-0.

Baffled by Provo starting pitcher Colin Bigelow, Tooele could only muster four base hits.

Steven Witkowski did manage to knock two singles in the game with Jordan Linnell and Matt Medina earning one hit a piece.

jgordon@tooeletranscript.com