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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Baseball Teams Hope For a Playoff Run

May 01, 2015 11:27AM ● By Greg James

Olympus senior Henry Crandall is the leadoff hitter for the Titans. He leads the team with 16 runs scored and has three doubles. Photo courtesy of dsandersonpics.com

The Brighton and Olympus High School baseball teams are hoping to close out their regular seasons with important wins to help them qualify for the 5A and 4A state tournaments.

The Bengals are currently sitting in fifth place in Region 3. They close out their regular season with three games against the defending state champion, the Jordan Beetdiggers, May 4-6. 

They must finish in fourth place or better to qualify for the state tournament. The road seems like a difficult one, but the Bengals control their own destiny in Region 3.

The Bengals roster is full of underclassman. They only carry five seniors on their varsity roster; Christian Christensen, Kyle Jensen, Skylar Neale, Conner Olsen and Kade Olsen.

Junior pitcher CJ Bertran leads the team with two wins. Senior Kade Olson has recorded one. Holding opposing hitters in check has been a problem for the Bengals. Their region opponents are averaging 7.8 runs per game.

Juniors Brandon Clark and David Hoshijima each have one homerun entering the final week of the regular season. 

A Bengals fourth place finish would set up a first round state tournament match up with Cottonwood. The 5A state tournament is scheduled to begin Tuesday May 12.
Henry Crandall, senior center mid-fielder for Olympus High, waits for action.

 Brighton and Olympus faced each other on April 3. The Bengals jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the first inning, but could not coral the Titans and lost the game 11-2.

The Titans road to the state tournament is a little clearer. They are currently tied for fourth place and close out the regular season May 5 and 6 against Skyline. They must finish ahead of Murray who closes out its season against Timpanogos.

Senior pitcher Elias Falk has a 5-1 record for the Titans. He has 34 strikeouts and only nine walks in 36 and 2/3 innings pitched; Zak Wankier is 3-0 and has 21 strikeouts for the Titans.

Olympus is averaging 4.3 runs per game. Senior Dallin Bettilyon is its leading hitter with a .404 batting average. Hunter Lasko is hitting .340 and Zach Rosin .348.

The Titans 4A state tournament is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 12. A fourth place finish would send them to Maple Mountain for its first game in the tournament. They could finish as high as third and that would send them to Salem Hills or Spanish Fork. 

The state championship games for the 4A and 5A classifications are scheduled for May 22 at Utah Valley University.