This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Defending Class 4A state champ Skyline had a chance to pick up a win against region frontrunner Murray on Wednesday.
A pretty good chance, too.
But the visiting Spartans rallied from a six-run deficit to pull out a 10-9 victory over Skyline in a back-and-forth contest.
Murray (13-3, 9-2) started the seventh inning behind by a run when Chase Topham reached with his third infield hit of the day. Cam Howe then doubled to deep left to tie the contest. A bunt by Preston Hannay with the bases loaded later in the inning scored Howe for what proved to be the winning run.
"He'd been having bad at-bats all day long," Murray coach Marce Wilson said about Howe's hit. "You just hope the good at-bat comes at the right time."
Both of the starting pitchers, Murray's McKade Jangard and Skyline's Bridger Nielson, were victims of big rallies that wouldn't have happened without lapses in the field.
Skyline (11-10, 4-7) scored five unearned runs in the bottom of the first — with singles by Anj Bourgeois, Riley Hennings and Coleman Gerdes capitalizing on a pair of errors.
Down 6-0, Murray then rallied for six unearned runs in the top of the fourth. The Spartans got one of Topham's infield hits and a deep blast by Bo Shipley for a double, but the Eagles helped out with three errors in the inning.
The 6-6 tie lasted until the sixth, when Murray went up by two. That rally also was aided by a pair of Skyline miscues. —