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Blue Sox claim Northern Utah tournament with hit after hit By
Wade Denniston
SMITHFIELD -- There was a hit parade Saturday night at the Richard V. Hansen Baseball Park. Behind 18 base knocks, the Smithfield Blue Sox ousted rival Providence, 14-1, to claim the Northern Utah Preseason Tournament. "When you hit the ball like that," said Smithfield manager Richard Hansen, "you take teams right out of it." While everyone in the Smithfield lineup recorded at least one hit, the hottest of the Blue Sox batters was catcher Craig Miller, who went 3 for 4 with three RBI. "We just happened to be hitting it tonight," said Smithfield second baseman Rick Thorne, who went 2 for 4, with two runs and two RBI. But did the Blue Sox really expect to record 18 safeties off of the Wolverines' Adam Sorenson and Jed Jensen? "Never against these guys," Thorne said. "It just happened to be one of those nights." Hansen couldn't agree more. "No, I didn't expect to do that," he said. "But, I did expect that (Jason) Jarvis could beat these guys." And the right-handed hurler didn't disappoint his manager as he went the distance to record the win. Jarvis threw seven solid innings for the Blue Sox, striking out nine, while allowing one run on seven hits. "Jason was tough," Thorne said. "Jason's always going to be right around the plate. He had good command of his pitches." That he did as he allowed Providence nary a walk. "He throws great," Hansen said. With Jarvis taking care of business on the mound, Smithfield's offense finally got going in the top of the third. Jeff Healey began the inning for the Blue Sox with a single, which was followed by six more hits as nine batters came to the plate in all. Todd Wilson had the biggest blow for Smithfield as he ripped a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence for a three-run home run. Healey got things going again for the Blue Sox in the top of the fourth when he led the inning off with another single. Once again, nine Smithfield batters came to the plate, recording thee hits and three more runs to open up an 8-0 lead. Jarvis ran into his only bit of trouble in the bottom of the fourth when he allowed one run off two hits. Providence left fielder Chris Shelton, who doubled, scored on shortstop Nick Bott's single to center. But that's as close as the Wolverines would get as Healey got the hits rolling again for the Blue Sox in the top of the fifth when he led off with his third consecutive single. Thorne drove in Healey with an RBI double and Smithfield had a 10-1 lead after its half of the inning. The Blue Sox added four more insurance runs in the top of the sixth. "We played well tonight," Thorne said. "Providence has been playing well and they always have a good team. It's always fun to play them. They've got a lot of good players, a lot of them playing college ball."
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