Dandy Dons: Spanish Fork beats Miners, appears to be back on track

SOUTH JORDAN — Spanish Fork began the season with 17 consecutive wins and everything seemed just peachy. Everyone assumed the Dons would continue their mastery and run away with a region title and cruise into the state tournament as heavy favorites.

It's amazing how the perception changed as the team lost three of its last four games to end the season and finished with a No. 2 seed.

The Dons appear to be back on track as they advanced to the semifinals of the winners' bracket of the 5A state playoffs with an 11-6 win over Bingham. But according to coach Jim "Shoe" Nelson, things are not really all that different.

"People were saying we peaked and that we were done and that we weren't playing very well," he said. "People sometimes just don't understand how this game goes. We really weren't playing much different in those games (the three losses) than what we played today. It's a game of breaks and sometimes luck, and today we played like we normally play."

The "normal" game for Spanish Fork included a hit parade and a strong pitching performance. It is not very often that a pitcher that gives up six runs and it is still considered a good game, but the Dons' Jace Brinkerhoff held what can be an explosive Bingham lineup in check. Except for a big mistake in the first inning where Justin Degiulio crushed a two-run home run, the reliable Brinkerhoff did the job with a mid-80s fastball and a biting curve.

"Definitely the curve ball" said Brinkerhoff of why he was successful. "First couple of innings I wasn't spotting it very good, but after that I found my curve ball and that is what helped me get through the whole game."

Brinkerhoff threw all seven innings giving up five earned runs and striking out six. While it was good enough to get the win, the five earned runs equaled one of his worst outings on the mound. He may have struggled throwing, but he continued his torrid pace at the plate going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Offensively, Spanish Fork was a hitting machine. The Dons did not exactly crush the ball, only one hit of 15 was of the extra-base variety, but they swung the bat effectively lining hit after hit over the infield. Kasey Carling got it started with a lead-off single, and he later scored when Jordan Smith got an RBI after getting hit by a pitch with the bases full. It was just a sign of things to come.

The Dons scored a run in the second on a Brinkerhoff RBI single, three runs in the third on Tyler Barney's and Smith's RBI singles, and an unearned run in the fifth. They capped the scoring when Seth Spainhower had a sacrifice-fly in the sixth coupled with a pair of unearned runs, and Smith added a sacrifice fly in the seventh to go with a Cory Grover RBI single.

Spanish Fork moves on to play Jordan in the winners bracket while Bingham drops to the one-loss bracket to face Skyline.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com