High school baseball: Darts stick around to pound Clearfield

KAYSVILLE — Davis coach Dave Leo thought about putting up a "For Sale" sign on his school's baseball diamond. With the Clearfield Falcons coming to face his Darts on Monday, Leo worried that it was a dangerous game for his team. The Falcons had won three straight, including a stunning win at Viewmont last week.

"I was scared to death," Leo said. "I'm sitting in class today thinking, 'Why do I do this to myself?' They beat Viewmont at their place. How many teams can do that? I wanted to put up a 'For Sale' sign on the fence, saying, 'We moved.' "

The Darts did, in fact, stick around to play the game, and it's a good thing. Davis picked up an impressive 9-2 win over Clearfield on Monday afternoon to keep pace with Viewmont in first place in Region 1. Davis improved to 6-2 in league play and 8-5 overall.

"We played very well," Leo said. "We played well last Friday at Northridge, and it was one of the finest games I've ever been involved in. We just kept going."

Jared Taylor threw a complete game, and a six-run outburst by the Darts in the third inning proved to be the differences in the contest. Taylor threw three hitless innings to start the game and kept the Falcons off balance with his curve and changeup.

"I felt calm up there," said Taylor, who tossed four strikeouts. "Nothing mattered. I was just in a zone kind of thing."

Davis' bats joined him there in the third. Daniel Moffett blasted a solo home run to make the game 2-0. Mike Jewkes hit an RBI single, Austin Trottier followed with a two-run single and Jay Gerner capped the scoring with a two-run single.

"We got those runs really quick," Leo said. "I don't look at this as a blowout. We got a couple key hits with guys in scoring position."

In a matter of minutes, it went from 1-0 to 7-0, and Moffett's home run was a big reason for the change.

"It sparked us really good," Taylor said. "Moffett's been doing really good with the bat. Anytime he hits a home run, it brings up our team."

The Falcons were up for Monday's contest after winning three straight games. In addition to beating Viewmont last week, they recorded a two-game sweep over Fremont. Clearfield, which lost its first seven games of the season, worked its way into state tournament contention with last week's victories.

"We were on a little roll, but we hit a bump," said Falcons coach Trevor Thomas. "We just didn't play very well."

It was the start of a busy week for both teams, as each will play four games in five days.

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com