Young but good: Blacksmith Fork on roll in Legion

KEARNS — Take a look at Blacksmith Fork's young roster, and it's easy to dismiss the Trappers as a true contender in the American Legion state baseball tournament.

Maybe Cyprus did that. Maybe Granger did, too. If they did, both made huge mistakes.

The Trappers, composed of players who were juniors and sophomores at Mountain Crest in the spring, continued their run in the state tournament with an 8-3 win over Granger on Monday afternoon. Blacksmith Fork advances to play Taylorsville U-17 in the winners' bracket semifinals tonight at 8.

"No, not at all," was coach Stephen Hansen's response when asked if he was surprised by his team's success in the state tournament. "We work hard all summer long to do this. The experience down here is what's going to help us come springtime. We expect to come down and win."

Hansen knows what it takes to build a winner, as he coached Mountain Crest to the 4A state championship in May. He believes playing Legion ball in the summer is a boost for his program, and it's showing.

Tyler Christensen threw a complete game for the Trappers and was backed by an opportunistic offense. Blacksmith Fork started to pull away in the fourth by scoring two runs off of two Granger errors in the same sequence. Blacksmith Fork broke a 1-1 tie and cruised the rest of the way.

"It gave us a lot of momentum and got us going," said Trappers shortstop Trace Hansen. "It helped us throughout the game."

T.J. Smith led Blacksmith Fork's offense with two RBIs. Trace Hansen and Taylor Root each had two hits.

IN OTHER GAMES:

TAYLORSVILLE 11, HELPER 6: Tim Lesuma powered the Warriors past Helper with six RBIs. He hit a grand slam in the second inning, and added a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

SPARTANS 10, TOOELE 1: Nate Davis threw a complete game to lead the Spartans.

TAYLORSVILLE U-17 9, MURRAY 3: Tanner Dawes had three hits and the Warriors scored four runs in the sixth to pull away.

BOX ELDER 7, ROY 1: Brad Munns threw a complete game and helped his own cause with three RBIs to lead Box Elder.

GRANTSVILLE 16, UINTAH 4: Tyson Hutchins nearly hit for the cycle, as he hit a double, triple and a home run and had six RBIs for Grantsville. Benji Cole was the winning pitcher.

SMITHFIELD 10, BEAR RIVER 0: Zach Saxton threw a five-inning no-hitter to lead Smithfield, and a two-run double by Derek Pond helped the Aztecs pull away from Bear River in the fourth inning.

CYPRUS 17, CLEARFIELD 4: Cyprus scored nine runs off of seven hits in the first inning to blow away Clearfield. Mitch Josie and Clint Trutzel had back-to-back two-run singles.

American Legion state tournament

Today's Games, at Oquirrh Park, Kearns

Winners' bracket

Taylorsville vs. Spartans, 7 p.m.

Blacksmith Fork vs. Taylorsville U-17, 8 p.m.

One-loss bracket

Box Elder vs. Helper, 1 p.m.

Cyprus vs. Murray, 2 p.m.

Grantsville vs. Tooele, 4 p.m.

Smithfield vs. Granger, 5 p.m.

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com