2016 NHSI: Opportunistic Bingham Bounces The First Academy

CARY, N.C. — On Saturday afternoon, in their final game of this year’s National High School Invitational, the Bingham Miners were opportunistic. They took advantage of every opening presented them, and the result was a 7-2 win over The First Academy, the tournament’s champions from 2014.

Using primarily a fastball and a curveball with a little tilt, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) righthander Brock Bearden held The First Academy (Orlando, Fla.) to just two hits over the first five innings. The curveball tricked Royals hitters enough to induce weak popup after weak popup, grounder after grounder usually struck well away from the barrel.

With Bearden locking down The First Academy, the offense went to work seizing any daylight in sight. The ball scoots away from the catcher? Take the extra base. Defense back on its heels? Drop a bunt hit.

Combine that spirit with a big hit every now and then, and you’ve got a pretty nice recipe for success.

‘We played today like we’re capable of playing,” Bingham head coach Joe Sato said. “Haven’t really done that this week. We’re not a power-hitting team, so taking advantage of the bunt we had there with Brock and a safety squeeze with two strikes we got down early in the game, the drag bunt by Parker Littlewood, that set up the inning, so that’s what we try to do back home.”

Not only did Bingham take advantage of its own chances, but it came up big when it needed to snuff The First Academy’s.

After a silent five innings, TFA rallied in the sixth. The Royals loaded the bases with one out, and got one run back when Kendrick Calilao punched a single past shortstop. Bearden recovered quickly,

Kendrick Calilao made it count with a single to left, plating TFA’s first run. Bingham minimized the damage when it induced a 6-4-3 double play from the next hitter.

“When I came to a little bit of trouble, I might have tried to overthrow,” Bearden said. “What I should have been doing was what I’d been doing all game.”

Bingham lefty Derek Soffe closed out the win.

Bingham second baseman Logan Leatherwood started the fourth with a single, advanced to second on a balk and then took third on Parker Littlewood’s lob wedge of a bunt single. He then scored on a Brock Bearden bunt that proved too hot to handle for Royals starter Nick Mackedon.

Arizona State commit Sean Keating then tacked on another with a sacrifice fly to medium right-center field.

Matt Degn’s RBI hustle double, which just scraped through the middle infield, banked Chad Wilson with Bingham’s first run. Kash Westerkamp then doubled the total with a hot-shot single just to the left of second base.

NOTE: Keating scored an inside-the-park home run in the seventh inning when center fielder Calilao became injured diving for a fly ball on the warning track. Calilao stayed down for some time before being replaced by Joseph Charles.