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SANDY — Losing 11 players from last season would make some coaches enter a full rebuild, especially when those 11 players had a hand in back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Not the Jordan Beetdiggers baseball team, who, despite their 2-6 start, showed glimpses of a bright and dangerous future in an 18-2, five-inning mercy-rule victory over Highland Wednesday to clinch their first region series of the season.
Jordan junior pitcher McKay Brande, who finished the final two innings in relief, struck out the final batter of the game and called the series win "a confidence booster," especially after coming off being swept by newly minted region foe Alta last week. The Beetdiggers fell on a walk-off in the opener before dropping the next two games by scores of 6-3 and 7-1, respectively.
"We've got a lot of talent, but a lot of inexperience," Jordan head coach Chad Fife said. "It's been a challenge, for sure."
Adding to the challenge is the non-region schedule Jordan faced. The Beetdiggers had road trips to Riverton and Mountain Ridge — losing to the latter 17-0 — two teams Fife said were "odds-on favorites to win 6A," and also played a single midweek clash with former region foe and defending 5A state champion Timpanogos.
"We're going to find a way to win," captain and junior infielder Noah Gatti said. "This series is a great way for us to try and figure that out."
In a squad that only has two players with varsity experience on it, Fife said Gatti's leadership has been a huge lift. Gatti added being a leader stretches far beyond the field; he said being a leader starts in the classroom and trickles down onto the play on the field.
"He's been a gamer," Fife said. "There's a group of seniors that are right there with him, but Noah's the guy."
Brande said everything was laid down in the preseason, when the Beetdiggers did a teambuilding activity, splitting into groups and doing what they called "challenging activities," which built up the brotherhood that Jordan brought into the regular season.
With the Beetdiggers losing six of their first eight before Wednesday's whipping of the Rams, it seems like it would have been easy to throw in the towel; and yet, Fife said they've done the opposite.
"We're not giving up on them, but they certainly aren't giving up on us," Fife said.
"Our seniors have not really played because we had seniors last year that were super talented," Gatti said. "They're just coming out of the freezer."
Brande is also one of those players coming back out of the freezer. The junior underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season last year, calling the times where he had his arm in a sling and not being able to practice or play "depressing," but he said being back on the field was "rewarding."
"We've had to dig deep after that preseason to find out who we are," Gatti said. "As soon as we click, you're not going to want to play us."
On the evidence of Wednesday's game — and what Gatti said — it seems that is coming sooner rather than later for the Beetdiggers, who still have series to go against Brighton and Olympus later in April, but Fife said these experiences are what his team will need come the state tournament — and could still lead to a third straight 20-win season.
"We've been getting a little more gritty," Brande said. "The first series was tough, but the only way from here is up."
