PROVIDENCE — It wasn’t an ideal first 15 or so minutes of the 2022 Northern Utah League season for the Providence Wolverines, but they sure responded well to an early deficit.
Providence dug itself out of a 3-0 hole by exploding for nine runs in the home half of the first and never looked back en route to a 17-7 six-inning victory over the Northern Utah Peaches on Tuesday night at Max L. Johnson Memorial Field. It was the season opener for both baseball teams.
“I don’t think anyone got out of their comfort zone too much,” Providence lead-off hitter Dillon Haslam said. “We just fought back and just kept battling each inning, scored more and more runs and got to where we were. It was good to see.”
Haslam, who just finished his sophomore season at Walla Walla (Washington) Community College, led the offensive charge for the Wolverines. The former Preston High star went 4 for 4, plus he walked and was plunked in his other two plate appearances. Haslam also scored twice and drove in three runs, including the one that invoked the 10-run mercy rule.
Haslam and company were patient at the plate throughout the evening as the Wolverines drew a whopping 17 free passes. Providence also came through with 10 base knocks, including doubles from Traceson Jensen, Mitch Coughlin and Ashton Rhodes.
“Everyone went up there with a good approach, swung at good pitches,” Haslam said. “I don’t think anybody really swung (at anything) outside of the zone for the most part. We were ready for strikes and put good swings on the ball, put them in play and good things happened.”
The Peaches were also pretty selective at the plate, especially in the early going. Case in point: The visitors plated their three first-inning runs on two walks, two hit batsmen and one hit. Chris Shopbell smacked a double to the gap in left-center in the top of the first.
Providence was clearly undaunted by its early deficit, though, as it sent 15 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first. The Wolverines scored their nine runs on three hits and eight free passes. An error by the Peaches also loomed large, inasmuch as it likely would have been an inning-ending double play.
The Peaches bounced back with three runs in the top of the second to pare their deficit to 9-6. Hayden Smoot doubled in the second frame for the visitors, while Zac Egbert and Marcus Callister both singled.
Coughlin, Providence’s starting pitcher, was able to settle down after the first two innings and limited the Peaches to one run on two hits in the next two frames. The southpaw struck out four, walked three and plunked two in his four innings on the mound.
Coleman Bobb was rock solid in relief for the Wolverines as he fanned two and issued no free passes in his two innings of scoreless ball. The Green Canyon High athlete only allowed one hit.
“Yeah, it was a little shaky,” Providence coach Braxton Jensen said. “You know, somebody’s probably not going to be (delivering) their best stuff (this early in the season), but Mitch calmed down and found the zone, found his curveball a little bit, was mixing up his pitches. And Coleman was just pounding the zone with his fastball, got it in on their hands, so it was good. It was really great to see. Hopefully it keeps that way throughout the whole season because that’s what we really lacked last year was pitching.”
The Wolverines didn’t manufacture any runs in the second or third innings, but dented the scoreboard in each of the final three frames. Jensen laced a RBI double over the center field’s head in the bottom of the fourth, and Clayton Moyles came through with a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth. Providence took advantage of three errors by the Peaches in the home half of the sixth.
Rhodes reached base on four of his at-bats for the Wolverines, who got three RBIs from Bobb, a pair of RBIs and runs from Moyle and Bryson Siddoway, and two runs apiece from Jensen and Sawyer Triplett. Otter Pond walked in both of his plate appearances for Providence.
Vincent Rohrer and Callister each singled twice for the Peaches, plus Callister drove in three runs and Rohrer scored twice, as did Shopbell.
There are seven teams in the NUL this season as the league added a second squad from the Gem State in the Idaho (Rexburg) Cutties. The other teams in the NUL are the two-time defending champion Smithfield Blue Sox, the Hyrum Hornets, the Gate City (Idaho) Grays and the Logan Royals.
“Yeah, it’s lots of fun,” Haslam said of the league growing. “With a new team coming in, there’s more competition, more games. I think everybody likes that, being able to come out here and play baseball a few times a week. I know a lot of guys that play for colleges. This is the time that they get reps ... and get ready for the fall. And even the guys that don’t play college ball, it’s good competition. Every team here is a pretty good team.”
