Utes bloom with East County influence
- Updated: March 30, 2017
2017 4-YEAR COLLEGE BASEBALL STANDOUTS
By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SALT LAKE CITY, UT (3-30-17) — Two Granite Hills brothers, JOSH and JAYSON ROSE, figure to be drafted in the next year or so. Both currently attend the University of Utah.
Josh, a senior outfielder, earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 last year and was named to the All-Regional Team at the NCAA regional in Oxford.
He played in 54 games for the Utes with 50 starts. He compiled a .290 batting average with a team-high 35 RBI, tied for second on the team with a .456 slugging percentage and was second on the team with six home runs and 10 RBI, which ranked him third on the team.
Josh is hitting .238 this season with a pair of home runs.
Jayson, a junior pitcher, was named a preseason NCBWA All-American and is on the Golden Spikes Award watch list.
A year ago he was selected to the first-team All-Pac-12 and broke the Utah single-season record for strikeouts with a 106. He was second in the Pac-12 in strikeouts and was the only pitcher to have over 100 strikeouts in the regular season, finishing 10th in the Pac-12 with a 2.89 ERA.
He was second in the Pac-12 in strikeouts and was the only pitcher to have over 100 strikeouts in the regular season, finishing 10th in the Pac-12 with a 2.89 ERA.
Jayson is 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA this season.
He was dynamite in his last start on Saturday against Stanford, allowing six hits over 7 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. The 4-0 shutout win was the Utes only Pac-12 win so far this season in six starts. Utah is 10-12 overall.
Five strikeouts today for Jayson Rose. Utes lead Stanford 3-0 through four innings. #goutes pic.twitter.com/ROrwTlo7rK
— Utah Baseball (@utahbaseball) March 25, 2017
Also on the Utes roster is sophomore outfielder DESHAWN KEIRSEY, JR., out of Helix Charter, who is having a terrific season batting .313 with two homers and a team-high 18 runs scored. He is 11 for his last 20 at the plate.
He has also been a defensive wizard in center field, making highlight-reel catches on a regular basis this season.
Last season Kiersey, Jr. was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He was chosen to the first team All-Pac-12 and was Utah’s first selection to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team since the Utes joined the league.
He played in 54 games with 51 starts in the outfield and carried a .293 batting average. He was tied for sixth in the Pac-12 with 11 stolen bases (11-of-15), second on the team with 36 runs scored and 30 RBI. His 28 runs scored in Pac-12 play was the most by any conference player in league games
