PROVO — With postseason hopes on the line, in the final inning in a one-run game, it was the matchup that both coaches wanted.
Provo's top player, Bryce Ayoso, was on the mound. Timpview's Luke Ashworth, batting close to .500, was at the plate. The Bulldogs were up 5-4. There were two outs in the top of the seventh and the tying run was on second.
After getting ahead of Ashworth 1-2, Ayoso got the T-Bird slugger to hit a grounder right back at him. It was the third time in the game that Ashworth had grounded back to the mound. The final time ended Timpview's season and sent the Bulldogs on to face Murray in the state tournament's first round on Tuesday.
The gutsy pitching performance by the Provo senior came one day after he gave up a walk-off homer that made Friday's play-in game necessary. But Ayoso, his teammates and his coach never lost confidence.
"With the season on the line I'd take him out there every time," Provo coach Lance Moore said.
With American Fork, Timpview, Provo and Spanish Fork finishing league play tied for second with 5-5 records, Region 6 officials met Friday morning and decided to break the deadlock by giving two seeds to the teams with the best records against each other and have the remaining two play for the final seed.
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