AMERICAN FORK — Olympus baseball coach Tony Wiseman feels he has the best-kept secret in the state in pitcher Anthony Presley. The secret may now be out.
On Tuesday, Presley struck out eight American Fork batters and scattered eight hits to lead Olympus to a 12-3 win over American Fork in the first round of the 4A state baseball tournament.
"Not a lot of people know about him because he only played JV last year,"
Wiseman said. "He throws hard and stays in the game. The thing I like about him the most is that he's competitive. If he gets in trouble he digs down deep and comes back and throws a lot of strikes. I love that kid."
With Presley's pitching and the Titan bats, American Fork found themselves in an early hole they couldn't get out of. The Olympus offense hit Cavemen starting pitcher Sam Brooks for seven runs in three innings to take a 7-0 lead.
"Our slogan is play small and win big," Wiseman said. "Early in the game we were hit and running and bunt and running trying to put pressure on the defense. We like to put the ball in play and try and run. That's our game."
Eric Fairbourn, Spencer Matheson, Jeff Davis, John Tillou and Greg Moore each finished with two hits for the Titans. Tillou recorded a team high four RBIs.
Fairbourn led off the first inning with a walk and Landon Fielding followed with a bunt single to put runners on first and second. One batter later, Davis smacked a RBI double to right-center to score Fairbourn.
Tillou then scored Fielding and Davis on a two-run single to up the Titans lead to 3-0.
In Olympus' four run third inning the first four batters reached base.
Matheson and Davis opened with singles and Tillou followed with a two-run double to right field to give Olympus a 5-0 lead.
The Titans took the 7-0 lead when Moore smacked a one-out two RBI single.
AF tallied its only runs in the third and fourth innings.
Brooks was relieved in the fifth after hitting four Olympus batters. In the inning, Olympus added three runs to take a 10-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Fairbourn smacked a two-run home run over the left field fence to give Olympus its 12-3 lead.
In other baseball playoff games Tuesday:
4A PLAYOFFS
BONNEVILLE 8, MOUNTAIN VIEW 7:Thai Blackburn's home run in the fifth inning lifted the Lakers over Mountain View in the 4A state tournament. Joey Dysert hit two doubles for Bonneville.
SPRINGVILLE 2, BOUNTIFUL 1:Alex Johnson and Brian Bulow each had two-out singles in the bottom of the fourth, driving in one run each, to give Springville the win. Mark Pawelek was dominating from the mound, striking out 15 batters.
MURRAY 6, PROVO 5:Cory Shimada drove in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning for Murray. Sean Pitts paced the Murray offense, going 3-for-3 from the plate.
CYPRUS 3, SPANISH FORK 2: After singling to start on the base paths in the bottom of the seventh inning, Tyler Jones ended up scoring off a wild pitch to lift the Pirates over Spanish Fork. Cyprus' Bryan Smith threw the complete game and recorded seven strikeouts in earning the win.
TIMPANOGOS 8, LOGAN 1:Tyson Ford pitched six strong innings, allowing just two hits, to pace Timpanogos to the win. Tyson Gonzales had three RBIs and Jace Bramwell added two RBIs and had a double to help the Timberwolf offense.
SKY VIEW 8, WEST 5:Ryan Doyle tossed a complete game to earn the win for Sky View in its game against West. Brian Freeman went 4-for-4 to lead the Bobcats.
5A PLAYOFFS
KEARNS 6, BINGHAM 3:Andy Derksen's two-run double in the seventh inning helped lift the Cougars over Bingham in the opening round of the 5A tournament. Todd Privett threw seven innings and struck out 13 to earn the win.
VIEWMONT 9, JORDAN 8:Matt Madsen went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, including a single in the bottom of the seventh that drove in two runs, to help Viewmont come back from being down early.
RIVERTON 6, NORTHRIDGE 4:Nik Gumeson went 3-for-4 with one RBI as Riverton beat the Knights. Tyler Schick went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Silverwolves.
TAYLORSVILLE 12, FREMONT 2:Todd Morlock and Preston Grimes combined to throw a three-hitter in the Warriors' playoff win over Fremont. Morlock and Grimes also drove in two runs apiece.
LAYTON 3, WEST JORDAN 1:Josh McFarland hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie and give Layton the eventual win. Wyatt Bubak went 3-for-3 from the plate and scored a run for Layton.
ALTA 10, DAVIS 2:Davey Johnson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as Alta beat Davis in the 5A tournament. Mark Urry threw a complete game and allowed only two hits while striking out six.
COTTONWOOD 7, WEBER 0: In his first start of the season, freshman Rem Wilson didn't disappoint as he led the Colts over Weber. Wilson went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. B.J. Ferguson threw a one-hitter with five strikeouts to notch the win.
SKYLINE 11, BRIGHTON 0: John Langford pitched a four-hit shutout to earn the win. Langford also went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Tyler Nielsen added two doubles and had four RBIs.