KEARNS — Sometimes the hero isn't always the one that walks off into the sunset. It doesn't always have to be the one that gets the game-winning hit, or makes the game-saving defensive play. Sometimes it is just the guy that does his job.
Although his two-RBI double did not win the game, or even tie the score, Kolten Watterson's big hit in the sixth inning drew Mountain Crest back to within one run of Cyprus. The run-scoring hit switched the momentum and sparked what turned into a 5-4 come-from-behind win for the Mustangs over the Pirates and vaulted them to the winner's bracket finals of the Class 4A state baseball playoffs.
"Watterson has been fantastic all year. He's come through big like that all year long," said Mountain Crest coach Stephen Hansen. "We wouldn't be here without him, and we wouldn't have won this game without him. That was huge. That changed the momentum right there."
The Pirates gained the early momentum as starting pitcher — sophomore Taylor Jones — appeared to be heading for hero status. He had a no-hitter going through 5 2/3 innings. He allowed only two base runners through five innings, both on walks.
The offense for Cyprus was a two-run fourth and a two-run sixth. R.J. Naranjo and Austin Shakespear had RBIs in the fourth, and Austin Pollack hit a two-RBI double in the sixth.
Mountain Crest's Brad Bybee and Kade Maughan drew back-to-back walks before Kyler Wood broke up the no-hitter with an RBI single. Karl Beckert was hit by a pitch, and then Watterson stepped to the plate and hammered a line drive to make the score 4-3.
"I just knew we had to come back, and I knew we could do it," said Watterson. "I just did what I could do. I was ready to hit whatever he could throw, and I just got a pitch I liked and I drove it."
After Mustangs' pitcher Robert Garrett, who went the distance to get the win, shut down Cyprus in the seventh, Nick Salveson led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Garrett Shiffman singled, moving Salveson to third. Bybee hit what could have been a game-ending double play, but he hustled down the line and beat the throw to first, allowing the tying run to score. Bybee stole second and later scored as Kade Maughan ended it when he hit a chopper toward the shortstop that took a funny hop.
Mountain Crest moves to the winner's bracket finals where it faces Cottonwood at Miller Park at BYU on Thursday. Cyprus drops to the one-loss bracket and plays Provo today at Gates Field at Kearns High School.
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com