It's good for these guys. We're still relatively young. Main thing is they'll get some experience. (They're) just staying hungry. We're starting to feel pretty good about things. – Cottonwood baseball head coach Jason Crawford
OREM — Cottonwood baseball head coach Jason Crawford said his team needs experience.
The Colts' third win in a row in the 5A state tournament, a 7-2 victory over Alta on Tuesday, guaranteed them at least one more game's worth.
The Colts scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, adding three more while starting pitcher Carter Owens scattered four hits in a complete-game victory.
After losing to Bingham in the first round, Cottonwood has been on a tear in the one-loss bracket, amassing 26 runs total in wins over Fremont, Davis and Alta.
Tuesday's win sets up the Colts to play the loser between Bingham and Syracuse on Wednesday, with the winner of that game slated to play later in the evening.
It's a marathon, Crawford said, that will serve Cottonwood well — both for now and the future.
"It's good for these guys," Crawford said. "We're still relatively young. Main thing is they'll get some experience. (They're) just staying hungry. We're starting to feel pretty good about things."
The Colts showed they're learning fast, scoring on a wild pitch to start the scoring before an RBI double from Jake Atkinson (2 for 4) and a two-RBI single from Andrew Goodfellow gave them an early 4-0 lead.
The Hawks scored on a passed ball in the fourth, but didn't bat in a run until the sixth inning, when Chipper Lucero singled to right field to drive in Cole Myers.
Cottonwood added three runs of its own in that span. Josh Shapiro crossed home plate, taking advantage of a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Jacob Shapiro's double off the right-field fence and Josh Shapiro's single grounder capped off the Colts' scoring in the sixth.
Matt Petersen is the Sports Web Editor for DeseretNews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheMattPetersen.