The championship stages of the 5A State Baseball Tournament opened on Monday at Salt Lake Community College’s Cate Field with four games taking place in two separate double-elimination brackets.
The first game of the day featured a 8-6 win for Maple Mountain over the Woods Cross Wildcats. The Golden Eagles immediately jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the game and never gave up control despite multiple valiant efforts from the Wildcats. Cole Rollins and Benji Horsley were able to draw a walk and hit by pitch on back-to-back plate appearances to load the bases with two runs that had already gotten home. That is when Josh Crandall had a big base hit that escaped the left field line that brought in another pair of runs to give his team control.
Woods Cross fought back, scoring its six runs by crossing home plate in every odd inning, but the Golden Eagles kept their distance throughout the game. With nobody on and two outs in the top of the third, a walk by Toby Studdert allowed two extra base hits to score two runs and extend their lead to five. Crandall again found himself up to bat with players in scoring position in the fourth inning, he picked up another two-RBI single to answer back a pair of runs the Wildcats had just scored.
In the final frame, Woods Cross was able to put pressure on Cole Rollins. A seven-pitch double and a nine-pitch single allowed the tying run to get on-base with just one out. Rollins refocused and proceeded to strike out the next two batters, clinching Maple Mountain’s vital win on the opening day of the week-long tournament.
“You have to have a plan and an approach. We wanted the pitch down the middle, and he didn’t miss a foot. If you can do your job, you have to have confidence in the results. He did a fantastic job, he battled through, Woods Cross dugout was very loud and energetic, but he did his thing and had a good game for us,” Maple Mountain coach Gary Miner said.
The nightcap saw top-seeded Olympus fall to Orem 1-0 in a pitcher’s duel between Ashton Johnson and Clayton Burke. Both pitchers went the full seven innings, had eight strikeouts and combined to allow just four total hits all game.
Heading into the top of the sixth inning, Orem had yet to record a single hit. Sawyer Slade and Taylor Gill were able to draw walks, putting a runner in scoring position for Cohen Strickland. Facing a 1-1 count, Strickland was able to get a line drive to right field that tallied the Tigers only hit and run of the game as they pulled off another upset.
Bracket 2 was featured in the middle of the day, in the early afternoon Salem Hills battled to a 2-0 win over Farmington behind a complete game shutout from Stone Cushing.
Zaylun Fenn hit a sacrifice fly to center field in the first inning and that run proved enough to win the ball game. The SkyHawks offense had some struggles early. After the sac fly, they left two runners on and then Jarret Elmer hit a leadoff triple in the second, but again Salem Hills couldn’t bring him home.
Cushing struck out the side to start the game and rarely missed the rest of the way. He finished with eight strikeouts, four hits allowed and didn’t walk a single batter in a masterful performance.
When asked what it was like to pitch for so long with just a one-run lead, Cushing said, “Whenever we got a lead this year it just feels comfortable. I feel comfortable with our team, I feel comfortable with our chances.”
Farmington’s best chance to score came in the fifth inning. A hit by pitch, followed by a double and another hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Phoenix with their power hitter coming to bat. With an 0-1 count, the SkyHawks threw a ball that Elmer rocketed back towards second baseman Gavin Averett, picking off the potential leading run to end the inning.
Salem Hills added a run into the sixth inning, which allowed them to be a little more aggressive in closing out the game. They did so and picked up an important win — it is really difficult to win on Saturday without winning on Monday.
“The best pitching staff is going to win, we are going to have to have more guys step up, we like our staff and will just keep getting after it,” Salem Hills coach Scott Haney said.
Spanish Fork picked up an 8-3 upset win over Timpanogos in a tight game that saw momentum change late.
The Mighty Dons trailed 3-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning. With two outs and two on, Will Dart hit a fly ball to center field that cut the Timberwolves lead in half. Zac Dart walked before Easton Romero came to bat. Romero battled back from a 1-2 count, eventually forcing it full. He then took the eighth pitch of the at bat deep over the right field wall, flipping a one-run deficit to a three-run lead in the process.
Monday’s results set up an exciting Tuesday as the tournament progresses. Salem Hills will take on Spanish Fork and Orem plays Maple Mountain in the night games while Timpanogos, Farmington, Olympus, and Woods Cross take part in the one-loss bracket in the morning.