High school baseball: American Fork hits 6 home runs in dominant win over Lehi

On Tuesday in its first game of a Region 3 series against 6A defending champion Lehi, American Fork ended the top of the seventh inning with a 7-3 lead but then gave up five runs in the bottom of the seventh as the Pioneers came back to win.

The Cavemen rebounded with a 10-4 win on Wednesday, and then on Friday they cruised to a dominant 11-2 road victory. Five different players hit home runs for American Fork in Friday’s win.

“We just kind of limited the freebies,” said American Fork head coach Jerod Ingersoll. “We just threw strikes and trusted the defense, and that makes a big difference.

“Lehi is a great club, very scrappy. I mean, they’re the team until someone knocks them off. Obviously (coach) Eric (Madsen) does a great job and I was just proud of the way our guys came out and threw strikes and played defense.”

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It didn’t take long for American Fork to get on the board, as a double from Bode Gaggero and a home run from Cooper Jones in the first inning allowed the Cavemen to jump to a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning though, Lehi’s Boston Drakulich answered with a home run of his own and Gavin Yates drove in Brandon Manookin to tie it 2-2.

The tight rivalry game and a controversial tag out call against American Fork caused things to get chippy. However, Cache Poulson stepped up for American Fork and hit a home run with two runners on base for a 5-2 lead.

The home run heavily swung the momentum in favor of the Cavemen and they used it to further build the lead. CJ Mascaro and Brandon Upham each hit a homer, and Gavin Robinson hit two.

“We have such good hitters and it’s fun to watch everybody hit, one through nine,” Robinson said. “It feels great when everyone’s just passing the baton and everyone’s willing to stay in it for each other and we can build off the momentum that we got.

“It’s just really fun when you’ve got guys who will go do what they do, so it’s just one through nine all being elite hitters.”

Defensively, American Fork largely got it done with its pitching. Tege Kelley came in on the mound in the fourth inning for the Cavemen and dished out five strikeouts.

Then just about any time a ball was hit, Kelley’s teammates were quick to field it and didn’t give Lehi any chances to come back.

Friday’s win is significant for American Fork, as the Region 3 title race is largely among it, Pleasant Grove and Lehi. Pleasant Grove currently sits 5-0 in Region 3 while American Fork is close behind with a 4-1 record.

“This season, mostly I’ve felt good,” Ingersoll said of this year’s American Fork team. “There’s a few things we got to go to work on and get better at in all facets of the game but we’re headed in a good direction.

“We just have to keep taking strides forward.”