High school baseball: Provo advances to 4A Super Regionals with strong defense against Logan

In Friday’s Game 1 of its 4A regional with Logan, Provo narrowly escaped with a 6-5 win. The Bulldogs trailed 5-1 after the first inning but rallied in the bottom of the seventh to steal the win.

Provo tightened up and cleaned up its mistakes to take the regional with with a convincing 7-1 win on Saturday. The largest improvement from Friday to Saturday was the Bulldogs’ defense.

Logan scored first in the top of the first inning with Kyler Briel stealing home, but that was the only run of the afternoon for the Grizzlies.

Will Gulbrandsen spearheaded the defense on the mound for Provo, as he recorded eight strikeouts.

“Ultimately, we just threw more strikes,” said Provo head coach Lance Moore. “I’m a firm believer that when your guy is throwing a high percentage of strikes, your defense is better. We were ready for the ball to be hit to us today, no doubt.”

1 of 33

2 of 33

3 of 33

4 of 33

5 of 33

6 of 33

7 of 33

8 of 33

9 of 33

10 of 33

11 of 33

12 of 33

13 of 33

14 of 33

15 of 33

16 of 33

17 of 33

18 of 33

19 of 33

20 of 33

21 of 33

22 of 33

23 of 33

24 of 33

25 of 33

26 of 33

27 of 33

28 of 33

29 of 33

30 of 33

31 of 33

32 of 33

33 of 33

It was a slow but steady offense from the Bulldogs, which complimented its sturdy defense. Their first run came in the second inning on an RBI from Kyler Toone, and they increased their lead to 3-1 with Kyle May stealing home and Drevin Christensen hitting an RBI in the fourth inning.

While its defense was stifling though most of Saturday’s game, Provo was in real trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning as the Grizzlies loaded the bases with only one out.

Gulbrandsen came up defensively once again though, as he fielded a ground ball to second base, which then was thrown to first for the double play.

After the fourth inning Logan only got one runner on base for the remainder of the game.

“I think we just made plays,” said Gulbrandsen. “I think just staying focused in the game, knowing the situation in every pitch you play, that was what made a big difference between today and yesterday. We were just able to capitalize on that.”

Provo knows all too well how a comeback can happen in the bottom of the seventh inning with its four-run seventh inning on Friday, and it knew how fragile a two-run lead can be.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs and got a run home with a hit by pitch and scored with Gehrig Orchard stealing home.

Gulbrandsen also made a big impact offensively with a single that got two runners home for the 7-1 lead.

Provo secured its regional win with yet another double play to end the game.

“We kept fighting, and honestly, we executed some situational stuff that has hasn’t been our forte all year,” Moore said. “They just always stay in the fight and that’s how I felt about the last two days. We kept competing, competing, competing.”

The Bulldogs advance to the 4A super regional where they’ll face No. 7 Bear River.

“What I love about these guys is they they just work hard,” said Moore. “They’re exceptional young men. They work hard in the classroom, they work hard everywhere and it was never a question that we had a shot.”