The No. 10 Lehi Pioneers and No. 3 Davis Darts faced off for the second time in this year’s 6A baseball tournament Wednesday, with Lehi walking away with the slim victory, 7-6.
After losing to Davis earlier in the tournament, the Pioneers found themselves in the consolation bracket but were able to beat Herriman earlier in the day Wednesday for the opportunity to get another crack at the Darts.
Boston Drakulich went 2 for 4 at the plate with three RBIs to lead Lehi. Davis outhit Lehi 12-6, but the Pioneers were very patient at the plate, getting 10 walks on the evening.
Lehi coach Eric Madsen said his team didn’t really change anything since the last time it faced Davis but the group was diligent at the plate and only swung at good pitches.
“I didn’t think we chased as much this time at the plate,” Madsen said. “I thought we laid off some pitches that were tough. I thought our guys did a good job just scratching out a few runs and trying to do what we had to do.
“We just did a good job of not swinging at balls outside of the strike zone. We were really able to take advantage of that stuff.”
Lehi jumped out to a 2-1 lead, but Davis did a lot of its damage in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, Gavin Yates hit an infield single to drive in a run to tie the game, and then back-to-back walks by Mays Madsen and Drakulich saw Lehi grab its first lead of the ballgame at 4-2.
Lehi was able to tack on another run later in the inning, making it a 3-run advantage, but Davis was able to answer in the bottom half of the fourth inning, grabbing two runs. The Darts eventually were able to tie the game up on a deep home run to left field by Kaleb Weaver.
In the seventh inning with two outs, Lehi once again got the bases loaded and was able to capitalize. Some control problems by Davis resulted in a hit batter and another bases loaded walk that gave Lehi the late lead.
Mays Madsen then came on to pitch for Lehi in the bottom of the seventh inning and was able to get the job done for the Pioneers.
With the win, Lehi forces a winner take all game against Davis for the right to advance to the state championship series.
“It just comes down to heart. We talked about it at the start of the day. We’re in a situation now where we’re either going to take fourth or we’re going to take first,” said Madsen.
“It doesn’t matter between second and fourth. We want to win. You just have to keep competing until the very end.”
American Fork 9 Mountain Ridge 1
Top-seeded American Fork is back where it feels it belongs, in the 6A state championship series.
A 5-run fourth inning pushed American Fork to victory over Mountain Ridge 9-1 Friday to advance to the championship.
“It feels really good that we could make it back to the championship series. We’re still hungry and we’re not content,” said American Fork head coach Jarod Ingersoll.
“We’re proud of where we are right now, and we know that we still have more games to play. We’re going to enjoy tonight and come back ready to work tomorrow and be ready to go.”
In its previous game, American Fork tended to make things hard for itself out in the field and failed to capitalize on some golden opportunities, so Ingersoll was pleased with how his team adjusted for this game and carried out the game plan.
“I thought we were very disciplined offensively and were aggressive. The kids did a really good job of executing and they deserve a lot of credit,” said Ingersoll.
“The defense was also a lot better. Our pitchers threw a lot of strikes and kept our defense engaged. When we do that, we feel like we’re a really good team.”
American Fork was led by Bode Gaggero, who went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and a triple. Meanwhile, Tallon Willardson pitched five strong innings, striking out five, and Max Miller and Tege Kelley each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
Though American Fork won big, Mountain Ridge wasted no time by getting a leadoff home run to right by Grayson Riding, taking the early lead.
American Fork had no problem answering though, getting two runs in the bottom half of the first inning to take the lead on an RBI double by Simeon Bacciocco.
American Fork then broke the game open with five runs in the fourth inning, and the Cavemen tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning.
Ingersoll knows that in order for his team to win yet another state championship, players will need to continue to stay true to who they are.
“We just need to go out and be who we are,” he said. “We need to focus on us and what we do well. Both teams that are left are great teams and we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“We’re just going to have to play within ourselves and try not to be something that we’re not.”