Here’s a recap of the four 5A state tournament bracket play baseball games at UVU on Tuesday.
In one of the most dramatic come-from-behind wins you will see, No. 4 West Field fought and clawed its way back from a huge deficit to defeat top-seeded Spanish Fork 11-10 in bracket play of the 5A state tournament.
“At the end of the day, these kids have battled day in, day out. We’ve had games where we’ve been down, and we’ve come back. At the end of the day, it really just comes down to these kids and they are tough as nails,” said West Field head coach Tyler Barfuss. “They are not going to lose, and they refuse to lose a baseball game. They just kept at it and stayed together, and at the end of the day, they got it done against the number-one-seed defending champs and just showed no quit.”
West Field scored four runs in the fourth inning to get on the scoreboard first at 4-0. Spanish Fork’s bats weren’t silent for long, as they put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth, three runs in the fifth inning and two runs in the sixth.
Trailing 10-4 heading into the seventh and final inning, West Field scored seven runs in the top half of the inning with Sam Smith getting the key RBI single to put West Field ahead.
Barfuss felt like his team knew what needed to be done. He didn’t feel they need to have to say much after falling behind big and had all the belief in the world that his team would find a way to get it done.
“These guys have earned the right for us to be patient with them and just let the chips fall where they may, and they’ve always come back. I don’t think we really had to say much. We just kept chipping away. We wanted to keep passing the bat, and even down. Whatever it was, six or seven at the time, you know, we had some great at-bats and really refused to lose.”
Marshal Moon came on to close out the game for West Field in the bottom of the seventh. Moon got the first out with a fly-out to center. Spanish Fork’s Nixon Warren gave his team a fighting chance by ripping a double down the third base line. A Spanish Fork groundout pushed Warren to third base.
With two outs and the tying run 90 feet away, Moon got the strikeout to finish off arguably one of the more improbable comebacks you will see.
“At this point, we’re just saying, ‘why not us?’ We’re humbled to be in the same part of the bracket as the Spanish Forks, the Maple Mountains and Pleasant Groves of the world. For us to be somebody that nobody knows and come in and be in this spot, kudos to the kids for getting it done. We just feel like something bigger is going on here and we just want to go finish it out.”
Pleasant Grove 11 Maple Mountain 6
The bats came alive in a huge way for No. 3 Pleasant Grove, hitting three home runs on the way to a thrilling 11-6 win over No. 2 Maple Mountain.
After beating West Jordan the previous day in a low-scoring 3-0 pitcher dual, Pleasant Grove head coach Darrin Henry was pleased to see his team start to get the bats going and see them display some strong fight and determination to get the victory, even when there are bumps along the way.
“That was an exciting game. We know how good Maple Mountain is and we know they’re going to battle until the end — and we are too. I’m really proud of our boys for responding. Mason (Henry) came out and pitched five great innings and gave us what he had, everybody was just scrapping, trying to battle for what we can to get a win, and we got one today,” said Henry.
Pleasant Grove got off to a fast start, scoring in each of the first three innings on the way to a 5-0 lead midway through the game.
Henry, the starting pitcher, pitched five solid innings for Pleasant Grove, not allowing a single run while striking out five batters.
Finding themselves up 7-2 in the top of the sixth inning, it looked like Pleasant Grove was well on its way to another victory. Maple Mountain fought until the last out, however, and put up four runs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to just a single run.
Just like they have done all season long, Pleasant Grove was able to find an answer — and it was immediate. Pleasant Grove hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom half of the sixth inning, courtesy of Tobin Degelbeck and Karter Casperson. Davey Staffieri added some fireworks of his own by tacking on another run later in the inning.
“The key for us is always responding. Not hanging your head or buying into the hype. We just want to have a good at-bat and see if we can find a strike to hit and just grind for that next strike. Next guy, just hand the baton off to the next person,” said Henry.
Henry believes his team has a shot to do some serious damage in the tournament if it can continue to put a full all-around performance together for all seven innings.
“We just got to keep grinding. It’s a great win. We know it’s a long tournament and (there’s) a lot left ahead of us, so we’re just going to keep pushing forward and trying to have good quality at-bats and get good pitching performances.”
Fremont 11, West Jordan 8
Adam Mikesell’s impressive 3 for 4 performance, driving in three runs and hitting a home run, propelled Fremont to an 11-8 victory over West Jordan in a state tournament elimination game. West Jordan initially took the lead in the third inning with a single run, adding four more in the fourth. However, Fremont rallied dramatically, scoring five runs in the fourth inning and adding six in the fifth to secure its place in the playoffs.
Skyline 10, Payson 6
Skyline emerged victorious in a crucial 5A state tournament elimination game against Payson, winning 10-6 thanks to a pivotal third inning. The Eagles put up three runs in the first inning and added two more in the second, taking an early lead. In the top of the third, Skyline rallied for three more, with Andrew Johnson going 4 for 4 at the plate and driving in two RBIs. Despite Payson’s five-run response in the second inning, Skyline’s pitching held strong and the team managed to add two more insurance runs in the sixth. Payson’s three errors proved costly as Skyline capitalized to extend its season.