High school baseball: Spanish Fork rallies from early deficit to take Game 1 of 5A championship series

Published: May 22, 2026, 7:41 p.m. MDT

Spanish Fork celebrates a win over Maple Mountain after Sammy Dart (6) walked off the game stealing home on a passed ball during the seventh inning of game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

By Tommy Bailey

Top-seeded Spanish Fork is now one game away from back-to-back state championships after it took Game 1 of the best-of-3 5A title series against No. 2 Maple Mountain 5-4 on Friday.

With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Sammy Dart got on base to start the inning for Spanish Fork, and a double by Trigg Cloward made it runners on second and third with no outs.

A wild pitch by Maple Mountain’s Mitch Walker allowed Dart to cross home and get the walk-off win for the Dons.

“It’s the same thing we’ve been preaching to the guys all of the time,” said Spanish Fork head coach Hadley Thorpe. “We grinded out pretty much every at-bat and got into their bullpen early.

“We like our chances when we get into bullpen. We like our depth in our pen, so anytime we can have a bullpen game, we like our chances.”

Maple Mountain plays Spanish Fork during game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Spanish Fork’s Cohen Nelson (1) throws to first against Maple Mountain during game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Maple Mountain’s Porter Eddington (9) reacts after retiring the side during the sixth inning of game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Spanish Fork’s Trigg Cloward (5) celebrates after hitting a double against Maple Mountain during the seventh inning of game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Maple Mountain’s Cayden Giles (32) can’t make the catch on a pop fly against Spanish Fork during game 1 of the 5A baseball championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Friday, May 22, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Matai Johnson put together a strong start on the mound for Spanish Fork. Johnson pitched five innings, striking out five and allowing six hits.

Maple Mountain starting pitcher Cache Peterson lasted three innings, giving up a run and two hits in the defeat.

Spanish Fork used just two pitchers in the game, while Maple Mountain dove deep into its bullpen, using a total of five pitchers.

“I just can’t say enough about Matai Johnson coming back on a shorter rest than usual and he came out and gave us an awesome start, more than we could have asked for,” Thorpe said.

“Our offense did just enough to take advantage of it, but it sets us up good. Moving forward, we’ve got Kayden Lambson ready to go, and anytime he takes the mound, we love our chances.”

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Maple Mountain had a good start to the game, scoring a run in the first inning on a solo home run by Jeremiah Hall, and proceeded to add two more runs in the second inning.

Spanish Fork scored a run in the third inning and took advantage of a key defensive lapse in the Maple Mountain outfield in the fourthinning to score three runs and tie the game up.

“We were kind of fortunate to capitalize on some of their errors in the field in the fourth inning,” Thorpe said. “We just keep our approach, get some timely hitting and take advantage of those mistakes when we get them.

“They are a really good team over there, so anytime they can give you a mistake, we got to take full advantage of it.”

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