Lehi Sports
Pioneer baseball reaches finals again, finishes with silver
The No. 10 Lehi baseball team earned a fourth-straight appearance in the state tournament championship series as the Pioneers bested Davis in the bracket final to get there to face American Fork.
The Cavemen have been No. 1 all season and the seeding rang true as they were rarely challenged in their playoff run. Superior pitching depth and consistent hitting allowed them to claim the 6A title in two games, but the Pioneers made a great showing to finish with the silver trophy.
The Pioneers were supported by huge and vocal crowds throughout the tournament who definitely made a difference during their several come-from-behind rallies. Lehi finished with a 19-16 overall record for the season.
The Pioneers got off to a rough start in this game to decide who would earn the title try. The Darts put four runs on the board in the blink of an eye in the first inning.
After not throwing for more than two innings in a game all season, junior Hazen Elton got the call to the mound and struck out the last batter to end the turn. He doggedly pitched the rest of the contest as well, fanning nine with four walks, four hits and one run.
“He had been limping along with a sore arm, but he wouldn’t let us take him out,” said Coach Eric Madsen. “He really pitched well and was dominant, efficient and tough.”
The score didn’t change until the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior outfielder Dawson Brown took four straight balls for a walk, and senior catcher Brandon Mannokin was hit by the first pitch to join him on the bags.
After a change on the mound, freshman designated hitter Jake Welch laid down a nice bunt and an overthrow at first allowed a run to score and left men on second and third with no outs.
Senior infielder Ozzie Williams got a full-count walk to load the bases. Senior infielder Cooper Williams sent a chopper back to the pitcher whose throw to home came too late to catch the runner and left the others safe.
The next batter struck out, but senior shortstop Mays Madsen walked in another run and the Darts made their second pitching change of the inning. Senior outfielder Boston Drakulich sent the next runner across with a pass, tying the score at 4-4.
Davis then made a good stop on junior infielder Cole Ybarra’s grounder and threw out the runner at second as one scored.
At this point they forgot the ball was still live and the runner on third took off and crossed the plate before the Darts realized what had happened to make it 6-4. Lehi went on to the crucial win from there.
“I couldn’t believe how loud it was in the stadium when we were closing out Davis,” said Coach Madsen. “The support of the parents and the community was something the boys could really feel, and it energized them.”
He also noted the attendance of other members of the coaching cadre at Lehi as well as numerous athletes from other sports during the playoff run, including the softball team which came directly there after playing in their own tournament.
May 23: #1 American Fork 10, Lehi 0
This was the only game out of the 35 they played this season in which the Pioneers failed to get a run on the board. Madsen’s double and a Drakulich single were Lehi’s only hits while they got lit up by the Cavemen, who ended the contest in the fifth inning with the last of seven runs in the turn.
May 24: #1 American Fork 6, Lehi 2
The second game of the series was much tighter and represented the best of both teams. After two scoreless innings, the Cavemen got a solo home run from their No. 9 batter in the top of the third.
In the bottom half, Ozzie Williams singled to the center-right gap to lead off the turn. A pickoff attempt at first was overthrown and the ball went all the way to the bullpen before it was retrieved, allowing the speedster to score from first to tie the tally.
The Cavemen hit well and took advantage of some miscues to score five runs in the top of the sixth. Nevertheless, they were definitely squirming when the Pioneers drove one across and had runners at the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but American Fork was able to turn a double play to secure their third title in five seasons.
“These kids overachieved even though they were the returning champions,” Coach Madsen said. “There was a lot of pressure on them, and we had a lot of bad luck at the front end.”
That adversity included losing two probable starting pitchers from the rotation before the season even started due to injury, as well as nursing through other ones which happened to key players as they went along.
Based on what they had done during the regular season, the pitching staff presented some pleasant surprises during the tournament. “Some of our younger kids had pitched well in JV and got thrown into unfamiliar situations in the playoffs, and they really stepped it up,” the coach said.
“Our reserve seniors also produced as well,” he continued. “Kade Bailey, Ryder Carlton, Braden Hansen, Hazon Elton and Ryder Ockey all gave us key innings that allowed us to go deep in the tournament.
“Because of the rain delay to the start of our Super Regional series, even TJ Peterson and Sean McAfee had to go on shorter rest than they had all year, and they helped get us into the championship series,” the coach said.
Coach Madsen noted that the regular-season struggles were particularly hard on the five seniors who were part of the 2022 championship team as freshmen. “They don’t like losing. But, when we got to the state tournament, they became ultra-focused and gathered the whole team in with them.
“They all leaned on each other and relied on their talents,” he said. “We found a way to get on base and our at-bats were a little tougher. They had a big desire to win games. When the bracketing came out, there were teams unhappy to play us.
“The one thing that stood out about this group was that this was a really resilient team and they overcame a lot,” the coach said. “We’re undersized and maybe undertalented compared to some others, but people don’t understand how competitive these guys are.
“When somebody’s struggling, they pick them up. That was something Jason (Ingersoll, the previous coach) instilled in the program, and we just continued it.
“These kids get out and get after it,” Coach Madsen said. “We found a way to come back and win games. We made others feel uncomfortable because we just kept coming at them. You can’t ask for more than that.”
