Lehi Sports
Pioneer baseball earns mixed results
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi baseball team started the season with two big wins but then dropped each of the next three games by a single run against excellent competition, teams with a combined record of 19-2 as of Monday night.
Mar. 6-7: Pioneers go 2-2 at tourney
The Pioneers got the spring season underway at the KJ Harrison Classic in southern Utah. In the first contest, they topped Syracuse 13-0 in five innings, scoring three runs in the first inning, one in the second, seven in the third and two in the fourth to build their advantage.
Senior Brayden Hansen got the win on the bump, fanning 10 of the 19 batters he faced against two hits and three walks.
Sophomore shortstop Jake Welch keyed the offensive onslaught with two singles and a double in three attempts and producing four RBI and three runs scored. He also stole three bases.
Senior infielder Ryder Schultz produced two RBI and one run. Senior catcher Hazen Elton tripled and walked twice, scoring two runs. Senior center fielder Dawson Brown and senior left fielder Murphy Madsen each crossed the plate twice.
In the second game, Lehi opened with a run but then fell behind Canyon View 2-1 after the first inning. However, the Pioneers added two runs in the second and four in the third to pad a lead they would never relinquish and went on to clip the Falcons 10-5.
Junior Sawyer Call got the win and senior Taygen Stephensen threw two innings in relief. Senior Kannon Whiteley hit two doubles for four RBI. Case Kelley hit two home runs and drove in one additional run. Elton sent two runners across and added a score himself.
Next up was defending 5A state champion Spanish Fork. Lehi plated two runs in the third inning and the Dons got three in the bottom of the fourth to complete the tally for the contest. Whiteley took the loss but struck out eight. Senior infielder Cole Ybarra provided both runs with a homer.
The Pioneers ended the weekend against Snow Canyon, last year’s 4A runner-up. Neither team gave up more than two runs in any one batting turn and Lehi led 6-5 going into the bottom of the seventh, but the Warriors managed to push two runs across in their final turn to get the 7-6 win.
Boston Gramse got the start and struck out seven with no walks in his 4.1 innings. Senior Sean McAfee came on in relief and Brody Gray also made an appearance. Welch doubled, tripled and walked to score three runs. Junior infielder Brody Bauer, Elton and Whiteley each drove in one of the other scores.
Mar. 13: Pleasant Grove 12, Lehi 11 (12)
On the road but just across town this time, it took 12 innings to decide a wild contest against the Vikings. The Pioneers led 3-1 after two innings and still had the advantage after each team plated five runs in the third.
Pleasant Grove tied the score in the bottom of the fourth and then scored two more runs to get their first lead in the bottom of the fifth. Lehi responded with two runs in the top of the sixth and each team scored once in the seventh inning to bring on the extra innings.
Neither team blinked for the next four stanzas, but the Vikings were finally able to push a run across in the bottom of the 12th to win it. The Pioneers used five pitchers in the contest.
Welch was the most effective, striking out 12 against one walk and two runs in 5.2 innings. On the other side of the plate, he singled and doubled to drive in three runs. Whiteley also pitched but hit a home run and a single for four RBI and scored three times. Ybarra and Madsen added two runs apiece.
Lehi will next welcome Bingham on Wednesday (Mar. 18) at 3:30 p.m. They’ll visit Ridgeline on Monday (Mar. 23) for a 1 p.m. start time.
