Lehi Sports
Pioneer baseball prevails in first region series
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Lehi baseball team won the series against Skyridge 2-1 to open Region 3 play last week. The results bring the Pioneers to a 6-5 overall record for the season and ties them for second place in the league with American Fork.
March 18: Lehi 5, Bingham 2
The teams were knotted at 1-1 after the first inning but the Miners moved in front with one run in the second inning. The Pioneers responded with two runs in the bottom of the third and added one more run in each of the next two innings to get the tough victory.
Senior pitcher Sean McAfee threw five innings and got the win. Senior Brayden Hansen finished out the game. Senior Kannon Whiteley drove in two runs while sophomore shortstop Jake Welch singled and doubled plus scored one run. Senior infielder Ryder Schultz hit a double and made one run.
March 23: Lehi 3, Maple Mountain 0
The Pioneers got two runs in their opening turn on the road and added one more in the top of the seventh to earn the victory. Junior pitcher Sawyer Call went five innings and got the win, sharing the shutout over the Golden Eagles with senior Taygen Stephensen.
Senior catcher Hazen Elton drove in a run and scored one as well. Welch tripled and scored. Senior center fielder Dawson Brown crossed for the other run.
March 28: Ridgeline 7, Lehi 6
In a taut back-and-forth road game against the Riverhawks, the home squad pushed a run across in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the win. Whiteley, Hansen (L) and Boston Gramse all made appearances on the mound in the loss.
Elton singled and homered to drive in three runs. Welch had a double, an RBI and a run scored. Brown and Call each sent a runner across. Senior left fielder Murphy Madsen, sophomore James Rex and Schultz each added a run to the total.
March 31: Skyridge 8, Lehi 7
The Pioneers made the most of their six hits and nine passes to produce seven runs, but the difference in this contest was the five runs that the Falcons plated in the sixth inning. Stephensen took the loss with Call and senior Cole Ybarra also throwing in the game.
Madsen sparked the offense with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Brown added two RBI and scored once while Whiteley had a double, an RBI and a run. Welch hit twice, stole three bases and scored once. Ybarra doubled and crossed once. Senior Ryder Ockey drove in a run.
April 3: Lehi 17, Skyridge 10
The Pioneers responded to that loss with their highest run total of the season to date, lighting up the Falcons for 16 hits and scoring runs in bunches with six in the second inning and eight in the sixth. Whiteley and Hansen pitched in the game and Stephensen got the victory.
Whiteley singled and homered, contributing four RBI and scoring twice. Brown hit a single and a triple for four RBI and two runs. Elton also had a home run and single yielding two RBI and crossing twice. Call belted a pair of doubles for an RBI and a run scored.
Welch added three hits and three runs. Madsen drove in two and scored one. Schultz made one RBI and two runs. Ybarra scored twice, Rex provided an RBI and sophomore Breken Avina crossed the plate as a pinch runner.
April 3: Lehi 7, Skyridge 6
After weather forced the cancellation of the Wednesday game, the teams finished the series with a double-header. After the error-filled, high-scoring first contest, the squads slugged through the nightcap with the Pioneers winning on a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
McAfee got the start and left the game after four innings with the score tied at 6-all. Gramse gave up just one hit in two innings and Welch slammed the door shut in the top of the seventh by striking out the final three Skyridge batters.
Ybarra had the busiest bat of the contest, going 4-for-4 including two doubles, driving in three runs and crossing once himself. Schultz was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Welch hit a solo home run. Whiteley and Rex each doubled and scored. Brown, Elton and Avina made the other runs.
Lehi will resume the Region 3 schedule on Tuesday (Apr. 14) when the Pioneers will visit Jordan. The Beetdiggers come to town on Wednesday (Apr. 15) and Lehi returns to Jordan for the final game of the set on Friday (Apr. 17). Varsity game time is 3:30 p.m.
