Lehi Sports
Pioneer baseball ends up 3rd at State
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The No. 5 Lehi baseball team played to the end of Bracket 1 in the 6A state tournament, but they weren’t able to get past defending champion and top seed American Fork, which went on to win the title again. The Pioneers finished third and ended the season with an 18-12 record.
May 13-14: Pioneers eliminate No. 12 Davis 2-0
The Pioneers hosted the Darts in the Super Regional round and easily beat them on back-to-back days 11-0, 15-3 to advance to bracket play.
Lehi took just 4 ½ innings to finish the first game of the best-of-three series, plating seven runs in the third and three more in the fourth and shutting out Davis to invoke the 10-run rule. Junior pitcher Sawyer Call gave up just two hits with five strikeouts and two walks to get the win.
Senior left fielder Murphy Madsen sparked the offense with a single and a double for five RBI and a run scored. Sophomore shortstop Jake Welch and sophomore James Rex each hit a double and drove in a run.
Senior Kannon Whiteley had two RBI and one run while senior infielder Cole Ybarra scored twice with one RBI. Junior Kyson Butterfield came across twice as a pinch runner.
The second game didn’t last any longer as the Pioneers got 10 runs in just the first two innings and added more in their other two turns. The Darts got a few runs late, but it wasn’t enough to extend the game.
Madsen had another big afternoon with a double and homer for three RBI and an additional run scored. Ybarra added three hits, three RBI and three runs. Senior catcher Hazen Elton singled and homered for three RBI.
Welch hit a home run, drove in two runs and scored twice more. Boston Gramse added a solo home run in the effort. Junior infielder Brody Bauer came across twice.
May 18: Lehi 9, No. 4 Riverton 0
At BYU, Call threw a one-hit gem against the Silverwolves in a technical upset to start the bracket rounds, facing just 24 batters total in a very efficient outing backed up by error-free defense.
The Pioneers made two runs in the second inning and one in the fourth in what was a tighter game until the top of the seventh, when they sent six more runs across to pad the lead. Bauer led the offensive charge with two hits, three RBI and a run scored.
Welch added two hits, two RBI and a run while Whiteley singled and doubled for one RBI and scored twice. Senior infielder Ryder Schultz also had two hits with an RBI and two runs scored.
May 19: No. 1 American Fork 8, Lehi 5
That brought on the early meeting with the Cavemen. The Pioneers got three runs in the top of the first inning for a quick lead, but American Fork went up 4-3 in the bottom of the second. Lehi tied the score in the third but gave up four runs in the bottom of the fifth and only got one more themselves.
The Pioneers used five pitchers in the game to try to contain the Caveman bats. On the offensive side of the plate, Elton supplied a triple, drove in two runs and scored once. Ybarra added a double with an RBI and a run. Senior center fielder Dawson Brown and Bauer each contributed an RBI.
May 20: Lehi 4, No. 4 Riverton 1
The Silverwolves prevailed in the one-loss game to earn another date with the Pioneers and didn’t fare much better with senior pitcher Sean McAfee on the mound. He fanned five against just three hits and one walk in a complete-game victory.
Lehi didn’t score much either, but they didn’t need to. Elton had a double with two RBI to supply enough cushion for the win. Rex also doubled and scored, with Bauer, Welch and Schultz each scoring one of the other runs.
May 20: No. 1 American Fork 6, Lehi 2
The second win over Riverton advanced the Pioneers to a second showdown with the Cavemen, this time for the bracket title and a berth in the championship series. American Fork took the lead in the bottom of the second inning and held it to the end of the contest.
Lehi outhit the Cavemen 9-7 but they weren’t often able to capitalize, stranding eight runners on base. Welch had three hits, scoring once and driving in one run while he came across on a hit by Elton. Senior Ryder Ockey and Welch combined on the bump, striking out eight with just one walk.
