6A baseball: Pioneers climate storm, Nook Canyon’s 2-game rally for title

OREM — The Lehi Pioneers did not arrive at UCCU Ballpark with a 1-0 lead within the 6A championship collection anticipating to nonetheless be there at almost 10 p.m. Saturday.

However life does not at all times go as anticipated.

Mays Madsen went 1-for-3 with a stroll and two runs scored, and Caleb Crutchfield pitched 3.1 innings, permitting simply two hits with seven strikeouts, to assist Lehi rally from a Sport 2 loss to carry off Nook Canyon 7-5 within the winner-take-all Sport 3 for the Pioneers’ second title in three years.

Ozzie Williams went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored within the nightcap, and Cole Ybarra was 2-for-2 with two RBIs as Lehi (23-10) overcame the dreaded “if-necessary sport” and a collection of climate delays to win a championship in head coach Erik Madsen’s first season of highschool baseball since resigning as head coach at Utah Valley College.

However they did it with the grit of their earlier coach, Jason Ingersoll, who led them to the 5A state championship in 2022 earlier than resigning following the 2023 season.

“These guys are simply aggressive; we preached that each one 12 months,” stated Madsen, who gained greater than 300 video games at UVU earlier than resigning midseason in 2021. “Jason Ingersoll introduced that into this program, and it is fairly straightforward simply to face right here and take accolades for what he actually dropped at this system initially.

“They simply have that mindset that they are not going to give up. They will give up when any person tells them it is over, and that is it. They’re good boys.”

Added Mays Madsen, his son and star shortstop: “Simply the entire event, we stored getting down however we by no means gave up. Via all seven innings, that is us; we are the little scrappy guys who by no means hand over and work seven innings. We simply come again, and we’re onerous staff. Nobody believed in us, however now we’re hoisting that trophy.”

After Nook Canyon compelled a 3rd sport with a 5-3 win, the Chargers took management of the winner-take-all finale when Garrett Downing drove in two runs with a triple and got here house on Ryder Florence’s subsequent at-bat throughout a three-run fourth to go in entrance, 5-3.

However the Pioneers weren’t able to go away.

Ybarra drove in Madsen to drag one again for Lehi. After the Chargers held serve within the fifth, magic occurred within the sixth.

That is when Ybarra drew a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, tying the sport earlier than Brandon Manookin swung onerous in his subsequent at-bat and gave the Pioneers a two-run lead earlier than the ultimate body that Crutchfield completed with three consecutive strikeouts.

“We type of got here out in that first sport considering we had been alright, and this was ours. However they punched us within the mouth,” Mays Madsen stated. “We knew we needed to truly begin working right here.

“They seem to be a good Nook Canyon workforce — nobody believed in them, both, they usually got here out smoking us,” he added. “It is tremendous onerous in back-to-back video games to remain locked into everybody. We had been right here on the area for about eight hours at this time — however we by no means gave up. That is what’s the most effective about this workforce.”

Downing completed 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Florence was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Nook Canyon (20-14).

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Sport 2: Chargers drive winner-take-all finale with 5-3 win

At UCCU Ballpark, Nathan Horstmann went 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Andrew Good allowed three runs on three hits with 4 strikeouts and 5 walks as Nook Canyon took the second sport of the best-of-three championship collection 5-3.

Nook Canyon (20-13) scored 5 runs on simply two hits within the first two innings, profiting from 5 walks and successful batsman to take a 5-0 lead.

The Chargers poured in 4 runs on two hits within the second inning, highlighted by a bases-loaded, two-run blast by Horstman and a solo shot by Rylan Dunn in his first of two at-bats within the inning.

Mays Madsen pulled one again for the Pioneers (22-10), coming house on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff double within the fourth inning. The junior with a .447 batting common added one other with a two-out RBI single within the seventh that reduce Lehi’s deficit to 2, however Boston Draculitch grounded into the ultimate out because the Chargers compelled the winner-take-all ultimate sport of the 2024 season.