During the past week and a half, the Springville baseball team reached deep inside and found the heart of a champion.

To defeat a team on that type of a run, it often takes a heroic effort and Cottonwood proved to be capable of just such a feat Friday afternoon at Brent Brown Ballpark at UVSC, outlasting Springville to get a 12-11 victory in eight innings.

"It was a frustrating day," said Red Devil head coach Willy Child. "We felt like we could've gotten more runs early but they're a good team that battles. The kids played hard but things didn't go our way."

Springville appeared to be on its way to victory in the top of the eighth inning when a sacrifice fly by second baseman Colton Ramon and a walk with the bases loaded drove in two runs to give the Red Devils an 11-9 advantage.

Three outs away from losing a chance at defending their 4A title, the Colts rallied in the bottom of the eighth. A pair of walks and a groundout put runners on second and third with one out.

Cottonwood left fielder Auston Wadsworth stepped into the batters box and lifted a high fly ball to left-center field. It came down before Springville centerfielder Eric Bulow could get under it, driving in both runs with the double to tie the game.

"From the sound of the bat, he (Bulow) might've thought it was going deeper than it was," said Child. "It ended up being a huge play."

Colt right fielder Austin Robbs came up with the winning run on second base and took advantage, registering his fourth RBI -- and the most important -- with a single up the middle.

"I have a great bunch of guys," said Cottonwood head coach Jon Hoover. "Win or lose, they keep fighting and don't give up. Every guy came in and did a great job. It was great to see Wadsworth get that hit."

It was a fitting -- if disappointing -- finish to a game that featured a number of momentum swings and a lot of offense.

"Most of our games have been low scoring, so this one was different," Child said. "It was a lot of fun. You'd have the momentum, then it would go the other way. Who knows? If we'd been the home team, things might've been different."

The Red Devils got the bats going early, scoring eight runs in the first two innings. But the Colts stayed close, bringing six runs of their own across the plate.

Then the defenses picked things up, as Springville added only a run in the fifth. Cottonwood scored twice in the fifth and once in the sixth to tie the score and force the extra frame.

Although the loss was disappointing, Child said he couldn't be more proud of the way his squad played through the tournament to get to that point.

"We talked about it and said it was going to be a long battle," he explained. "We asked our pitching staff to give us quality outings and they gave us a chance to win every day. We played our best baseball of the year, but to win that many games in a row is tough."

The Red Devil head coach believes that the run through the elimination bracket was a testament to the leadership of the seniors and that the underclassman picked up a lot.

"I hope our younger guys learned and we'll be able to build on this next year," Child said. "Our seniors come out and showed how to work and how to have the right attitude."

The Colts move on to face Dixie in today's scheduled championship game at 11 a.m. at Brent Brown Ballpark at UVSC, needing two wins to take the 4A title for the second straight year.

Jared Lloyd can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Springville 440 010 02 -- 11 10 3

Cottonwood 330 021 0 -- 12 17 3

Averett, Whatcott (6) and Miller. Poulson, Green (2), Mayer (5) and Sullivan. WP - Mayer; LP - Whatcott. 2B -Boyd (S), Rodgers (C), Wadsworth 2 (C).