AMERICAN FORK – The No. 3 American Fork baseball team maintained poise and control from start to finish to earn an 8-3 victory over No. 1 Riverton on Monday afternoon.

The Cavemen got off to a great start. After retiring the Silverwolves in order in the top of the first, they plated three runs in the bottom half to get a quick 3-0 advantage.

However, Riverton answered with two scores in the top of the second to reduce the margin to one, and that’s where it stayed until the pivotal fifth inning.

The Silverwolves got a leadoff double to start their turn and quickly pushed a run across to tie the game at 3-apiece. An error allowed them to load the bases after that with still no outs.

However, American Fork got three straight outs without any further damage, first from a fielder’s choice at home, then a strikeout by pitcher Shawn Hardman, and finally a groundout to first.

“The bases were loaded with one run in already,” said Caveman coach Jarod Ingersoll. “Shawn kept his composure and we were able to get out of it. That says a lot about how good he is.”

After being ahead the entire game to that point, American Fork worked quickly to retake the lead.

No. 9 batter Emmett Green opened with a double and Alex Schultz walked. Zac Haws laid down a nice sacrifice bunt which advanced both runners into scoring position.

With Riley Ottesen at the plate, a wild pitch brought Green home before a heads-up play by Riverton ended the turn.

The Cavemen put a nice sequence together in the bottom of the sixth to get four more runs. Hardman retired 6-of-7 batters in the final two innings to sew up the victory for American Fork.

“This series is huge for us to see where we’re at,” Ingersoll said. “We didn’t execute cleanly but we passed the test of the heart.

“Where other teams would have wilted, we kept our composure and did what we needed to do to get out of those situations,” he concluded.

Haws had a pair of doubles and drove in two runs to lead the offense. Hardman went the distance on the mound with three perfect innings.

The Cavemen (15-5, 10-3) and the Silverwolves (15-8, 10-3) are now tied for first place in Region 4 with two games remaining. They are scheduled to continue their three-part series Tuesday at Riverton at 4 p.m., with the final contest set for Wednesday in American Fork.

Beky Beaton can be reached at bbeaton@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BeatonWrite.

American Fork 8, Riverton 3

Riverton 020 010 0 — 3 6 0

American Fork 300 014 x — 8 6 2

White, Coates (6) and Barlow. Hardman and Willis. WP-Hardman. LP-White. 2B-Barton (R), Draper (R), Haws 2 (AF), Ottesen (AF), Green (AF).