The American Fork baseball team earned a 10-5 victory over Copper Hills Tuesday afternoon at UVU’s Brent Brown Ballpark to move on in the 5A elimination bracket.

Caveman pitcher Shawn Hardman scattered nine hits, struck out four, walked no one and gave up just one earned run, but compounded mistakes allowed the Grizzlies to score five runs in the fourth inning and take their first lead of the contest 5-4.

However, American Fork was able to answer immediately with three runs in the fifth and then never yielded another inch to hold on for the move-ahead win.

“Shawn did a real good job,” said American Fork coach Jarod Ingersoll. “We battled out there, and we did a pretty good job defensively of backing him up.”

The coach was also happy with his players on the other side of the plate as they cranked out 16 hits. “I’m proud of our guys,” he said. “For the second game in a row, they had a real good approach at the plate. We’re keeping it simple; just get the bat on the ball.”

Someone who took that advice literally was Riley Ottesen, playing first base in this contest after pitching a gem the previous night. He went 5-for-5 with a double, 3 RBI and two runs scored, accounting for half his team’s production. “That’s a good time,” Ingersoll said.

Zac Willis was 2-for-3 and also walked twice. Hardman and Brock Lamb added 2 RBI apiece and Emmett Green was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.

The Cavemen (18-8) play Layton (17-8) Wednesday at 4 p.m. at UVU. If they win, they will play either Syracuse or Cottonwood immediately following at 7 p.m.

“It’s never easy in the loser’s bracket, but the kids are having fun and we hope to keep it going,” Ingersoll concluded.

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

American Fork 10, Copper Hills 5

American Fork 210 131 2 — 10 16 1

Copper Hills 000 500 0 — 5 9 1

Hardman and Willis. Hardcastle, Moulton (3), Johnson (5), Hoffman (6) and Keefer. WP-Hardman. LP-Moulton. 2B-Ottesen (AF), Haws (AF), Pitcher (AF), Keefer (CH), Boyd (CH), Flores (CH). HR-Heath (CH).

Westlake beats Sky View, then is eliminated by Cyprus

The Thunder split a pair in Kearns and had to bow out of the 4A playoffs.

Westlake 7, Sky View 1

“Jake Mayer has been our best pitcher all year,” said Thunder coach Ben Byrd. “He’s pitched for us since he was a freshman and he’ll throw at UVU next year.

“He did great,” the coach continued. “They never really threatened us offensively and we played solid defense behind him.

“Daniel Nugent had a couple of doubles, including one that got us going in the first inning with two runs,” the coach continued.

“Whenever we got off to a quick start and Mayer was throwing well for us, that always boded well,” Byrd said. Jamin Van Sickle also had 2 RBI.

Westlake 7, Sky View 1

Westlake 200 050 0 — 7 7 1

Sky View 010 000 0 — 1 5 0

WP-Mayer. LP-Berryhill. 2B-Nugent 2 (WL), Butcher (WL), Van Sickle (WL).

Cyprus 5, Westlake 1

Missed offensive opportunities and defensive mistakes ended the season for the Thunder in the fourth round of the playoffs.

“Jamin Van Sickle threw really well; he only gave up one earned run,” said Westlake coach Ben Byrd. “We didn’t play good defense behind him as we kicked the ball around too much. It seemed like we had five or six errors.” The official book showed just three, but there were other costly mistakes.

“The pitcher for Cyprus did a good job and we missed out on some offensive opportunities early,” the coach said. “Those can come back to bite you, and we sure left too many men on base.”

Overall, though, Byrd said his squad had a solid season. The Thunder finished at 17-10.

Cyprus 5, Westlake 1

Cyprus 000 110 3 — 5 5 0

Westlake 000 001 0 — 1 5 3

Van Sickle, Mayer (6) and Butcher. Scheeler, Harris (6) and Farrar. WP-Loutensock. LP-Van Sickle. 2B-Loutensock (C), Butcher (WL), Van Sickle (WL); 3B-Nicholes (C).