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Lone Peak's Michael Slayday (left) looks to the umpire after sliding in at home with the winning run against Skyridge on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Lone Peak first baseman Chris Billings (right) tries to apply a tag to a Skyridge runner on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Lone Peak's Jordan Fry delivers a pitch against Skyridge on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Lone Peak's Josh Heaton (left) attempts to slide into third base as Mace Moen of Skyridge waits to apply the tag on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Dalton Young of Skyridge watches the ball after a swing against Lone Peak on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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A trainer wraps the finger of Lone Peak third baseman Max Bateman during a game against Skyridge on Friday, April 29, 2022. Bateman tried to field a ground ball but it deflected off his hand and cut his finger.

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Ike Pickle of Skyridge (in orange) slides into second base as Lone Peak shortstop Kaden Hodson looks to apply a tag on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Lone Peak's Chris Billings takes a swing against Skyridge on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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Colby Carter of Skyridge delivers a pitch against Lone Peak on Friday, April 29, 2022.

Darnell Dickson/Daily Herald

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With the score tied in the bottom of the seventh and two outs, Lone Peak’s Dane Tenney ripped a shot to the right-field wall. Speed-up runner Michael Slayday, who was at first base, got on his horse and Knights coach Matt Bezzant waved him around toward home.

“Dane sometimes puts good-at bats hitting the ball the opposite way,” Bezzant said. “I told myself, ‘Hey, if he hits the ball over their heads, we’re just rolling and I didn’t care how close it was going to be.'”

It was close.

Slayday motored around third and slid in just ahead of the tag for the winning run, allowing Lone Peak to celebrate a come-from-behind 8-7 victory against Skyridge on Friday. The Knights won all three games in the series, though all of them were close.

“I feel like we’re still trying to find out so much more about our team,” Bezzant said. “Guys come in and are coming through in different situations, and it’s different guys every game. We’re still fine tuning, just like everyone else, trying to prepare to compete our best baseball in the state tournament.”

On Friday is was Tenney’s turn to come through.

“I was looking to drive it that way because everything that we tried to pull it had been lifted up in the wind so I just tried to stay with it,” Tenney said. “Coach Bezzant told me to stay with the ball and I just stuck with it and it worked out for me.”

The game was everything a meeting between two teams in the Top 10 of the Class 6A RPI should be.

Ike Pickle hit a solo home run in the first and Teagan Calton added a solo blast in the second. Seth Norton clubbed a two-run double and Skyridge took a quick 5-0 lead.

Lone Peak tied the game up in the bottom of the second with a big inning. A couple of Skyridge errors kept the inning going and the swirling wind caused havoc in the outfield for the visitors as the Knights pushed across five runs, including Crew McChesney’s two-run single and an RBI triple for Kaden Hodson.

Pitchers Jordan Fry (Lone Peak) and Colby Carter (Skyridge) settled down after that but the Falcons managed to take a 6-5 lead in the fifth on a wild pitch. Matt Housman delivered an RBI single in the top of the seventh and Skyridge led 7-5.

Hodson was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the seventh for Lone Peak and came home on Fry’s double to make the score 7-6. Fry scored on Josh Heaton’s RBI single to tie the game at 7-all. Housman got a big strikeout for the second out, which brought up Tenney for his late-game heroics.

Lone Peak, No. 3 in the 6A RPI, moves to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in Region 4 play. The Knights next series is with Westlake next week.

“We have really good team chemistry and we know how to bounce back when we’re feeling down,” Tenney said. “So I feel like we have a good chance at making a good run in the state playoffs.”

Bezzant added: “Two or three guys have great games and in the next game, somebody else does. That can be a sign of a great team. Now it’s just about finding ways to be consistent. If we do that, we’ll be dangerous.”

Skyridge, No. 8 in the latest RPI, drops to 11-8 overall and 3-6 in Region 4. The Falcons take on region-leading American Fork in a three-game series next week.

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