Game 1 of the 5A baseball state finals between No. 2 Lehi and No. 4 Olympus was messy.

McGuire Madsen cleaned things up pretty well in the seventh inning and closed out a huge win.

Trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pioneers were gifted two runs on a critical Titans throwing error to take a one-run lead.

In the top of the seventh, McGuire retired the top of the Olympus lineup in order to preserve a 10-9 victory at UCCU Ballpark in Orem.

“In the sixth inning, I struck out,” Madsen said. “It was a big at-bat. I came in (to pitch) and I knew my team needed me out there. Once those two runs went in, I was ready for it. I knew we were going to win.”

The first Titans batter in the seventh, Mick Paul, took one to the warning track that was caught by center fielder Zach Evans. Madsen struck out Olympus’ most dangerous hitter, Ashton Johnson, who was 3 for 4 before that at-bat, with a high fastball. With two outs, Jake Faust hit a hot shot to shortstop. Jake Olsen made a terrific sliding grab and came up firing to end the game.

It was not a typical effort by Lehi, which committed three errors. The Titans also had three errors.

“We pride ourselves on our defense and it kind of let us down today,” Pioneers coach Jason Ingersoll said. “But one thing that we’ve always done is not panic to lose the game. Fortunately, we got a break. I’ve never seen so many little breaks that we gave them. We’re usually pretty clean. But we got a break and capitalized on it.”

Olympus (23-9) pushed across one run in the top of the first on an RBI single from Luke Affleck, but Lehi countered with six runs in the first inning, the big blow a three-run homer from Whack Christensen, for a 6-1 lead.

“Usually when we score five runs in the first inning, it’s a five-inning game,” Ingersoll said. “You’ve cooked them. But Olympus put some pressure on us.”

That pressure came in the form of a seemingly never-ending, seven-run third inning where the Titans sent 11 hitters to the plate. Two critical Lehi errors kept the inning going and Olympus took an 8-6 lead.

The Pioneers tied the game in the fourth on a two-out, two-run single by Maddux Madsen but the Titans edged out to a one-run lead in the fifth on Johnson’s RBI double.

Braden Willes opened the bottom of the sixth with a double for Lehi and eventually the Pioneers ended up with runners and first and third with two outs and Maddux Madsen at the plate. Jackson Brousseau stole second and Olympus pitcher Sam Peay cut off the throw from the catcher to throw to third base, but the ball ended up rolling all the way to the bullpen. Willes and Brousseau both scored for a 10-9 Lehi lead.

That set up the final sequence for McGuire Madsen to have a state championship moment.

“When McGuire got the leadoff, that put the fire out and we knew we’d have a shot,” Ingersoll said. “He’s super competitive and he hasn’t pitched a whole lot this season because he really hasn’t had to. But the thing about this team is we’ve got guys that come in, they compete and they want to win baseball games. He did everything he needed to do to win a game.”

McGuire Madsen’s pitching stint was 2 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, no runs and notching three strikeouts.

“They (the Titans) are really good hitters,” he said. “They’ve been hitting all game so I was just trying to keep the ball down. I feel like all year we just kept fighting. When we’ve been down some games, we come back we stay calm.”

Lehi (27-4) and Olympus will face off in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at UCCU Ballpark on Saturday at 11 a.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played at 4:30 p.m.

6A Finals Game 1

No. 6 American Fork 3, No. 3 Riverton 2

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Caveman reliever Tanner Ellery fanned Tyler Barton for the third out to preserve a close victory.

American Fork (25-6) took a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Dax Watts in the second inning and added another run on a solo shot by Fisher Ingersoll in the third.

Riverton (23-8) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run triple by Zach Edwards.

Lefty Kaden Carpenter went 6 1/3 innings for the Cavemen to earn the win, striking out six and allowing five hits.

Game 2 will be played at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday at UCCU Ballpark. If a third game is needed, it will be played at 7 p.m.