6A Baseball: Riverton ends American Fork’s dominance
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- American Fork players watch Riverton celebrate after losing the 6A state championship series at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork players stand with the second-place trophy after losing the 6A state championship series to Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork players console each other after losing the 6A state championship series to Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- Infielders for American Fork await a pitching change during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork shortstop Fisher Ingersoll slides safely into third during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork shortstop Fisher Ingersoll attempts to turn a double play during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- An American Fork batter hits the ball during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork third baseman Easton Jones throws the ball to first base during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- Riverton players celebrate turning a triple play during the 6A state championship against American Fork at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork centerfielder Kaden Carpenter catches a fly ball during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork second baseman Ryder Robinson attempts to turn a double play during the 6A state championship against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork senior Sawyer Hardman slides safely into home during the 6A state championship series against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork sophomore Dax Watts swings at a pitch during the 6A state championship series against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- An American Fork baserunner dives back to first base during the 6A state championship series against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
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- American Fork head coach Jarod Ingersoll watches the action during the 6A state championship series against Riverton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 28, 2022.
In the final game of the 6A baseball state championships, Riverton hit a grand slam and executed a triple play.
Sometimes a team seems destined to succeed.
American Fork has been all about championships the past two seasons, but on Saturday it was the Silverwolves turn. No. 3 Fremont did just about everything right on Saturday at UCCU Ballpark, beating No. 6 American Fork 8-3 in the third game of the best-of-three series to win the school’s first-ever baseball state title.
“I think everything went their way,” AF coach Jarod Ingersoll said. “Oh, my goodness. That’s a credit to their kids and their coaches. Jay (Applegate) does a tremendous job. We just couldn’t put anything together. Sometimes the game doesn’t go your way and today it just wasn’t our day. Very few people realize how hard it is to win a state championship. You’ve got to have a lot of breaks and luck and good players and a lot of other things have to come together.”
The Cavemen won a tense Game 1 on Friday 3-2, but Saturday was not the kind of day AF’s pitching staff was hoping for, issuing 17 walks and hitting six batters in the two games. All those extra base runners were difficult to overcome. Riverton bashed the Cavemen 18-8 in five innings in Game 2 to force the third game.
“There was a lot of traffic on the bases all day, it seemed,” Ingersoll said.” That’s a credit to their pressure and their approaches. They were just on base a lot.”
The Silverwolves produced big innings all day long and in Game 3 put up six runs in the third, highlighted by a grand slam from designated hitter Zach Edwards, for a 6-0 lead.
American Fork had bases loaded opportunities in the third and the sixth innings but failed to capitalize.
The Cavemen finally got on the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Dax Watts, which put runners at first and second with no outs. Davis Andrews followed with a sizzling liner but the ball was speared by Riverton shortstop Sam Beck, who stepped on second and fired to first to complete a stunning triple play.
The Cavemen executed a double steal in the fifth and Ryder Robinson scored to close the gap to 6-2, but they could get no closer. Riverton added two more runs in the top of the seventh for an 8-2 advantage. Kaden Carpenter tried to get a rally going with two outs by hitting a towering home run over the right field wall, but after Josh Rojas walked Dax Newman flied out to center and the celebration got started on the Silverwolves side of the field.
American Fork won the 6A Last Chance Tournament in 2020 after the season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and claimed the 2021 6A crown, posting a 30-1 record. The Cavemen finished 2022 with at 25-8.
“We can’t feel very bad about where we’re at but once you’ve tasted that gold it seems bad,” Ingersoll said. “These kids can’t hang their heads with what they’ve done for three years.”
The senior class was especially talented. Ingersoll’s son, Fisher, has signed with TCU. Carpenter signed with the University of Utah, Easton Jones will play at BYU and Newman will compete for College of Southern Idaho.
“There’s a couple of other guys that are going to junior colleges,” Coach Ingersoll said. “We’ve been doing a lot of really good things. That’s a credit to these guys, their work ethic and the way they went about the business. It was a special group.”
Game 2: No. 3 Riverton 18, No. 6 American Fork 8
The Silverwolves batted around in the second and fourth innings to force a third game. American Fork walked ten batters and hit four more to give Fremont plenty of baserunners.
The Silverwolves scored eight runs in the second inning, six with two outs, for an 8-0 lead. The Cavemen scored six runs in the third, including a three-run triple by Newman, to close the deficit to 8-6.
After Riverton got one run back in the third, Jones stroked a two-run single in the top of the fourth to narrow the gap to 9-8. Kade Miller drove in three runs with a double to highlight seven more runs for the Silverwolves in the bottom of the inning for a 16-8 lead.
Riverton drove in two runs in the fifth to end the game via the 10-run rule.
Miller was 5 for 5 with seven RBI for the Silverwolves.
