Lehi scores nine runs in sixth inning to pull away from Cottonwood
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- Lehi’s Tysen Elswood (2) signals to the dugout after hitting a double in a Super Regional 5A baseball state playoff game against Cottonwood on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lehi’s Brandon Manookin (33) is surrounded by teammates after driving in two run with a double to end a Super Regional 5A baseball state playoff game against Cottonwood via the 10-run rule on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lehi’s Bowen Ingersoll slides in safely at home plate during a Super Regional 5A baseball state playoff game against Cottonwood on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Cottonwood’s Easton Petitta (22) is greeted by teammates after hitting a solo home run in a Super Regional 5A state baseball playoff game against Lehi on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lehi’s Dawson Rodak delivers a pitch during a Super Regional 5A state baseball playoff game against Cottonwood on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lehi’s Braden Willes connects for a base hit in a Super Regional 5A baseball state playoff game against Cottonwood on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Cottonwood’s Easton Smith dives back to first base as Lehi’s Jackson Brousseau waits for the ball during a Super Regional 5A state baseball playoff game on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
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- Lehi’s Bowen Ingersoll (1) is greeted by teammates after scoring a run in a Super Regional 5A baseball state playoff game against Cottonwood on Thursday, May 18, 2023.
The bottom of the sixth inning was just about perfect for Lehi.
The Pioneers scored nine runs without recording an out, sending 11 batters to the plate before Brandon Manookin’s two-run double ended the game via the 10-run rule. What was once a one-run nail biter turned into a rout as the Pioneers finished off a 12-2 Super Regional 5A state playoff victory against Cottonwood on Thursday.
Talk about a tough out: Lehi had five hits (including doubles from Manookin and Jake Olsen), three walks and one hit batsman, combined with two Cottonwood errors in a huge inning where everybody got on base.
“Their first pitcher (lefty Hayden Hudman) kind of kept us off balance and then we’ve had a few weeks off,” Lehi coach Jason Ingersoll said. “But we have 12 seniors and these kids have been there. They are a great bunch of kids and they know what to expect, so once we got going, it was hard to stop.”
Most of the game was tight battle between the Region 7 champion Colts, the No. 13 seed, and the Pioneers, the No. 4 seed.
Cottonwood broke out on top first when leadoff hitter Jaxon Pfeil hit a towering fly ball to right that drifted to the fence for a triple, then came home on Avery Doezie’s ground ball. In the bottom of the third, Bowen Ingersoll scored when McGuire Madsen hit a hot smash that the Colts first baseman couldn’t knock down and the game was tied at 1-1.
Olsen gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead in the fourth with a solo home run to dead center field — “I usually pull the ball but I got into that one, I guess,” Olsen said — and Cottonwood tied it up at 2 in the fifth with a solo home run by Easton Petitta. Olsen’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth pushed Lehi to a 3-2 lead, setting up their big sixth inning.
“I think we were more patient and I think our guys were disciplined at the plate,” Coach Ingersoll said. “Then we got into their bullpen so that helped out. The guys were not trying to do too much and good things happened.”
Olsen was 3 for 4 and drove in three runs for Lehi and Bowen Ingersoll was 3 for 3 and scored three times. Manookin and Tysen Elswood were both 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Dawson Rodak surrendered just three hits in his six innings of work and struck out six to get the win.
The Super Regionals are best-of-three, so the Pioneers and Colts will meet again Friday at 1 p.m.
“We feel like we’re in a good spot,” Coach Ingersoll said. “We’ll have another good dude coming out on the mound and they’ll have one, too. We want to stay aggressive and be consistent. We have kids who were there last year with a lot of experience, and we think that’s going to get the job done.”
The Pioneers made a run all the way to the state 5A title last year, and despite a fourth-place finish in Region 8, should be considered a strong contender in this season’s tournament.
“It seems a lot like it was last year,” Olsen said. “We’ve got the same vibes. We’ve just got to keep playing hard and keep getting the base knocks.”
6A Super Regional Scores (All Game 1s)
No. 1 Skyridge 11, No. 16 Davis 1
No. 8 Pleasant Grove 15, No. 9 Taylorsville 0
No. 15 Westlake 4, No. 2 Cyprus 3
No. 7 American Fork 2, No. 10 Corner Canyon 1
No. 6 Riverton 11, No. 11 Lone Peak 10
5A Super Regional Scores (All Game 1s)
No. 3 Salem Hills 3, No. 19 Spanish Fork 2
No. 2 Timpanogos 6, No. 18 Uintah 1
No. 5 Viewmont 10, No. 12 Payson 0
No. 7 Orem 6, No. 10 Maple Mountain 5
No. 4 Lehi 12, No. 13 Cottonwood 2
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