Maple Mountain executed an unconventional way to win and is now one game from claiming the 5A title.

The Golden Eagles like to say, “We love free bases!” when they earn a walk and were likely hoarse after Friday’s game: Brighton pitchers issues 20 freebies (16 walks, four hit batsman) in a 12-9 Maple Mountain victory in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

“We thought this game was going to be about pitching and defense,” Golden Eagles coach Jeremy Thomas said. “It was our best guy (pitching ace Chase Johnston) going against their best guy (Case Beames). In the four years I’ve coached Chase, I haven’t seen any team score more than six runs against him. But those guys came out and put an eight spot on him. We battled and our relief guys came in and got the job done.

“More importantly, our offense stepped up. We got their starter out of the game and then we tripled the number of runs we scored. We were really patient at the plate. We left a lot of runners on base but we got big hits when we needed them.”

The No. 1 seeded Bengals (27-4) battered Johnston, scoring eight runs on 11 hits through his four innings of work. Brighton hit the ball hard and to open spots, surging to a 6-1 lead after two innings.

The Bengals ended up outhitting Maple Mountain 13-7. But eventually, all the free passes issued by Brighton pitchers started to take a toll.

Trailing 8-5 entering the fifth inning, Maple Mountain batted around and finally got the key hits it needed to take the lead. The Golden Eagles scored six runs (all with two outs) and the big blows came from Bennett Averett and Colby Warren, who each bashed two-run singles for an 11-8 advantage.

“We were a little bit timid at first,” admitted Averett, who finished 2 for 3 with three runs scored and three RBI. “Once we got into the late innings, our game plan is to get their starter out and then we start hitting the ball. We had that momentum shift in the fifth inning. I just hit it right over second base and we scored two runs. We kept putting balls in play and started making easy plays.”

Averett tripled in the top of the seventh and came home on A.J. Thomas’ RBI single for a 12-9 lead.

Averett stepped onto the mound in relief in the bottom of the inning and struck out two, then got a ground ball for the final out.

“We won the free base war,” Averett said. “They won the hitting war, but all those free bases added up. The chemistry on this team is great. We all get along. Just being around the boys the whole season, going to St. George in the spring and bonding as a team, it’s really paid off now. They know I have their backs and they have my back.”

Game 2 of the 5A championship series is Saturday at 11 a.m. If Brighton wins, a third and deciding game would be played at 4:30 p.m.

“We’ll sit down and talk all about what we’ve done all year,” Coach Thomas said. “We’ll take it one pitch at a time. We always say the small battles win the war. The more small battles we can win, the better chance we have.”

Maple Mountain (27-4) will be seeking its first baseball state championship after finishing second in 2013, 2015, and 2021.