Wait for it: Maple Mountain brings home first baseball state title
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players and coaches celebrate by posing for a photo after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players and coaches celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players celebrate after winning the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior Sawyer Leifson throws the ball to first during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior Chase Johnston celebrates getting on base during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Colby Warren catches a fly ball during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior AJ Thomas celebrates after making a diving catch during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- A Maple Mountain batter swings at a pitch during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain infielders talk to senior pitcher Blake Carter (center) as the rain falls during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Bennett Averett hits the ball during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players cheer on their team during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Bennett Averett scores a run during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players congratulate senior Bennett Averett (right) after he scored a run during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- A Maple Mountain baserunner attempts to avoid being tagged after being caught in a rundown during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain junior Cole Erickson steals second during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain players cheer on their team during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
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- Maple Mountain senior Blake Carter throws a pitch during the 5A championship series against Brighton at UCCU Ballpark in Orem on Saturday, May 25, 2024.
Good things are worth waiting for, and the Maple Mountain baseball team had to be extra patient to bring home the school’s first-ever baseball state title.
Enduring two separate rain delays that totaled nearly 90 minutes, the Golden Eagles did what teenagers do best — play games on their phones and hang out together — to stay focused. On the diamond, they got out to an early 4-2 lead in Game 2 of the 5A championship series against top-seeded Brighton and eventually secured a 7-4 victory on Saturday at UCCU Ballpark.
After finishing second three times under long-time coach Gary Miner, Maple Mountain finally got to bring home the big gold trophy.
“This really started three years ago with our early morning weights,” Golden Eagles coach Jeremy Thomas said. “Starting the first day of school the kids are in the weight room at five o’clock in the morning. They’re putting in the time and effort and nobody misses. They wanted it bad. They had one goal in mind and that was to get a state championship. Their hard work paid off today.”
The first delay came in the top of the second inning, a steady rain that sent both teams into the dugout for more than an hour. Later in the fifth, an absolute downpour that turned into hail at one point did the same for another 30 minutes.
A.J. Thomas said he and his teammates played phone games like “Brawl Stars” and told jokes during the lengthy delay.
“It’s interesting with kids these days,” Coach Thomas said. “They just sat in there, did their own thing and relaxed a little bit. I think they coaches were way more nervous than they were.”
Maple Mountain (28-4), the No. 2 seed, beat Brighton 12-9 on Friday to set up Saturday’s Game 2. The Golden Eagles managed just six hits on Saturday but two were especially timely.
The game was tied at 2-2 in the top of the second when A.J. Thomas delivered a two-run single for a 4-2 advantage. In the top of the sixth, Maple Mountain loaded the bases with nobody out but looked like it might come up empty after a strikeout and a fielder’s choice put two outs on the board. Senior Sawyer Leifson battled to a full count before sending a single to left field to score two runs for a 7-3 advantage.
“Our late-inning magic is because JT (Coach Thomas) is always telling us the goal is to get the starter out early and then double our run production,” Leifson said. “That last at-bat, I got down a little late but I just knew I had to get the ball in play. Luckily, I found the barrel and we scored a couple of runs.”
Maple Mountain’s starting rotation (Chase Johnston, Max Walker, Blake Carter and Jake Roscher) has been brilliant all season long but the Golden Eagles definitely needed their relief pitching to come through this weekend. On Friday, Leifson gave two solid innings of relief and Bennett Averett closed out the victory.
On Saturday, sophomore Cayden Giles, who has pitched mainly on the junior varsity, stepped up with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief of Carter before giving way for Averett to close things out again.
“Our middle guys have come in a gotten guys out,” Coach Thomas said. “And then Bennett has been a reliable closer all year. He (Giles) came in and got it done, so it was fantastic.”
Maple Mountain also got a couple of outstanding defensive plays to keep the Bengals at bay. A.J. Thomas laid out to horizontally to track down a sinking liner in a bases loaded situation in the second to snuff out a Brighton rally.
“Oh, yeah, it knocked the wind out of me,” he said. “It hurt really bad. But it was worth it.”
Averett made a diving catch in center field in the fourth inning to rob Brighton of a run as well.
Brighton’s Cooper Johnson doubled in a run in the bottom of the seventh to close the deficit to 7-4 with two outs but Averett induced a ground ball from J.C. Garza. Leifson, playing shortstop, gobbled it up and fired to first for the final out that touched off the championship celebration.
“I just tried to make it routine and make the throw,” Leifson said. “Just like any other ground ball. I do that a thousand times every practice.”
A.J. Thomas was 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored for Maple Mountain, which won all seven games it played in the state tournament.
“It feels really good,” Coach Thomas said. “But the credit really goes to those players. They’re the ones that put in the work. We just kind of put them in their places and prepare them the best we can. They’re the ones that ultimately have to step up and perform. We have a great fan base and a great booster club that helps us out. Our administrators, our trainers, everybody plays a part in this.”
Leifson added, “We felt confident coming in. We were confident in our game plan. Honestly, everyone was nervous about being the first but everybody trusted each other as a brotherhood. We all had each other’s backs.”
Maple Mountain, which opened its doors in 2009, finished as state runner-up in 2013 (to Salem Hills), 2015 (to Spanish Fork) and 2021 (to Spanish Fork).
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