It’s unlikely that anyone had as many friends participating in Saturday’s 5A and 6A state baseball championships at UCCU Ballpark in Orem as Pioneer senior Maddux “Mad Dog” Madsen.

The pitcher/catcher was a key part in Lehi’s run to the 5A title in 2022, while playing a key role for his former team, American Fork, in when the Cavemen won the 6A crown in 2021.

Thus Madsen had plenty of friends among both his current Pioneer squad (as they faced Olympus for the 5A title) and his former American Fork team (who played Riverton for the 6A crown.

“I’ve been blessed with many teammates who are super-successful, that’s for sure,” Madsen said Saturday. “It doesn’t surprise me that they (the Cavemen) made it. I knew from the beginning they could win the state championship, so them being here isn’t a surprise to me. Seeing them all up there (during the Lehi game), I know I have tons of support from them. It was just cool.”

Madsen also had a unique perspective on one of the best storylines of the day: Lehi head coach Jason Ingersoll and American Fork head coach Jarod Ingersoll were the first brothers to lead their baseball teams to the state championships.

“They are so good with each other,” Madsen said. “They are great coaches. The mindset of the whole baseball team comes straight from them. They just create dominant teams, that’s for sure.”

Although both of the Ingersolls have had plenty of success coaching baseball, it has been Jarod Ingersoll who had been able to get his team to the top of its respective classification.

He had led the Cavemen to three state titles (2012, 2016 and 2021) as well as winning the de-facto 6A championship at the Last Chance tournament in 2020 after the season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, however, Jason Ingersoll finally got to get bragging rights.

His Pioneers were able to hold of the Titans in a pair of close games, winning 10-9 in Game 1 on Friday and hanging on for the dramatic, eight-inning 4-3 walkoff victory in Game 2 on Saturday to sweep the series and secure the 5A championship.

“We’ve quietly had the best year ever at Lehi,” Jason Ingersoll said after the game on Saturday. “We started the season with a plan and things started clicking. We started beating people and we started climbing but no one really gave us a shot. Having the best season in the history was pretty special for this group, for our kids. I’ve been a head coach for 10 years and I know how hard it is to win. When we got the final run, I was just looking for someone to pile-drive and have fun because it is hard.”

Things didn’t go as well for Jarod Ingersoll and American Fork.

After the Cavemen held on for a 3-2 victory in Game 1 on Friday, American Fork needed to defeat the Silverwolves in one of the next two games to repeat as champs. But Riverton made all the big plays, winning Game 2, 18-8, and Game 3, 8-3, to snatch the title away.

While the Ingersolls certainly would’ve loved to get both titles, they both still felt it was an amazing experience to get to compete on the biggest stage with their respective teams on the same day.

“My brother’s my best friend and when he wins, I win — unless we’re playing each other,” Jason Ingersoll said. “It’s first time in history in the state of Utah that brothers have been here. My dad’s 90 years old and he’s a he’s a state champ. It’s special. Anybody who coaches or has a brother, this is pretty cool. I mean, it’s once in a lifetime, really. It’s so special.”

Jarod Ingersoll said expressed his pride in seeing what his brother accomplished, while wishing his guys could’ve gotten to experience the same thing this year.

“I’m super proud of Jason,” Jarod Ingersoll said. “He deserves it and so does the community of Lehi. I just wish we could have held up our end.”

Jared Lloyd, Daily Herald

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