Class is in session: Young Spanish Fork baseball team starting to earn good grades
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- Spanish Fork’s Jesse Harrison (left) slides under the tag of Orem third baseman Zach Engemann in a Region 7 baseball game on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Swae Nielson throws a pitch in a Region 7 baseball game against Orem on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- The Spanish Fork baseball team celebrates a 12-8, eight-inning Region 7 victory against Orem on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Orem’s Mack Ellison (9) scores a run in a Region 7 baseball game against Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s
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- Orem’s Cy Berge takes a swing in a Region 7 baseball game against Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Orem’s Cy Berge is greeted by teammate Jaxtin Johnson after scoring a run in a Region 7 baseball game against Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Orem’s Kai Wesley throws a pitch against Spanish Fork in a Region 7 baseball game on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- From left, Orem’s Zach Engemann, Parker Van Buren and Kai Wesley meet at the mound in a Region 7 baseball game against Spanish Fork on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Boston Duvall dives back to first base as Orem’s Kai Wesley throws to Parker Van Buren in a Region 7 baseball game on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Orem’s Kai Wesley throws a pitch against Spanish Fork in a Region 7 baseball game on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Orem coach Carl Hermanson, right, talks to Merrick Bostock during a time out in a Region 7 baseball game against American Fork on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
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- Spanish Fork’s Jesse Harrison (left) slides under the tag of Orem third baseman Zach Engemann in a Region 7 baseball game on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
On Tuesday, the Spanish Fork baseball team fell behind Springville 4-0 and could never make up the difference, losing to the Red Devils 7-1.
Two days later, the Dons trailed Orem 6-2 in the fifth but found a way to rally to a 12-8 win in extra innings.
With one of the youngest rosters in the state, Spanish Fork coach Hadley Thorpe is counting on tough lessons leading to more wins.
We’ve been in a lot of games all year long, and it was good to finally be on the winning end of one of these late-game wins,” Thorpe said. “It was just a really good, full team effort we got today. We used 20 guys. Everyone stepped up and made the play we needed them to make.”
The Dons have just three seniors on the roster and started eight underclassmen against the Tigers. That includes two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. Some of the youngsters have last names familiar to any Spanish Fork baseball fan: Freshmen Trigg Cloward and Jason Pintar and sophomore Sammy Dart.
Each has had a least one brother go through the Dons program: Casey Cloward, Andrew Pintar and Zac Dart were all-state athletes for Spanish Fork and have all played at BYU.
Jason Pintar leads Spanish Fork in hitting at .381 and Trigg Cloward is second at .350.
“We rely heavily on our young guys and they’ve risen every time we’ve called their number,” Thorpe said. “They’ve been ready to go. So we have six or seven freshmen and sophomores that are always in and out of the lineup. We have a super talented young group. I think we’re just trying to find the right group of nine that gives us the best chance to win.”
With youth comes ups and downs, and the Dons are 8-14 overall in 2025, 5-6 in Region 7 play. But Spanish Fork has gone 5-2 in its past seven games, a good sign with just a few games left before the state tournament.
Orem (14-8, 6-5) put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth on Thursday with Cy Berge and Tayden Ka’awa both stroking two-run doubles for a 6-2 lead. The Dons responded in the top of the fifth with four runs, taking advantage of a pair of Tigers errors and a three-run double by freshman Cody McLean to tie things up at 6-all. Orem took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Merrick Bostock. In the top of the seventh, sophomore Nixon Warren led off and was hit by a pitch, then stole second.
Warren, a wide receiver on the Dons football team, sped home on sophomore Pratt Morely’s single for a 7-7 tie.
“I was thinking, ‘Just score,'” Warren said. “I knew that my teammates would do the job, so if I get on base, I know someone will score me. And they did.”
Spanish Fork held Orem scoreless in the bottom of the inning to force extras.
The Dons broke the game wide open in the top of the eighth, belting out five hits and plating five runs. Pintar drove in two with a single and senior Jackie Sorensen knocked a two-run double as Spanish Fork took a 12-7 lead.
Chase Ford hit a one-out solo home run for Orem in the bottom of the eighth to trim the deficit to 12-8 but the young Dons got the final two outs for the victory.
“This shows we’ve got a ton of potential coming in the next few years,” Warren said. “Our freshmen are very talented this year and we’ve got some dudes coming up. For them to be able to come in and jump in the varsity spots has been awesome and impressive.”
South County is baseball country for Spanish Fork, Springville, Maple Mountain, Salem Hills and Payson. The Dons have won eight state titles, the last in 2021. So there is a legacy to live up to for all the players.
“It’s an honor,” Warren said. “It’s awesome being able to play with ‘Spanish Fork’ written across your chest. We have a lot of pride. We know our potential and what we should be doing. We stepped up and got a big win today.”
Thorpe — himself a former Don player — feels like his team is improving every day.
“Credit goes down to all those youth coaches that run a bunch of successful programs,” he said. “Baseball is king in Spanish Fork, so it’s nice to have. It makes my job easier when we have four or five accelerated teams growing up, and every year we have a ton of talent coming up.
“We’ve had a ton of growing pains going on so it’s nice to see a game like this where we put it all together. This is a really good Orem team. We stuck to our approach throughout the whole game and it paid off in those later innings. We’ve had mistakes late in games that have cost us and our record isn’t where we want it to be, but I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
