5A Baseball: Walk-off home run sends Orem past Salem Hills
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- Orem’s Tayden Ka’awa (11) is greeted by teammates after scoring a run in a 5A baseball bracket play game against Salem Hills at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Orem second baseman Jaxtin Johnson makes a play during a 5A baseball bracket play game against Salem Hills at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Orem’s Beckett Hendry throws a pitch against Salem Hills in a 5A baseball bracket play game at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Trig Richards of Salem Hills (6) signals his teammates after hitting a double against Orem in a 5A baseball bracket play game at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Orem’s Cy Berge throws his bat away after getting a base hit against Salem Hills in a 5A baseball bracket play game at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Dom Jex of Salem Hills throws a pitch against Orem in a 5A baseball bracket play game at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Orem’s Parker Van Buren takes a swing against Salem Hills in a 5A baseball bracket play game at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
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- Salem Hills pitcher Dom Jex (1) talks to his catcher during a 5A baseball bracket play game against Orem at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday, May 19, 2025.
There are few things better than watching your game-winning walk-off home run on your buddy’s cell phone just moments after it happened.
Orem’s Tayden Ka’awa put an end to a fiercely competitive matchup with Region 7 foe Salem Hills in bracket play of the 5A baseball tournament at BYU’s Miller Park on Monday with one swing in the bottom of the seventh.
“It was a hard game,” Ka’awa said. “They know us and we know them.”
The Tigers trailed 9-7 entering the bottom of the seventh but an RBI triple from Merrick Bostock cut the deficit to 9-8 with one out. There was two down and a runner on when Ka’awa, Orem’s highly touted quarterback during the fall months, stepped to the plate.
“I’ll tell you what, Tayden’s quarterback mentality really helps,” Orem coach Carl Hermanson said. “He’s just a phenomenal athlete. If he put all his eggs in the baseball basket, he’d be getting calls from Vanderbilt about baseball, too. He’s a phenomenal kid and he’s had such a big presence for us. He’s such a great kid he’s easy to follow.”
Ka’awa blasted an opposite field shot that cleared the right-field fence to set off a mad celebration from the Tigers dugout, then took some time to watch the game-winning hit again courtesy of a friend’s cell phone.
“I faced him (Braxton Harrison) earlier in the season and I just wanted to drive the ball,” Ka’awa said. “We had a fast runner on so I know he could get home if I was able to drive the ball deep. I was kind of calm, not too rowdy, at the plate. I stayed calm and I knew what I had to do.”
The lead changed hands several times in the game, with No. 19 seed Salem Hills taking an early 2-0 lead, getting doubles from Talon Cloward, Kaleb DeGraffenried and Trey Mitchell. Orem tied it up quickly in the bottom of the second when Jaxtin Johnson bashed a two-run home run then led 4-2 on a sacrifice fly from Easton Patitta and an RBI single from Cy Berge.
Salem Hills retook the lead in the fourth, getting an RBI double from Bracken Lindley and and RBI single from DeGraffenried for a 5-4 advantage. Orem put up three runs in the bottom of the fourth but the Skyhawks countered with three of their own in the top of the fifth, surging to an 8-7 advantage. Salem Hills added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to lead 9-7 but that just set the stage for Orem’s big comeback.
“When you’re playing a regional rival, it’s easy to stay into it because we see each other all the time,” Hermanson said. “We knew they weren’t going to roll over. I mean, I was just thinking we could get a gap shot and Tayden wasn’t trying to do too much in that situation. But he obviously took it a little bit further. So I’m grateful for that.”
The Tigers (19-9) are the No. 6 seed and continue in bracket play on Tuesday in a matchup against No. 2 seed Brighton (25-3), which blanked Olympus 10-0 in six innings earlier in the day.
Ka’awa finished 4 of 5 at the plate for Orem, as did Bostock for eight of the Tigers’ 17 hits. DeGraffenried, Lindley and Trig Richards had three hits each for the Skyhawks, who totaled 13 hits.
Salem Hills (15-16) will face an elimination game against the Titans (20-8) on Tuesday.
