Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

Though Lehi came into the 6A tournament as a No. 10 seed, the defending 6A champs showed that they won’t go down without a fight. The Pioneers downed No. 2 seed and league rival Pleasant Grove 8-2 Monday to start out the bracketed portion of the state tournament at the UCCU Ballpark on the campus of Utah Valley University.

Besides the purple and gray uniforms, Lehi players were pretty easy to spot as they all bleached their hair blonde just before the state tournament.

“We do it every year,” said Lehi starting pitcher TJ Peterson, who got the win on the mound. “It unites us and prepares us for the state tournament. I love it and look forward to it every year.”

Peterson pitched six strong innings for the Pioneers striking out seven and just walking one Viking batter. After throwing just over 100 pitches, Peterson gave way to reliever Ryder Ockey who pitched a scoreless seventh.

Peterson didn’t feel he had to do anything special on the mound.

“I’ve got the best defense in the state,” stated Peterson. “My job is easy. All I’ve got to do is throw strikes and trust my team is going to do the stuff for me.”

Lehi head coach Eric Madsen had high praise for Peterson.

“He’s a gamer and he just got after it right from the start,” Madsen said. “I was really proud of him.”

Madsen related that Peterson had to pitch on a bit less rest since weather pushed back Lehi’s series with Corner Canyon to Thursday.

“I was just pleased with how he pitched. He just got after it and it came down to the strike zone really,” Madsen added.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Grove’s pitchers struggled, walking eight Pioneer batters and hitting another five.

With temperature of 49 degrees at first pitch and a wind chill in the low to mid 40s for most of the game, the game seemed more reminiscent of games played in early March rather than mid May.

Pleasant Grove pitcher Keaton Nordick had control problems in the first inning, walking two batters and hitting two others allowing Lehi to plate a run. But it could have been worse as the Pioneers failed to get any hits to break the game open at this point.

But then the Lehi bats came alive in the top of the second as the Pioneers scored three runs thanks to four hits and one Viking error. And another problem arose for Pleasant Grove as in just two innings Nordick had thrown 57 pitches. He was lifted in the third inning and in the end Pleasant Grove used four different pitchers.

Ozzie Williams was one of the offensive stars for Lehi as he went 2-for-5 with a double and triple to go along with two RBI. Dawson Brown went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI while also being hit by a pitch. Brown also had several put outs from his center field position.

And in one of the weird statistical contributions, Cole Ybarra was plunked three times by Viking pitchers, scoring one run and going 1-for-2 in his other at bats.

Lehi catcher Brandon Manoonkin was also hit by a pitch once to plate a Pioneer run. He also walked three times, once intentionally, and then went 1-for-2 in his other plate appearances to end the game with three RBI.

Lehi’s offense was further bolstered by designated hitter Jake Welch who went 1-for-2 with two walks, one run scored, and one RBI.

Pleasant Grove was led by Drew Smith who went 2-for-3 with an RBI double, while Mason Hawk Henry went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. Bradlee Farrer got Pleasant Grove on the board with an RBI sacrifice fly in the second inning.

Lehi will now play Davis, who beat Herriman by an identical 8-2 score, at 4:30 pm while Pleasant Grove plays in the one-loss bracket against Herriman with the first pitch slated to be at 11 am. Both games will be played Tuesday at the UCCU Ballpark.

Lehi 1 3 1 0 0 0 2 1 -8 9 0

Pleasant Grove 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 -2 6 1

WP-Tj Peterson (L). LP K. Nordick (PG). 2B-D Brown (L), O Willliams (L), M. Henry (PG), D. Smith (PG). 3B-O. Williams (L). HBP-C. Ybarra (L) 3, D. Brown (L), B. Manoonkin (L). SF-B. Farrer (PG).