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Orem players talk things over after defeating Salem Hills in the 5A playoffs at BYU on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

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Orem players shake hands with Salem Hills players after the Tigers defeated the Skyhawks in the 5A playoffs at BYU on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

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When you enter the one-loss bracket, the amount of games to play to get the promised land starts to mount up. And this means coaches have to go deep into their pitching staffs.

The end result is often a lot of walks and high-scoring games that tend to put the tournament behind schedule.

And that is what happened as Orem survived a tournament rematch with Salem Hills, winning 14-8 at Larry H. Miller Field on the campus of BYU in Provo on Wednesday. The game went three hours and put the next game an hour behind schedule.

Orem used three different pitchers while Salem Hills ended up throwing four. But Orem’s staff was a bit sharper as was their defense. The Tigers did commit one error but Salem Hills committed five and had one infield popup that was misplayed but ruled a hit.

In regards to the pitching, Orem head coach Carl Hermansen said his team was “just a little bit better”. But he did note that his defense played a solid game.

“We made most of the plays,” said Hermansen. “We had that one throwing error but other than that we played good defense behind them (the pitchers). And again we just kept playing.”

Hermansen singled out a couple of key defensive plays that saved some runs and kept the Skyhawks at bay.

“We had that double play (in the fifth inning) and then our center fielder (Merrick Bostock) made a phenomenal play with the bases loaded,” Hermansen said. “It was just hit over him and he made an outstanding play that saved at least three runs.”

On the offensive front, Orem’s Easton Petitta went 4-for-4 with four RBI while being hit by a pitch on another plate appearance. Zach Engemann went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and one RBI. Meanwhile Chase Ford walked three times and had three runs scored.

Salem Hills did lead 3-2 after the first frame but Orem outscored Salem Hills 12-5 the rest of the way and plated four runs in the third inning followed by three more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take control.

While it wasn’t the cleanest performance on the mound, Orem’s Cole Engemann pitched the last four innings and gave up three runs on three hits, walking three, hitting one Salem Hills batter while striking out two. And his effort didn’t go unnoticed by the Tiger skipper.

“For Cole to come in right there and hold us there and give us a couple of guys for the next game sure helped. That was big for him,” Hermansen said.

For Salem Hills, Braxton Harrison had a big game going 4-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Meanwhile, Mason Ward came off the bench and went 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored.

With the win Orem (20-10) earned a right to play Brighton, who defeated the Tigers Tuesday 8-1. The Tigers would need to defeat the Bengals two times to reach the championship series and Hermansen is well aware of the challenge that lies ahead.

“They’re a great team, super talented but we’re going to come out and get after them,” Hermansen said.

With the loss Salem Hills finished 15-18 but the Skyhawks had a remarkable playoff run as the No. 19 seed, winning their region and super regional series plus one game in the bracketed tourney.

Weird play of the game: In the top of the fourth, Orem plated four runs but the last one of the inning didn’t come without some controversy. It looked like Jack Allen had hit into an inning ending double play as the first base umpire called him out on a bang-bang call.

Then after several seconds had gone by and Salem Hills was actually sprinting off the field, the base umpire changed his mind and called him safe saying the first baseman dropped the ball via an involuntary release. The Orem runners kept running, but in the confusion the plate umpire killed the action.

A discussion ensued and Allen was ruled safe but the Orem runner that started at second base and had appeared to score in all the confusion was sent back to third base. Then Petitta hit a single to bring him home and make the score 9-4 for Orem.

Crooked numbers: The pitching wasn’t necessarily pretty by either team. Salem Hill pitchers walked nine Tiger batters and plunked five different players, while Orem’s pitchers walked eight and hit six Skyhawk batters. Salem Hills’ Gus Johnson was hit by the pitch three times.

Both teams left a lot of runners on base. Salem Hills left 14 on the base paths while Orem left 12 runners stranded.

With the win Orem earned a right to play Brighton but the Bengals eliminated the Tigers by a 5-0 score and Orem finished with a 20-11 record.

Maple Mountain 10, Viewmont 0 (5): Cy Chrisman added to his state record home run total as Maple Mountain crushed Viewmont 10-0 with the game ending with the mercy rule after five innings.

The Golden Eagles scored 10 runs in the first inning and sent 15 hitters to the plate. In his second plate appearance Chrisman hit a 3-run blast over the left-field wall that put an exclamation point on the Golden Eagle offensive barrage.

It was Chrisman’s 19th homer as he added to his state record for round trippers in a season. He now has 29 in his prep career. In the 5A playoffs he has hit four home runs including two at BYU.

“It’s awesome,” Chrisman said about going yard at Larry H. Miller Field. “It’s a college experience. It’s a surreal feeling.”

Chrisman’s first appearance was a walk where he eventually scored, while his last plate appearance was an intentional walk that came with one out and a runner on second base.

After his round-tripper Chrisman jumped into his teammates arms and did some crowd surfing, which Chrisman said is “a lot of fun” but not just reserved for him but any teammate who goes yard.

“We had the same celebration last year for when someone scored a run,” Chrisman said. “It’s the sooey celebration (made famous by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo). But we decided we needed to switch something up for the home run celebration.”

Cole Erickson also had an exceptional game for the Golden Eagles as he went 2-for-4 with a double with two runs batted and two runs scored. Additional offensive support came from Mick Winward, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Sophomore pitcher Kavyn Carter had a terrific outing on the mound, giving up just one hit in five innings pitched facing just 16 hitters. And he did so by just throwing 44 pitches making himself available for the weekend if needed for Maple Mountain head coach Jeremy Thomas.

The power hitting star Chrisman had some nice praise for his sophomore pitcher.

“He (Carter) did really good today. He comes out and gets the job done,” said Chrisman.

Now Maple Mountain turns its attention to Region 7 rival Spanish Fork. Since No. 20 seed Spanish Fork upset the Golden Eagles in the second round of bracket play 5-2, No. 1 seed Maple Mountain must beat Spanish Fork twice to advance to the championship series.

6A baseball notes: No. 10 seed Lehi won its 11 a.m. game 8-1 knocking out No. 11 seed Herriman.

Pioneer leadoff hitter Mays Madsen had a strong game going 3-for-4 with a double, stolen base, one run scored and two RBI. Jake Welch, Ozzie Williams, Boston Drakulich and Dawson Brown also had doubles while Gavin Yates had two hits and two runs scored.

Sean McAffee had a strong game on the mound going six innings and only allowing three Mustang hits. Ryder Carlton came into the game to relieve McAfee in the top of the seventh and sent Herriman packing.

The win gave Lehi a chance to redeem itself from an earlier tournament loss to Davis. Still, the Pioneers will have to beat the Darts twice to advance to the championship series where either American Fork or Mountain Ridge awaits. The Sentinels eliminated Riverton and would have to beat American Fork twice.