5A Baseball: No. 2 Maple Mountain prevails against Salem Hills
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- Maple Mountain’s Mick Winward (8) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run against Salem Hills in a 5A baseball playoff game on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
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- Maple Mountain’s Cayden Giles slides in safely at home in a 5A baseball state playoff game against Salem Hills on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Things were seemingly under control for No. 2 seed Maple Mountain to sweep fellow Region 7 rival and No. 15 seed Salem Hills Thursday to advance out of the Super Regionals to the bracketed portion of the 5A state baseball tourney.
Locked in a pitcher’s duel, Maple Mountain (hosting the game but playing as the visitors) plated six runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 7-2 lead. But Trey Snider hit a walk-off grand slam to give Salem Hills an improbable 10-7 victory to force a third and deciding game.
After a coin flip, Salem Hills again was deemed the home team. And the second game seemed similar to the first, relatively low scoring with Maple Mountain holding on to a 5-4 lead going into the seventh inning. The Golden Eagles plated five runs to take a 10-4 lead but this time Maple Mountain and pitcher Kavyn Carter finished things off with a one-two-three inning.
“The first game we kind of overlooked them,” Carter said. “This (second) game we had something to prove. We knew they weren’t coming to our house and beating us twice. Once was fine, that was a fluke, two times wasn’t going to happen. I just decided we’re the best team in the state and nothing is going to tell us otherwise.”
Carter’s teammates did leave a bit more room for some error with that 5-run offensive explosion in the top of the seventh.
Crew Corry came in as pinch hitter and got the Golden Eagles going with a single. Kye Ward doubled to move Corry to third and both were plated when Nash Ferguson doubled with a one-hopper off the left field fence.
After a flyout, Salem Hills head coach Jason Crawford decided to intentionally walk Lincoln Beenfield. But then Mitch Walker made the Skyhawks pay the price with a 3-run blast over the left field fence giving Maple Mountain a 10-4 lead.
“I was just looking for a fastball,” said Walker.” “I was just loosey-goosey and swung hard.”
Walker, like his teammate Carter, said losing the first game gave the Golden Eagles some extra motivation.
“We were fired up,” Walker said. “This (second) game was way more personal. After the first game they were talking some smack, so I said “let’s go.'”
Ward, just a freshman, also had a 2-RBI single in the fifth inning which put Maple Mountain out in front 5-3. Meanwhile, Salem Hills’ Trig Richards belted a home run and had four RBI.
Maple Mountain head coach Jeremy Thomas praised both his own team and Salem Hills.
“You have to give credit to Salem Hills. They battled.” Thomas said. “They are well coached and Coach Croft over there has done a great job with that squad in his first year. They battled and certainly they can’t hang their heads for anything.”
“We didn’t capitalize early on in that first game. But we battled in this second game and luckily we were able to come out on top again. Our seniors and even a freshman stepped up and got us some big hits,” added Thomas.
With the win, Maple Mountain moves on to face No. 7 seed Fremont, which swept No. 10 Wasatch 5-3, 13-11. That game will be played at the doTERRA field at Utah Valley University at 11 a.m. on Monday. With the loss, Salem Hills finished its season with a 15-16 record.
Salem Hills 10 Maple Mountain 7
The first game Thursday between Maple Mountain and Salem Hills was a low-scoring affair until the final frame where both teams exploded for a combined 13 runs.
Maple Mountain’s Jeremiah Hall pitched six innings of strong baseball giving up just two runs. But Hall was lifted in the seventh for Tate Gilmore after Maple Mountain scored six runs to take a 7-2 lead in the top half of the inning.
Gilmore got the first out but then walked the next three Skyhawk batters. A popout to second base left Maple Mountain just one out away from the sweep. But Eli Leyva kept Salem Hills’ alive with a double that plated two runs. Guss Johnson drew a walk and Gilmore was then lifted for Hayden Hyatt.
On a full count Hyatt hit Bracken Lindley to load the bases. Hyatt again got one strike away from victory but then Snyder came through with his grand slam which gave the Skyhawks a 10-7 win.
Tweak needed for the state playoff bracket?
It’s pretty universal that the coaches like the relatively newer format employed by the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA). It allows for a lot more games requiring programs to build pitching depth. But Thomas wondered if these Regional or Super Regional games go to a third and deciding game that the host school should be the designated home team. In its series with Salem Hills, the Golden Eagles played as the visiting team twice.
“I think we got to address that a little bit with the state (UHSAA),” Thomas said. “If anything it should be home, visitor, home so the higher seed gets that final game as the home team.”
Besides just being the higher seed, Thomas noted that the host school of the series also has to set up the field and provide all the game balls.
