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The American Fork baseball team celebrates a 6-2 victory against Lehi in a 6A baseball playoff game at Miller Park on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Graduating seniors on the American Fork baseball team pose for a selfie before the start of a 6A playoff game against Lehi at Miller Park on Wednesday, May 20, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Rules are rules and that meant after American Fork starting pitcher Talon Willardson had thrown his 110 pitches he had to come off the mound and give the ball to Ty Holmstead to get the final two outs.

When Willardson left the game it was the top of the seventh and his team led 6-1 and Lehi had two men on base. One (Ryder Schultz) eventually scored on a single by Jake Welch but Holmstead settled in and got a force out followed by a deep fly out to center field to end the game 6-2 in favor of the Cavemen.

Now No. 1 seed American Fork will meet fellow Region 3 rival and No. 7 seed Skyridge in a 3-game series for all the marbles. Since both won their games Wednesday, their series won’t start until Friday as action moves over to Utah Valley University and the UCCU Ballpark. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Willardson is a fierce competitor and wanted to finish the job. But in the last few years, high school baseball has enacted stricter rules on pitch counts and required rest days. Since the Caveman southpaw hurler threw so many pitches, he is now done pitching for the tournament but will concentrate on his left field and hitting duties.

“I didn’t want to come out of the game,” said Willardson who was greeted by his teammates as he came back to the dugout while the Cavemen faithful gave him a standing ovation. “Going out there, I have all the confidence in the world in my defense behind me. All I got to do is go out there and throw strikes. I know my defense will take care of it.”

Besides trusting his defense behind him, Willardson has total faith in his pitching coach Scott Jeppson who calls the pitches.

“I know Jepp (Jeppson) will call me a good game no matter what,” said Willardson.

Willardson effectively scattered his hits, giving up seven. But he struck out 11 and only walked one Pioneer batter in his six and one-third innings of work.

American Fork had just six hits but they were both timely and a few of them were of the extra base variety.

Jens Price had a double and three RBI while Kenny Johnson also had a double and drove in a run. But the big blow came when Holmstead hit a two-run blast over the left field wall which gave the Cavemen a 5-1 lead after four innings. And that was more than enough with the way Willardson was throwing.

For American Fork to win a repeat state title, they will need to defeat Skyridge for a fourth and fifth time. In league play, the Cavemen swept their three-game series but American Fork head coach Jarod Ingersoll recognizes that Skyridge is a good team that has now won six straight.

“Skyridge is a great hitting team,” Ingersoll said. “We played them in our last series and we know they can swing it.”

With the loss, Lehi, the No. 5 seed, finished their season with an 18-12 mark.

Graduation time

American Fork also showed no distractions even though just up the street at the Marriott Center their senior class was graduating. But as is becoming customary during these spring sport state tournaments, the Cavemen seniors were honored before the game with a special presentation.

The graduating seniors included Bode Gaggero, River Litke, Gavin Robinson, Cache Poulson, Alton Darby, Boston Jones, Ronald Lantigua, Hanks Jacobson, and Kenny Johnson.

7 Skyridge 13, 2 Mountain Ridge 6

Skyridge came out swinging and never looked back, topping Mountain Ridge 13-6 to move on to the championship series.

The Falcons plated three in the first and another five in the second frame to scoot out to a 8-0 lead. Skyridge definitely hit the ball well but showed off their team speed putting a lot of pressure on the Sentinel defense causing Mountain Ridge to commit three errors officially and a lot of other plays where Sentinel defenders threw to the wrong base allowing Falcon runners to advance.

“Coach (Eric) Morgan coaching third has all control of the offense over there,” Skyridge head coach Ryan Roberts said. “It’s a nice luxury to have and I just sit back and watch them go. He said he was a little nervous on a couple of those plays but it worked out for us and they didn’t make plays. We wanted to put pressure on especially where we knew where they were at with their pitching.”

With the relatively new tournament format, it is a big advantage to win those first two games making any other team have to win that extra game including one earlier in the day.

“Their pitching was down after having to come through the loser’s bracket. We put pressure on them and scored some runs. We wanted to get up and that’s exactly how it worked out for us,” said Roberts.

Lead off hitter and senior Miles Robinson continues to be a dominating force for the Falcons. This game he went 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring three runs and knocking in another. He was also hit by a pitch to reach base three times in five plate appearances.

“We knew, even before state, that we had this,” a very ecstatic Robinson said. “We just had to get hot. Skyridge frickin’ Falcons, let’s go!”

The Falcon bats were humming as they lashed out 13 hits including a 3-hit performance from Zayden Bye. Those three hits, which included a double and triple, plated four runs. Ripken Roberts had two RBI’s and scored a run while Boston Sundberg went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Reminiscent of the first tournament game with Mountain Ridge, lefty Tate Young came on in relief and shut down the Sentinels in his four innings of work.

Skyridge’s defense was solid with Bye making some great plays in right field. The Falcons had just one error..

Though Mountain Ridge finished its season 22-8, Skyridge had the Sentinel’s number beating them three times including twice in the state tourney.

5 Lehi 4, 4 Riverton 1

In the early afternoon game Wednesday, Lehi eliminated Riverton 4-1 thanks to a strong effort on the mound by Sean McAfee. It was the second time the Pioneers defeated the Silverwolves in the 6A tourney.

McAfee struck out five and allowed just three hits and one run as the Pioneers advanced to meet archrival American Fork to see what team would emerge from the top side of the bracket.

Lehi scored two runs in the second and another pair in fourth before Riverton scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth.

Hazen Elton had a double and had two RBIs to lead the Pioneer offensive attack. He was also plunked twice. Leadoff hitter James Rex set the table going 1-for-3 with a run scored. He also reached base on a walk. Meanwhile, Brody Bauer went 1-for-2 and also scored a run for the Pioneers.