6-run 3rd inning helps Cottonwood overpower Lone Peak for 1st baseball title since 2008


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OREM — Cottonwood’s baseball team felt pretty confident going into Friday’s Class 5A state championship game with rest ace Hayden Rosenkrantz on the mound.

The Colts had the inside track on a state title, having to only win one of a potential two-game series against Lone Peak to clinch their first championship since winning four-straight in two classifications from 2005 through 2008.

By the third inning, that confidence overflowed.

Rosenkratz pitched a complete-game gem, a two-hitter with five strikeouts, and the Colts scored six runs in the bottom of the third en route to an 11-0 win over Lone Peak in five innings Friday at Brent Brown Ballpark.

“After we scored and put up six in the third inning, we started playing loose and having fun,” said Rosenkrantz, a senior who has signed with Washington State. "The whole game was fun today. We knew it would be fun today, but to end like this was more fun.”

In a battle of aces, Rosenkrantz outdueled Lone Peak star Seth Corry. The BYU signee helped the Knights (24-7) through just two innings, but Cottonwood leadoff hitter Hunter Blunt scored in the first and the Colts were off to the races.

“Me and Seth are pretty good friends. I wish it was a closer game; it would’ve been fun for him,” Rosenkrantz said. “But for us to come out on top, I don’t know what else to say. That was awesome.”

Blunt went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored for the Colts (22-8), and Hunter Heugly was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI for a Cottonwood team that played all week with heavy hearts after the death of a teammate’s father Monday.

“The way our community responded, our school, and our support this whole week — they got everything they needed to be able to complete this run,” Cottonwood coach Jason Crawford said. “The support we got from the community is great, and that is what really helped us stay together.

Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News
Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News

The game began with a mini-graduation ceremony to send off the 11 seniors on the roster. After the game, the teammates made plans to attend the viewing ceremonies of their teammate’s father.

By the third inning, every Colt batter stepped up to the plate. Huegly smacked an RBI double for the first run of the inning, and designated hitter Daniel Gonzalez made a return to the starting lineup for the first time in the postseason with a broken hand.

The Cuban refugee motored to third base on a triple off the left-field wall, then scored on a throwing error to give Cottonwood a 6-0 lead — more runs than they had scored in playoff wins over Pleasant Grove (3-1), Fremont (3-2), American Fork (2-1) or Bingham (2-1) in Tuesday’s winner’s bracket final.

“He came back, got his cast off last week, and decided to run him out there today,” Crawford said of Gonzalez. “He came through; he’s a good player. We got him a few at-bats, and he was ready.

“I figured, what the heck? Give him a shot.”

Cottonwood pounded out nine hits and took advantage of Lone Peak’s six errors, including four during the big third inning.

“We just kept the momentum going,” Huegley said. “One guy got one, and it rolled into the next one. Hitting is contagious.”

It didn’t take long for a community in desperate need of good news to win its first baseball title since 2008. The remaining frames were a celebration, culminating with a victory dogpile on Rosenkrantz at the pitcher’s mound.

“Where our school is at, we needed good things to happen to our community,” Crawford said. “It couldn’t happen at a better time for our school.

“We’re really proud to represent them, and glad we ended it the right way.”

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