OREM — Through the first three innings of Spanish Fork’s Class 4A state baseball tournament game Monday, the Dons struggled to find consistency and couldn’t pull away from a 3-3 tie with Skyridge.

Then Brendan Bradford stepped onto the mound — and all was quiet for Spanish Fork on the grass at Brent Brown Ballpark.

Bradford pitched the final 2⅔ innings, a one-hit shutout with four strikeouts, to help the Region 8 champions advance to the 4A winners' bracket final with a 7-6 win over Skyridge on the campus of Utah Valley University.

“Our region prepares us for those type of games,” said Spanish Fork coach Casey Nelson, whose team won back-to-back one-run games in the postseason. “Brendan Bradford put up a couple of zeroes, and just pounded the (strike) zone. He had his slider working, and that was the biggest thing for us.”

Briggs Newman was 4 for 4 with a run scored to lead Spanish Fork (24-3), and Josh Cowden went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for the Dons.

The first-year Falcons (17-7) jumped out to a 2-1 start in the first inning thanks to Brody Colledge’s two-run single in the top of the first.

“We have a process, and as cliche as it sounds, we talk about trusting the process,” Nelson said. “We’ve put these guys in tough situations at practice, and I have a lot of confidence in them.”

After Brady Brook drove in Cowden with the game-tying run in the bottom of the third, the Dons never trailed again.

“We faced them earlier in the season, and they were always a good hitting team,” said Cowden, who had three of the Dons’ 12 hits. “We knew that defense would win the game, and we walked out there knowing it.”

Brook’s sacrifice fly to deep center gave the Dons their first lead of the game during a three-run third. Though Skyridge tied the game at 6-6 on Colledge’s solo shot over the left-field fence, Briggs Newman scampered home in the sixth to give the Dons all the run support they would need.

“We had pressure on them every inning,” Nelson said. “Sometimes we didn’t get that hit, but we still had pressure on them.”

Skyridge threatened again, loading the bases on two outs in the top of the seventh. But Bradford sent a game-ending pop-fly to center field to end the game, and the Dons advanced to face defending state champion Timpanogos at 4:30 p.m. MDT Wednesday.

All games are broadcast on live.ksl.com.

“It feels good. We’ve been up and down, but we’ve always come through,” Bradford said. “I just threw strikes. That’s all you can do as a pitcher, and that’s what I did at the end to close the game.

“I was definitely nervous. But I just threw strikes.”

Skyridge will face Skyline in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. MDT Tuesday in Orem.

Timpanogos 8, Maple Mountain 0

At Brent Brown Ballpark, Derik Eaquinto pitched six innings, giving up a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts and just two walks, while Josh Edmonds went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI as the Timberwolves overwhelmed Maple Mountain 8-0 in Monday in Orem.

“Watching him pitch it the way he does is great,” Edmonds said of Eaquinto. “If we can help him out as much as we can, it’s just going to give us some confidence and play better. “We know he’s going to go out there and perform like he always does.”

Edmonds, Casey Hamilton and Tyler Cornish each slugged an RBI double to pace a three-run second inning and give the Timberwolves a 3-0 early lead.

From there, it was just up to a relaxed Eaquinto to see the game through.

“By the second inning, my arm was feeling really good,” he said. “I knew I was throwing it well. “I can’t give enough credit to my offense. Three runs is plenty to work with my defense, and it really takes pressure off so I can focus on throwing strikes.”

Edmonds added a two-run homer in the bottom of the third for consecutive three-run innings, and the Timberwolves added two more in the fourth inning for an 8-0 margin.

Timpanogos threatened to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule with a runner on third in the fifth, but Spencer Olsen grounded into a fielder’s choice to send the game to six innings.

Casey Hamilton went 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for Timpanogos, which held Maple Mountain without a hit until the fourth inning.

“The bottom of the order really pulled there,” Timpanogos coach Kim Nelson said. “It’s characteristic of the year; I feel better about nine guys in the order than I think I have for a lot of years. We have contributions coming from a lot of places.”

Maple Mountain (17-10) will face Salem Hills at 4:30 p.m. MDT Tuesday at Brent Brown Ballpark. The winner will advance the face the winner of Skyridge and Skyline at 7 p.m. MDT.

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