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OREM — Two nights ago, Riverton's baseball team nearly came back before falling to Syracuse 7-6 to open bracket play of the 6A state tournament at UCCU Ballpark.
Two days later, the Silverwolves are still alive — and a win away from a return trip to the championship series.
Zach Edwards smacked two doubles, and Dylan Zullo added an RBI double as Riverton pulled away for 6-2 win over American Fork in a 6A state semifinal Wednesday on the campus of Utah Valley University.
"Our backs were against the wall, but we've got some pretty gritty kids," Riverton coach Jay Applegate said.
"It's something we try to preach," he added. "Once that game is over or you swing at a bad pitch, you've got to get the mentality of the next pitch or next game. We were in a tough situation like that last year, after we lost to AF 3-2 in the first game. But that's over with, we can't do anything about it, and we just tried to focus on what we could control the next day. They did a good job at it."
Winning pitcher Remington Robbins nearly went the distance, scattering 11 hits with three strikeouts while his defense took over in allowing just two runs before reaching his pitch count-limit in the seventh inning. The starter also drove in two runs from the plate.
From there, it was up to freshman McKade Ortiz to induce a couple of outs and clinch the win in his varsity debut on the mound.
"He's a competitor. He's got the 'it' factor," Applegate said of Ortiz. "That's a heck of a spot to be put into, and hats' off to him."
Zullo's RBI double in the bottom of the third helped the Silverwolves jump out to a 5-0 lead before Jett Walker's RBI single in the top of the sixth. But Alex Vernon drove in McKade Ortiz in the bottom of the inning to help the Silverwolves pull away and force a winner-take-all second semifinal to advance to the best-of-three championship series Friday and Saturday.
Two days after the Titans used a five-run sixth to upset the sixth-seeded Silverwolves, Riverton returned with a vengeance. The defending champs survived with a 4-3 win over Westlake, then eliminated Syracuse 5-4 before stunning the Cavemen in the nightcap by only allowing two runs.
"Our defense was a lot better," Applegate said, "and Robbins had quite the day, too."
Cooper Jones had a double and a triple to lead American Fork (16-11), which will face Riverton at 4 p.m. MDT Thursday at UCCU Ballpark.
Mountain Ridge 10, Skyridge 7
At UVU, Tahj Henrie had a game-high four RBIs as Mountain Ridge overturned an early 5-1 deficit to force a second semifinal against top-seeded Skyridge.
Luke Nelson's double in the top of the seventh gave Mountain Ridge (20-8) its first lead of the game, 7-6. Austin Ellis then blasted a ball off the wall at centerfield for another run on the ground-rule double, then came home on a two-run single to push the Sentinels' lead to 10-6 and Mountain Ridge held on for the win.
Mason Thompson and Tyler Ball drove in two runs apiece for the Falcons (21-6), who will turn around to face the Sentinels again at 7 p.m. MDT Thursday.
Mountain Ridge 4, Bingham 3
At UVU, the Sentinels jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on to eliminate the Miners (15-14).
Riverton 5, Syracuse 4
At UVU, after falling behind 4-0 in the fourth inning, the Silverwolves backed off elimination en route to the one-run win over the Titans (16-15).
5A baseball semifinals
Vikings plate 6 in 7th to force elimination game off Lehi
Luke Jacobs went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and a run scored as fifth-seeded Viewmont scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to hand fourth-seeded Lehi its first loss of the 5A state baseball tournament, 9-5, Wednesday night at Larry H. Miller Park at BYU.
Logan Skidmore went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI for the Vikings (24-6), and Siona Faeamani and Gehrig Lee each added two RBI out of the bottom of the lineup.
Mays Madsen and McGwire Madsen each scored two runs to lead the Pioneers (21-7), who will face Viewmont again in a winner-take-all bracket final Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT at BYU.
Viewmont 6, Woods Cross 3
At BYU, Cal Miller had a double and a triple, and the Vikings did all the scoring on four hits to eliminate the Wildcats in bracket play.
Braxton Brenenstall scattered five hits with five strikeouts to earn the win for Viewmont (23-6).
Salem Hills 6, Timpanogos 4
Garrett Holt and Kam Coburn each had a triple, and the Skyhawks slugged out 12 hits to force a decisive second semifinal with the Timberwolves.
Chase DeGraffenreid added a double for Salem Hills (24-6), which took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back.
The two teams will meet again at 4 p.m. MDT Thursday at BYU.
Salem Hills 8, Jordan 4
Holt smacked a double with two RBI, and five more players drove in a run as the Skyhawks used a five-run second to pull past the Beetdiggers.
Coburn had two strikeouts to get the win for Salem Hills (23-6), which scored all eight runs on just four hits.
