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OREM — Momentum is key in baseball, and Timpanogos had loads of it in Friday's 5A championship series opener.
Billy Bird had a double, a triple and two RBIs, and the Timberwolves made the right plays at the right times en route to a 5-2 win over Lehi at UCCU Ballpark.
The biggest play, though, may have come on defense.
Nursing a 4-1 lead, Jackson Brousseau gave the Pioneers an ounce of momentum with a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning.
But no sooner had the ball cleared the left field fence and Colorado State-bound quarterback rounded the bases and Timpanogos (27-6) responded, turning a 6-4-3 double play to keep the Pioneers at bay.
"It was a momentum shifter," said Bird, who has committed to the University of Utah. "Momentum's huge, and getting that double play helped a lot. It kind of killed their energy, and we like that."
Just a few hours earlier, American Fork had all the momentum in the 6A championship before Skyridge used a six-run sixth to rally for a 7-6 win. Timpanogos coach Kim Nelson admitted he thought of that moment after he saw Brousseau's homer sail over the fence.
"Obviously, they had a little momentum," the longtime Timpanogos coach said of Lehi. "Anyone who saw the first game and saw 4-5 runs evaporate in about 6-7 minutes knows that you just never know. The double play was huge."
Lehi (22-8) struck first early when Jake Olsen drove in Mays Madsen with back-to-back doubles, and the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead that stood up until third inning.
That's when Bird smacked a triple down down the right field line to score Luke Livingston and winning pitcher Brighton Tate for the 2-1 edge.
Livingston doubled the advantage with an RBI triple routed deep into centerfield to push the Timberwolves' lead to 4-1 after four before adding a run through Livingston's sacrifice fly to score Tyler Hunter in the bottom of the sixth.
"If we go back through the last 10 days, it's been a lot of baseball and it hasn't been 1-2 guys," Nelson said. "It's been 3-4 guys one game, then 3-4 different guys the next game. There are a lot of contributions that have made the difference."
Livingston finished with two RBIs and a run scored for the Timberwolves, who can clinch their seventh state championship all-time with a win Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MDT at UCCU Ballpark.
If Lehi wins that game, a third winner-take-all contest will be played at the end of the night, tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT.
Tate scattered seen hits with two earned runs, two strikeouts and a pair of walks to earn the win for Timpanogos.
Madsen went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored to lead Lehi.
