After breezing past the No. 8 ranked Morgan Trojans, the No. 9 Emery Spartans suffered a heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Juab, dropping to the one-loss bracket in the 3A State Championship Tournament Saturday afternoon in Nephi.
It took just five innings for the Spartans to top the higher seeded Trojans as they earned a dominating 12-1 victory. That set the stage for the battle with the tournament’s top seeded Wasps that ultimately ended in favor of Juab 5-3.
Luke Stilson set the tone for the Spartans in the first game of the morning, allowing just one hit and striking out seven in a complete game victory. Stilson was in command early as it took just 82 pitches to record the win on the bump.
While Stilson was dynamic on the mound, the Emery offense provided plenty of run support as they accumulated eight runs in the first three innings. Ryker Jensen led the explosion at the plate as he finished 1-3 with a double and four RBIs. Riggs Griffin was also brilliant in the box as he ended 3-3 with one RBI, while scoring three runs.
The dominating effort in the first game of the morning set the stage for a matchup with the host school Juab in the afternoon. Swapping momentum through the first four innings, the Spartans held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom half of the fifth, where Juab took control and eventually earned the two-run win.
Trevon Wakefield was tagged with the loss despite a solid performance on the mound. Throwing five innings, Wakefield allowed eight hits and five earned runs. Oakley Alton worked the final three outs in relief, giving up just one hit.
Starting the game with two straight singles, the Spartans scored the first run of the game as Stilson touched home on a wild pitch. Juab quickly matched the Emery run in the bottom of the first with a one out single to right field.
Emery broke the 1-1 tie in the third inning as Stilson again came through at the plate, this time scoring Griffin on a ground out to the shortstop. The one run lead would hold until the bottom of the fourth when the Wasps scored on a one-out single to left field.
The Spartans would once again capture the lead as they managed a two-out rally in the top of the fifth. Griffin started the push with a single to center field. Jax Madsen earned a walk on the next at bat, followed by a Stilson single on a ground ball past the shortstop to score Griffin.
Juab took the lead for good in their half of the inning, scoring two of their three runs with two outs. Emery would manage three more base runners in the final two innings, but came up short of bringing them home each time.
The loss moves Emery down to the one-loss bracket, where they will travel to Bingham High School Thursday to face North Sanpete at 1:30 p.m.. A win would place Emery in another win-or-go-home game against either Carbon or American Leadership at 7:00 p.m..
Click HERE to view the complete 3A State Championship Bracket.